Manchester Museum has removed the 2,700-year-old Egyptian mummy Asru from public display, saying the decision aligns with what they believe would have been her wishes. The move has drawn criticism, with some branding it "mummy madness."
Consultation and Decision
The free-to-enter gallery undertook a year-long consultation on how to treat Asru's remains, asking for opinions from the public and experts in ancient Egypt. A panel at the museum decided to ask visitors: "Should we continue to display the body of Asru?"
The body of the mummy, believed to have been a woman who lived around 700BCE and died aged between 50 and 60, was donated to staff and unwrapped in 1825. It was then put on near-continuous display for 200 years at the Museum and its precursor, the Manchester Natural History Society.
Reasons for Removal
Ancient Egyptians believed once someone had been mummified, they must not be unwrapped. Campbell Price, curator of the museum's Egyptian and Sudanese collections, said last year folk needed to consider "what care for people and collections looks like, and what the future might hold for engagement with Asru."
A spokesperson for the Museum has now said, having considered the consultation: "The decision to remove Asru from display aligns most closely with what we understand about her own wishes. Elite Egyptians of her time expected that their mummified bodies would remain wrapped in their coffins, invisible to the living. Before making this change, we consulted with Egyptian colleagues, members of the Egyptian diaspora and visitors to the Museum, helping us to understand people's feelings about care for mummified people."
Mixed Reactions
The decision has sparked mixed reactions. Critics suggest it is a waste of taxpayer money, while supporters say it better connects Egyptians to their history displayed abroad.
Willian Yarwood, campaigns director at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Taxpayers will think curators have gone completely mummy mad. Treating human remains with respect is one thing, but hiding history away in the name of 'inclusion' is another. With millions in public funding, museums should be showing off their collections, not wrapping them back up."
But an expert said the move was about respecting the dead. Egyptian researcher Marwa Elhosary, of York University, said: "Today the Museum's decision to move her body to a place that preserves her privacy is a monumental shift, because by doing this it doesn't just respect the dead, it respects the living too, we don't need to display the body to tell her story. It's like we are telling her 'we remember you we haven't forgotten you, and you are among your people and your family' giving her back part of the humanity that was taken from her by unwrapping her body."
Manchester Museum were contacted for further comment but declined.
