Friday, October 10, 2008

Safe journey... or your mummy back

The Northern Echo

TWO Egyptian mummies were yesterday transported into storage in a less than royal fashion – in a box van.

Even though the transport was not the most salubrious on offer, they were treated with the utmost care and deference.

Segedunum Roman Fort , in Wallsend, North Tyneside, bade farewell to its most popular guests, as they made their way to Beamish Museum, in Stanley, County Durham, before their final journey to the Great North Museum – due to open in Newcastle in April next year.

Irt-Irw, a 2,500-year-old mummy found in an ornate coffin in Thebes, Egypt, when Napoleon invaded in 1798, and Bakt-Hor-Nekht, who is still inside her coffin, left their temporary home yesterday.

The mummies and their coffins were placed in specially designed crates to ensure a safe journey, and conservation officer Rachel Metcalfe was on hand to ensure that everything went smoothly.


See the above page for the full story.

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