Golden Mummies of Egypt

Gilded mummy of a woman. C. 100 BC. From Hawara, Egypt. Acc. no. 2120. Photo: Julia Thorne (@tetisheri)

After a hugely successful tour across the USA and China, Golden Mummies of Egypt offers unparalleled access to the museum’s world-class Egypt and Sudan collections. The museum is part of the University of Manchester, and the exhibition asks questions about how we interpret these mummies. Featuring more than 100 objects and eight mummies,it examines hopes and fears about the afterlife when Egypt was part of the Greek and Roman worlds (c. 300 BC-200 AD). Wealthy members of this multicultural society still hoped for their dead to be transformed by the expensive process of mummification. By being covered in gold, the deceased might imitate the eternal radiance of the gods themselves. Blending Egyptian, Roman and Greek imagery, the strikingly lifelike painted mummy portraits are among the most haunting images from the Ancient World. Examining the meanings of these objects for their original viewers, the exhibition reflects on the diverse influences of identity formation.