Mummy Not So Dearest

When Karachi police discovered a gold-bedecked mummy believed to be at least 2,600 years old in the possession of a tribal chief in southwestern Pakistan last October, it had all the signs of a blockbuster find. Never before had a mummy been unearthed in Pakistan. Was she an Egyptian princess looted from an ancient tomb thousands of years ago and adorned with ornaments in ancient Mesopotamia or Persia? Were these the remains of an ancient Persian royal?

The find seemed too amazing to be true. In fact, it was. Last month, after five months of chemical tests, microbial diagnosis, X-rays, radiocarbon...