Experts Uncover Strange New Egyptian Artifact, Then The History-Altering Reality Hits Them

It seemed like just another day for researchers at Los Angeles’ Getty Research Institute. But then one individual stumbled across a set of images that would see the team collaborating with experts on the other side of the world. They rapidly became part of a shared investigation into the same strange puzzle – and it all focused on the death cults of Ancient Egypt.

Preserving visual art

The experts of the Getty Research Institute (GRI) concern themselves with visual art, which they seek to both preserve and promote to the public. The organization possesses both physical and digital archives, which are used for research as well as exhibitions. By investigating and saving these visual works, the GRI celebrates their cultural value.

Stand-out image

It was thanks to the GRI’s digital archive that some of its historians managed to become involved in this ancient Egyptian mystery. Basically, they were looking through a set of pictures from an online database managed by a museum in New Zealand. One image in particular really jumped out at them, so they decided to do some digging.

Oddly familiar

The image from the New Zealand museum was of an ancient artifact with Egyptian text spread across it. You might think that that doesn’t sound particularly notable, except this specific piece kind of seemed familiar to the Getty researchers. In fact, they’d definitely seen something just like it before. But where?

A matching piece

After taking a dive into their own archives at the GRI, the researchers realized something. They had access to an artifact that appeared to fit perfectly together with the one from New Zealand. They were both strips of fabric from an ancient mummy and adorned with text. What did it all mean, though? Why did two artifacts which lay in different corners of the world match one another so well?