A 500-year-old Incan mummy known as the "Ice Princess" apparently caught the eye of President Clinton.
At a fund-raiser here Wednesday night, Clinton joked about the well-preserved mummy, discovered last October on a mountain in southern Peru and now on display at the National Geographic Society in Washington."I don't know if you've seen that mummy," Clinton said. "But you know, if I were a single man, I might ask that mummy out. That's a good looking mummy! That mummy looks better than I do on my worst days."
The joke drew laughter from the crowd of about 800 attending the fund-raiser, which brought in $2.3 million for the Democratic National Committee.
Clinton's joke dovetailed on a similar joke by Sen. Joseph Lie-ber-man, D-Conn., who commented on the mummy's age and vintage condition, adding "in high school, she dated Bob Dole."
The mummy is thought to be the best preserved body from the pre-Columbian era. Called Juanita by Peruvian scientists and the Ice Princess by others, the 12- to 14-year-old girl apparently was killed by a powerful blow to the head 500 years ago and sacrificed to the gods atop 20,000-foot-high Mount Ampato.
The Incans believed the practice would ward off catastrophes such as volcanic eruptions.