Back in 1910, an Englishman named Douglas Murray was in Cairo researching ancient Egypt. That was his job; he was a professor of Egyptology. One day, a poorly-dressed, very sick-looking American man came into his office and offered to sell Murray a my case, with the body inside, The man said that the mummy was the body of Hatshepsut, an ancient Egyptian high priestess of the temple of Ammon-Ra who had died in Thebes around 1600 B.C. The man didn't explain how he had gotten the mummy, but Murray, feeling this was a great opportunity for study and possibly the most important find of his whole career, agreed to buy it. He quickly wrote the American a check, but the check was never cashed as the man died just hours later.