Mummy Madness Day

Reverent Remembrance

ARCE/NW was pleased to sponsor the Reverent Remembrance exhibition at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture at the University of Washington.

This exhibit introduced visitors into some of the celebrations, funerary practices and ancient rituals used by cultures, including ancient Egypt, from around the world to remember the dead.
The Burke’s Ptolemaic mummy and late 21st-early 22nd Dynasty coffin are the centerpieces of the Egyptian section.
The mummy (nicknamed Nellie) is the remains of a young woman who lived about 2,000 years ago, during the Ptolemaic period (332-30 BCE).
The decorated wooden coffin was found in Thebes, and dates to the 3rd Intermediate Period (1069-664 BCE).

ARCE/NW contributed to the exhibit in several ways:
A slide show featuring photos of Egypt taken by chapter president Scott Noegel.

Vice President Susan Cottman helped research and edit labels for the Egyptian objects that are displayed. Susan has been researching the coffin for the Burke Museum, and an excerpt from her report is featured in the Summer 2003 issue of Aegyptos, the ARCE/NW chapter newsletter. Susan gave 3 gallery talks about the coffin during Mummy Madness Day (MMD) on October 18, 2003 at the Burke. This day-long event featured lots of fun activities for kids — everything from mummy wrapping to creating ancient Egyptian amulets.

ARCE/NW board member and Professor Emeritus of African History (Central Washington University) Paul LeRoy entertained visitors during MMD with tales of ancient Egyptian mummies.

ARCE/NW was mentioned in a 10/17/03 Seattle Post-Intelligencer article on the exhibit and MMD.

The exhibition lecture series began with the ARCE/NW lecture “Whose Pharaohs: Archaeology, Museums, and Egyptian National Identity from Napoleon to World War I” by Donald Malcolm Reid at the Burke on October 2, 2003.

Photo: Remains of a young woman from the Ptolemaic Period. From the Fayum. Burke Catalog 366. Gift of Hon. Manson Backus. This image may not reproduced in any manner except with permission by the Burke Museum.
Copyright © 2003, the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture.

Last updated 2/7/04.