Thursday March 28th, 2024
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Egyptian Mummies To Be Displayed At The Toledo Museum of Art

The exhibition will feature three mummies in historical context along with other Egyptian artefacts from the museum’s collection and other institutions.

Staff Writer

Starting on the third of February all the way to the sixth of May, the Toledo Museum of Art in Spain will be holding an exhibition showcasing three ancient Egyptian mummies, along with a variety of Egyptian objects and artifacts from a bygone era, a rare opportunity considering the cultural and social issues relevant to their display at the museum.

Two of the mummies on display, one of a priest and another of an old man, were purchased over a century ago by the founders of the museum at an auction in 1906, and their display at the museum has only been an occasional occurrence due to the considerations surrounding displaying human remains. There will be three thematic sections to showcase the set pieces of the exhibition, exploring the rise in popularity of the Egyptomania phenomenon that began as a result of Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt back in the 18th century, as well as the magnitude of Egyptian burial rituals and concepts of the afterlife.

Apart from showcasing rare examples of ancient Egyptian beliefs and norms, the exhibition poses many questions about the ethics and perspectives of showing human remains at an art museum, and how people’s view of ancient Egypt has shifted and transformed over the decades.

The exhibition will also coincide with a number of other programmes and events sharing similar themes that will be announced soon.