Museums Halt Use Of Word ‘Mummy’ On Ancient Egyptian Remains In Show Of Respect

Under the lens of popular culture, the word “mummy,” an archaeological term used to describe the remains of a person wrapped in bandages and inturned, has lost its meaning. It’s easy to now think of supernatural beings, Halloween, or even Brendan Fraser chasing after Imhotep through modern Egypt instead of the actual historical significance behind the word.

Museums in Britain are now reclaiming the word and asking visitors to rethink how they once perceived these ancient relics. In a blog post via the assistant keeper of archaeology at the Great North Museum: Hancock in Newcastle, the change in terminology was highlighted as an attempt to get people to remember that these remains once lived just as we do.

“We endeavour to display them in a respectful way that gives context to who the person was and how their body was prepared for burial,” the museum describes.

Whether it belonged to an ordinary person or was the body of a King, the museums think that their humanity should trump how they are perceived as “supernatural monsters” in pop culture.

The new outlook determines that more sensitive phrases such as “mummified remains” or “mummified person” better represent and add respect to the person on display.

 
According to CNN, the Great North Museum: Hancock recognized after a survey was conducted that some visitors did not even know they were looking at a natural person when standing over the corpse of an Egyptian woman named Irtyru.

In the same report, the British Museum notes that it hasn’t outwardly banned the use of the term, but it has changed its phrasing. It cited writing descriptions such as “mummified remains of [name of person]” instead to emphasize the life and death of this human.

The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh has used the word to describe items such as “mummy case” and “mummy bandage” instead of directly referring to the remains as such. The organization also added that it is looking at its imperial and colonial past and how it has affected communities such as Egypt.

 
Britain is home to many noteworthy Egyptian relics, such as the Rosetta stone. All things considered, there has been a growing trend of museums beginning talks on returning historical monuments to their home countries.
 
 
 
[via CNN and Ancient Origins, Photo 25590803 © Martin Žák | Dreamstime.com]