January 30, 2004

Return of the mummy

Padihershef, the 2,500-year-old mummy who calls the MGH home, was safely returned to the Ether Dome Jan. 22. Padi — as he is affectionately called by MGHers — spent the past year on display at the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum in Springfield, Mass.

Padi was given to the hospital in 1823 as a gift from Dutch merchant Jacob van Lennep. Padi and his two coffins are believed to have been the first complete burial ensemble sent to the United States from Egypt. In the early 1960s, the hieroglyphics on Padi's coffin were deciphered to reveal his name, which means "gift of the god Hershef." It also is believed that he was an unmarried stone cutter from the City of the Dead in Thebes. Because tomb robbers had no interest in the graves of common citizens, Padi's mummified remains have stayed intact.