Mummy unwrapped!

For this week's blog in our World Museum 150th anniversary series, we're looking at the grisly but fascinating world of mummies! Let's look at the archives from this day in 1903 and see what happened...

On 30 March 1903 the director of the museum, Henry O. Forbes, gave a lecture entitled 'The Mummy', which included the unwrapping of a mummy. It was the mummy of a lady named Auf-aa of the XXVI. Dynasty (660-590BC) and it was unwrapped before the audience to illustrate his lecture. The face was found in a remarkable state of preservation, the hands crossed upon the breast, but the flesh had apparently been removed from the limbs before enswathement of the body.  The beautifully manufactured cloth in which it was wrapped, however, had been used for another mummy at a much earlier date. Three lectures on 'Egyptian Antiquities' were also given by the Director of Museums, from 16 to 30 March that year.

You can see fantastic examples of mummies in our Ancient Egypt gallery today and if you can't get to the museum you can have a go at our 'Escape from the mummy's tomb!' game.