Do Mummies Belong in Museums?

Thousands of years ago, a man named Nes-Min lived on the banks of Egypt’s Nile River. As a priest, he spent his days tending to statues of the gods at a temple. Then, when he was in his 40s, he passed away, perhaps as the result of an infected tooth. 

Nes-Min’s body was carefully preserved and wrapped in strips of linen. His family decorated his coffin with symbols that represented his life. At his funeral, it’s likely that priests performed a ritual called the Opening of the Mouth, which they believed would allow Nes-Min to eat, drink, and speak in the afterlife. His body was then sealed into a tomb, where it was meant to remain forever.

But that’s not how things turned out for Nes-Min. 

Since 2010, his mummy has been traveling the United States as part of an exhibition called “Mummies of the World.” Every day, museum visitors peer at Nes-Min’s wrapped body, which now lies not inside a dark tomb but inside a glass case. The linen wrapping has torn over time; a few teeth poke through the cloth on his face. Some visitors are fascinated. Others are disturbed.

For more than a century, mummy exhibits have helped teach people about ancient Egypt. But recently, many museums have started asking whether mummies are too sacred to put on display. After all, those shrouded bodies were once living people with families and friends, just like us. So does that mean museums should stop exhibiting mummies?

The practice of mummification began in Egypt around 2,600 b.c. and continued for more than 2,000 years. Studying mummies has taught researchers a lot about ancient people, including what they ate and how they lived their daily lives. Mummy exhibits can help bring that history to life for the public. 

“Mummies draw attention to the past in a way that nothing else can,” says John Norman, the head of World Heritage Exhibitions, which produced “Mummies of the World.” 

That may be, but does gawking at mummies really add to our knowledge? The Egyptians left plenty of artifacts behind. Their pottery, jewelry, and tools, on view at museums around the world, help create a picture of the past. We can also learn about ancient Egypt online and from books and documentaries.

No one can say for sure whether ancient Egyptians would have approved of mummies being placed on display—but we can look to their beliefs for clues. Ancient Egyptians believed that people’s spirits returned to their bodies in the afterlife. The purpose of mummification was to preserve bodies for as long as possible.

Some scholars say that when we engage with mummies, we are helping Egyptians achieve the immortality they craved. “To have their bodies preserved, visited, and remembered was a very important part of ancient Egyptian beliefs,” says Peter Lacovara, an archaeologist who has studied some of Egypt’s most famous ancient sites. “Museums are doing exactly what [ancient Egyptians] would have wanted.”

But it’s also true that ancient Egyptians went to great lengths to protect their tombs. Burial chambers were often hidden deep within the earth, their entrances blocked with rubble. Heba Abd el Gawad, an Egyptian heritage expert in Cairo, says that mummy exhibits disregard the final wishes of the dead. 

“We know what Egyptians wanted to happen after death, and it never included such a public display, especially of unwrapped bodies,” she says. “They wanted their bodies left undisturbed.”

As museums rethink exhibiting mummies, they are wrestling with tough questions: Is it OK to show a wrapped mummy? Is selling mummy T-shirts, mugs, and postcards appropriate? Should visitors be permitted to take selfies with mummies?

Some museums have decided there is no respectful way to display mummies. In 2021, the Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, removed a mummy that had been on view for decades. Sanchita Balachandran, the museum’s associate director, says showing the mummy no longer felt right to the museum’s staff.

“We are really trying to think more carefully about how to be responsible to people of the past,” she says. 

Most everyone agrees that if mummies continue to be displayed, they should be handled with reverence. At the “Mummies of the World” exhibit, Nes-Min and dozens of other mummies are shown in dim, hushed rooms. Signs state that taking photos is prohibited. “They are human beings,” a recorded voice reminds guests, “and must be treated with dignity and respect in their death.” 

^{This article was originally published in the December 2022/ January 2023 issue.}