Rebirth and Rejuvenation: The Mummification Case at the Egypt Centre

This blog post has been written by Syd Howells, the Volunteer Manager at the Egypt Centre. He has been in post since 2012 and is the first point of contact for anyone wishing to volunteer at the museum.

In 2015, as part of my distance learning Museum Studies MA at Leicester University, I was tasked with ‘curating’ a display at the Egypt Centre. Consideration was taken as to what the museum needed to give the exercise some value, and following discussions it was decided the most useful course of action was to design a display concerned with the process of mummification.

Why did we choose mummification? The reason was simple. Within the House of Death gallery, the case close by to the mummification activity originally contained objects related to pharaohs, hence its unofficial title of the ‘King’s Case’. Its purpose however was to illustrate ‘state religion’, created as a juxtaposition to the case directly opposite, which was concerned with personal religion, hence the images of Bes, Hathor, Taweret etc. On reflection, it made more sense to have a case close to the activity where volunteers and staff carrying out mummification could point out actual objects related to the process, engaging visitors with not only the activity, but also genuine artefacts from a relatively wide timeframe of Egyptian history (fig. 1). With approval and guidance from Wendy Goodridge, our current Museum Manager (and at the time our Assistant Curator), I began to make plans.

Fig. 1: The Mummification Case

The main question looked at how we illustrate the process of mummification considering the objects within our collection, whether loaned or permanent and how these objects would tell the story when placed together. Obviously, time and thought are required when creating a display and with Wendy’s guidance I selected the following objects from within our collection:

 

EC71: Three bandages & mummified snake package (Late Period–Ptolemaic)

At the time these items were chosen, we had no idea the package also contained a mummified snake (that was a later discovery by Ken Griffin when he was photographing them for the online catalogue)!

 

EC151: Canopic jar lid of Hapy (Late Period)

Canopic jars were used to store the organs removed from the body during the mummification process. The four jars represent the Four Sons of Horus, and the lids indicate these. The Baboon-headed Hapy protected the lungs.

 

EC152: Figure of Anubis (Late Period)

Unlike the wooden figure of Anubis, which can be seen in our ‘Gods Case’, this example does not feature replica ears made of plasticine!      

                                   

EC388: Canopic jar lid of Qebehsenuef (Late Period)

The falcon-headed Qebehsenuef protected the intestines (fig. 2).

Fig. 2: Head of Qebehsenuef

EC389: Canopic jar lid of Duamutef (Late Period)

The jackal-headed Duamutuef protected the stomach.

 

EC727: Model vessels (Graeco-Roman Period)

Jars containing water were used for purification rituals during the Opening of the Mouth ceremony. Models of jars made of materials such as faience were placed in tombs and temples and may have been intended to perpetuate the Opening of the Mouth ritual for all eternity to animate the deceased as well as the gods.

 

W220: Wadjet eye plaque (Late Period)

Wadjet eye plaque made of green faience. Items like this would be placed over the incision made to remove the organs from the deceased on the left side of the torso. The wadjet eye is a symbol of healing.

 

W498: Canopic jar of Qebehsenuef (Late Period)

While this jar has an inscription mentioning Qebehsenuef, the human head is usually associated with Imsety, who protected the liver. While it is possible that the jar and lid were grouped together to sell to a tourist or collector in more modern times, during the Late Period it is not unknown for complete sets of canopic jars to have human heads on each one.

 

W548: Mummy label (Graeco-Roman)

If a person died away from their home during the Graeco-Roman Period, these items were used to identify them while their body was returned. This example belonged to an individual called Ammonari(on).

 

W920: Cartonnage mask fragment (Graeco-Roman Period)

A mummy mask constructed of cartonnage, a material that is a mixture of plaster and bandages, then gilded (fig. 3). Upon the headband you can see an ancient Egyptian spell (the presence of this was initially pointed out to us by a researcher to the museum when the object was on display in the House of Life Gallery, long before its lighting was upgraded).

Fig. 3: Golden mummy mask

W1024: Canopic jar lid [now thought to be a statue head] (New Kingdom)

Research by Ken Griffin in 2019 indicates that rather than being an Imsety canopic jar lid, it more likely originated as the head of a block statue. It remains in the case for the present.

EA7900: Heart scarab (New Kingdom)

This Heart Scarab is made of green schist. To the ancient Egyptians, the heart was the essence of the person, their intellect, and emotion, as opposed to the brain. This example features Chapter 30B of the Book of the Dead inscribed upon its base, which calls upon the heart not to say bad things about the person when they are judged in the afterlife during the Weighing of the Heart ritual. Un-pierced and placed, not sewn, over the heart within the wrappings of the deceased.  

This item is owned by the British Museum and came here as part of the original loan in 2005, which was organised through their British Museum Partnership where objects from their collection are loaned to local museums. As part of the agreement with the British Museum (for a fuller explanation see Offerings from the British Museum by Wendy Goodridge and Stuart Williams – available from the Egypt Centre Shop), permission had to be sought to move two of the objects. These being EA64973, the Cylinder Seal that was to be moved from the new ‘Mummification Case’ to the new ‘Kings Case’, and EA7900, the heart scarab, to be moved from the ‘Amulets Case’ and into the new ‘Mummification Case’. Figure 4 shows part of our request to the British Museum. Therefore, there was a short delay before we could proceed as we waited for their permission. Thankfully, they said yes.

Fig. 4: Detailing the movement of objects

As the cases within the museum are only allowed to be opened by curatorial staff, it was essential that Wendy was involved in assessing the condition of the objects and ensuring we could move the objects (figs. 5–6). At the time the most convenient and safest space to check the objects, make condition reports etc., was the Museum Gift shop on a Monday (as the museum is open to the public Tuesday to Saturday). On Monday 24^th August 2015, we checked all the objects to be moved and by the end of the day everything was done besides the final labels.

Fig. 5: The objects being prepared for their new display

 

Fig. 6: Wendy Goodridge undertaking condition checks of the objects

In keeping with Egypt Centre policy, the labels within the case are bilingual in both Welsh and English. As anyone who knows me well will understand, it took a short eternity for me to replace the original temporary labels, much to the consternation of other staff members. I offer my belated apologies…

In conclusion, it was felt by volunteers, staff, and visitors that the case was a useful addition to the House of Death and particularly the mummification activity. However, we did receive one complaint. A volunteer was displeased by the display of wrappings from a mummified individual/animal in the case and remarked on the “tatty bandages”. Whether this was due to ideological beliefs or a general feeling it made the case look untidy is unknown. However, should you visit the museum today you can still see them (and the unexpected mummified snake) in the case.    

Thank you to Wendy Goodridge, Dr Carolyn Graves-Brown, and Dr Ken Griffin.

Bibliography:

Goodridge, Wendy and Stuart Williams [2005]. Offerings from the British Museum. Swansea: The Egypt Centre.

Griffin, Ken (2019). A canopic jar stopper or a head from a statue? Available at: https://egyptcentrecollectionblog.blogspot.com/2019/03/a-canopic-jar-stopper-or-head-from.html