Egyptian treasures for Swaffham museum

Watton and Swaffham Times

A carved hippopotamus with a broken leg, a bronze bowl, beauty products and precious rings - they are just some of the possessions of the pharaohs hidden from view for millennia.

But now, in a major coup for the town, more than a dozen artefacts from the tombs of ancient Egypt are to go on display at Swaffham Museum.

The museum, which took possession of the pieces on Thursday, is anticipating record visitor numbers as budding Egyptologists flock to see the finds.

David Butters, chairman of the museum trustees said: “This display will have them queuing out of the doors.

“It is fantastic and it is all thanks to the British Museum for their help and cooperation.”

Swaffham has close links to Egyptian history because Howard Carter, the archaeologist who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen, grew up in the town.

The artefacts on display, some of which date from the famous pharaoh's reign, have been placed in the museum's Howard Carter Room in a new state-of-the art-display case bought especially to accommodate them.