Scientists from Chicago have started the conservation of an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus hidden for nearly 2,500 years that reveals the blackened toes of 14-year-old boy.

The coffin's inscription says the Egyptian boy, Minirdis, was the son of Inaros, the hereditary stolist priest of Min, the Egyptian fertility god. The gold-painted, lavishly decorated sarcophagus came from the Akhmim cemetery on the east side of the Nile in Upper Egypt and was acquired by Chicago's Field Museum in 1925.

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Akhmim is located about 300 miles south of Cairo on the Nile. It's also the birthplace of Yuya, King Tutankhamun's great-grandfather.

Brown and his colleagues used specially created clamps to lift the coffin lid. The only visible parts of the mummy are the burial mask and the blackened toes. The rest of the body is wrapped in a yellowing embalming cloth.

"The shroud, placed under the mask, but above the main wrappings, had been dragged to one side, carrying a painted cartonnage collar down under the mummy and this made removing the mummy quite difficult. The linen of the shroud and wrappings was quite brittle and this further complicated the operation," Brown said.

Inside the coffin, they also found out an unknown drawing of the Goddess Nut on the bottom of the coffin. They still don't have any idea how Minirdis died.

Brown said it could be due to some infectious disease or an organ failure. Currently, the team is trying to preserve the cartonnage mask and the shroud wrapped around the mummy and reconnecting the detached feet.

The conservators hope to stabilize the mummy and coffin so it can travel in the exhibit "Mummies: Images of the Afterlife," expected to open in Los Angeles in September 2015.

TagsMummy, Egyptian Mummy, Mummy, Egyptian boy, Egyptian sarcophagus, ancient Egyptian sarcophagus, Cairo, Egypt, ancient Egyptian god of fertility, Min