19 tonnes of mummified cats!

Researchers from Manchester looking at cat mummies.

This week colleagues from the Manchester Museum and the University of Manchester came to see the World Museum's collection of 95 animal mummies from ancient Egypt. Dr Stephanie Atherton and Dr Lidija McKnight both study mummified faunal remains and are members of the Ancient Egyptian Animal Bio Bank Project, which aims to promote the study of faunal remains by uncovering information relating to these creatures and the ancient culture that preserved them.

As an output of this Leverhulme Trust funded project, they are planning an exhibition at the Manchester Museum in 2015/6, displaying some of the Manchester collections alongside some loaned objects from other museums. Egyptologists from Manchester Museum, Dr Campbell Price and Anna Garnett, joined Stephanie and Lidija in our gallery and storeroom to see what we have in Liverpool that might be suitable for the exhibition.

To find out more about their visit and how 19 tonnes of cat mummies came into Liverpool’s port in 1890 take a look at the blog of the Ancient Egyptian Animal Bio Bank Project.