BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

The Mummy Chamber

Brooklyn Museum

200 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, NY 11238-6052
Dates: Ongoing

Since 2010, the Brooklyn Museum has maintained an exhibit titled The Mummy Chamber, using ancient Egyptian artifacts from the museum’s holdings in order to showcase the ancient practice of mummification. The exhibit’s design is intended to demonstrate the various types of mummification practiced in ancient Egypt as well as how the socio-economic status of ancient Egyptians was reflected in their burial practices.

The 170 items on display include human and animal mummies, coffins, canopic jars, burial goods and jewelry. There are also shabties, small figurines added to the tombs, to work magically for the deceased in the afterlife. A highlight of the exhibit is a portion of the Book of the Dead of Sobekmose, a 25-foot-long papyrus inscribed with spells pertaining to the afterlife dating back 3,000 years. In addition, two of the mummies that are displayed include the Priest Thothirdes and the mummy of Hor, believed to be a priest during the Third Intermediate Period.

Some of the mummies have undergone extensive analysis consisting of CT scans in order to discover information such as sex, age and living habits. The findings of some of these studies are also included in the exhibit.

A version of this post appeared in Bible History Daily in 2010