Golden Mummies of Egypt closed on 14 April 2024 after a blockbuster run that welcomed more than a million visitors in China, the USA and Manchester.
It was the first exhibition to grace the new Exhibition Hall at Manchester Museum after it reopened in February 2023 and explored mummies, gold and an obsessive belief in the afterlife. These concepts are all central to our image of ‘Ancient Egypt’ but how important were they to the Egyptians, and how long did they survive after the last of the Pharaohs?
Golden Mummies of Egypt focused on expectations of a life after death during the relatively little-known ‘Graeco-Roman’ Period of Egyptian history – when Egypt was ruled first by a Greek royal family, ending with Queen Cleopatra VII, then by Roman emperors (between 300 BCE and 300 CE). Wealthy members of this multicultural society made elaborate preparations for the afterlife, combining Egyptian, Greek, and Roman ideals of eternal beauty.
Manchester Museum cares for 18,000 objects from Egypt and Sudan. Excavated at a time of British rule of Egypt in the 1880s-1910s, our responses to these objects may reveal more about ourselves than about the people who made and used them. Keep scrolling to find out more!