Golden Mummies of Egypt

Glittering gold and mysterious mummies are among Ancient Egypt’s most iconic and popular attractions. Golden Mummies of Egypt presents eight extraordinary mummies and also explores beliefs about the afterlife when Egypt was part of the Greek and Roman worlds.Centred on eight mummies from the Manchester Museum’s world-class collection, this exhibition offers an insight into the hopes and fears of the wealthy in society. Those who could afford the expensive process of mummification hoped to cheat death. This ancient ritual harnessed the protective power of a range of Egypt’s many gods to immortalise the deceased. By being covered in gold, the Egyptians hoped to imitate the eternal radiance of the gods themselves.The University of Manchester has led research on Egyptian mummies for over a century, having acquired many of its objects from archaeological excavations. Innovative visualisation technology is used to bring cutting-edge CT-scans to life. Importantly, the exhibition also asks why we are fascinated by mummies and what they might tell us about ourselves.The exhibition includes 360 degree interactive CT-scans of three mummies on display, allowing the visitor to see beneath the wrappings. Audio-visual translations of texts bring the words of ancient people to life and iconographic visualisations animate the gods the Egyptians hoped to meet.