Mummified ‘golden boy’ found with 49 amulets to speed journey to afterlife

The boy, who is believed to have been 14 or 15 when he died, was about 4ft 2in tall and is believed to have died of natural causes.

Four stages of a mummy being ‘digitally unwrapped’ by scientists (SN Saleem/SA Seddik/M el-Halwagy/PA)

Wealthy ancient Egyptians were given scores of amulets when they were mummified in the hope it would speed their journey to the afterlife, a study suggests.

Scientists have “digitally unwrapped” the mummified body of a wealthy ancient Egyptian “golden boy” from 2,300 years ago and found 49 amulets of 21 different types on him.