Saturday, October 25, 2008

Mummy unveiled at Burke Museum

The Daily UW (Heather Milligan)

Swaying reeds line the Nile River as a breeze carries the scent of spices and ripening figs past obelisks and pyramids. Hieroglyphics, engraved into these monuments, tell tales of mighty pharaohs and battles.

Many people hope to see these marvels of Egypt one day, but the distance often proves to be too far. However, the Burke Museum will make this journey possible for a few short hours, through various artifacts, exhibits and lectures during the Mysteries of Ancient Egypt family event, Oct. 26.

The exhibit will feature Seattle’s only Egyptian mummy, nicknamed Nellie, who dates back about 2,000 years ago, to the Ptolemaic period.

“I’ve never actually experienced a public event when the mummy was on display,” said Allison Deep, archaeology collections assistant at the Burke. “The last time she was on display at the Burke Museum was in 2003.”

Nellie has been kept under wraps because of Washington’s climate and because of the previous care she received.

Brought to the museum in 1902 by former UW regent Manson Backus, Nellie has been exposed to more humidity damage in the past 106 years than the previous two millennia.


See the above page for full details, with photographs.

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