Friday, January 21, 2011

Virtual Reality Tour of the ROM's mummy babies

The Star, Ontario

With video.

Gayle Gibson, a teacher and Egyptologist at the ROM, takes us behind the scenes and reveals fascinating details of two little mummies in their collection. The mummies have not been on display to the public for decades and will likely remain in storage.

Somewhere deep in the organized jungle of museum storage, Gayle Gibson leans against a long stretch of counter, cooing and fussing over a baby named Hor.

“Poor little fella,” says Gibson, an Egyptologist and teacher at the Royal Ontario Museum. She smiles parentally at the 2,000-year-old mummified infant resting in front of her.

“He’s a nice little kid.”

The years have been good to the preserved infant, but his age does show. Hor is flatter than he used to be and freakishly long. He looks kind of like a deflated tire or a piece of chocolate that melted and got hard again.



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