Jordan's Police in the Balqa Governorate on Wednesday busted an attempt to illegally sell a 1,600-1,700-year-old naturally preserved mummy, the Jordan Times reported Sunday.
Brigadier Abdullah Hamadneh, director of Balqa Metropolitan Police, was quoted by the Jordanian paper as saying that the police received news that a number of people were trying to sell mummies.
A police officer disguised as a potential buyer started bargaining for the body which is a male in his late 40s. The suspects asked for JD50,000 for the body and finally agreed to sell it to the officer for JD30,000.
Hamadneh said that the body, which was excavated somewhere near the Dead Sea had not decomposed because of the high salinity of the soil in the area.
The body, a male in his late 40s, was handed to the Department of Antiquities. Director of the department Fawaz Khreisha told the Jordan Times the department has already conducted primary tests on the body which showed that the person likely lived somewhere between the third and the fifth centuries AD. He said the exact age of the body will be determined by X-ray analysis.
Treasure hunting and antiquities illegal smuggling is not uncommon in Jordan. However, the Antiquities Police, the body in charge of busting such operations, has been doing a good job in aborting such operations - Albawaba.com
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