To your left is displayed one of the more contentious and potentially unique items in the museum's collection - the mummified remains of a Bedouin male dated to the pre-Islamic period, theorized to have been a ruling member of the Banu Jamal, a tribe considered figures of myth. Age analysis of the teeth and skeleton places his age approximately between 24-45, with the uncertain variance due to the unconventional nature of the man's physical development. His death likely came from a sharp implement piercing his back, following which he was embalmed.

The item was first discovered in the central Arabian desert by a survey conducting exploratory oil drilling in 2017, with the excavation of the burial mound conducted by the British Museum. Expertly mummified and further desiccated by the extreme aridity of the region's climate, the item was found in a remarkable state of preservation. Surrounding the remains was a horde of grave goods, including ornate codpieces, ceremonial chest bindings, corslets and corsets, and an assortment of weaponry showing signs of wear, implying that this man was a formidable warrior. The remains of the man's four wives were entombed alongside him. Based on the abundance of gold and finely crafted grave goods, he may have been a chieftain or high priest of his tribe.

At the time, he was considered an excellent find, though hardly unique among similar recoveries, and he was transported to Britain for restoration work. An attempt to rehydrate the desiccated flesh was undertaken through the forced impregnation and fluid injection of plasticization agents into the cadaver, plumping the tissues to how they would have appeared in life. The man was restored to how you see him now, much to the surprise of archeologists. A cursory examination of the genitalia confirmed him to be the specimen of a man, though the rehydrated upper body and facial features were undeniably feminine. The breast tissue was heavily vascularised and capable of absorbing vast amounts of preservative fluid, swelling to remarkable proportions. Their expansion was halted far before their theorized maximum carrying capacity on the grounds of decency and amidst objections from the Saudi Arabian government.

Explanations as to the item's sex have been manyfold, with some suggesting an intersex individual or early attempts at cosmetic alterations, though it is doubtful that the crude tools of the time could create such results. The Saudi government insists that the item is a forgery pieced together from two separate cadavers, and demands its immediate return or destruction, though DNA analysis of the breasts and genitals confirms them as belonging to the same individual.

The tantalizing possibility exists that we may be looking at a member of the Banu Jamal, a tribe given near mythological status for their ability to endure their arid surroundings through their camel-like protuberances. Research into the man's genetics is ongoing. It is hoped that the sequencing of his genome may shed light on the genetic quirks of himself and his extinct people. Attempts to further excavate the burial mound have been hampered by ferocious, unprovoked Bedouin attacks.