The Maronite mummies are eight well preserved natural mummies of Maronite villagers dating back to around 1283 AD. They were uncovered by a team of speologists in the Qadisha Valley in 1991
The mummies were found in the ‘Asi-al Hadath cave located in the Qadisha Valley, on July 13, 1990 by a group of speleologists working with the Groupe d’Etudes et de Recherches Souterraines du Liban (GERSL). The find was the result of two years of excavation. Initially, the discovery consisted of a single four-month-old infant mummy.
The infant was named Yasmine by her discoverers. The infant was clothed and fully interred only 40 cm below ground, she was laid on her back alone in the grave, her head resting on a smooth stone. Yasmine was carefully wrapped in gauze by the team and transported from the grotto to the laboratory.
Multiple other remains were found following the discovering, include seven bodies (four infants and three adults) as well as skeletal remains of several others.
Yasmine wore beneath her shroud three dresses one blue, a beige dress over it, and a more elaborate dark beige dress embroidered with silk threads over both. Her head was covered with a headdress under which she wore a headband made of silk. She was adorned with one earring, and a necklace garnished with mouth-blown glass pearls and two coin pieces dated to the era of the Sultan Mamluk Baybars.
