http://ktla.com/2015/09/09/mummies-new-secrets-from-the-tombs/
Mummies: New Secrets From The Tombs
On view from September 18, 2015 through January 18, 2016, Mummies: New Secrets from the Tombs features 20 mummies and coffins including one of the oldest mummies in the world, from Pre-Dynastic Egypt to Pre-Incan Peru, alongside archaeological treasures such as stone sarcophagi fragments, mummified heads and trophy skulls, animal mummies, and pots to bring food and beer into the afterlife. Using modern and non-invasive research techniques, scientists and curators were able to avoid the hazards of unwrapping the fragile specimens to virtually uncover a wealth of new discoveries about the mummy individuals—each sacred storehouses of natural and cultural information. The exhibition presents these findings using CT scans, 3D-printed casts of bones and burial figurines; forensically reconstructed sculptural busts by renowned artist Elisabeth Daynès; and interactive touch tables for digitally unwrapping mummies to explore their interior. To celebrate the Los Angeles premiere, NHM will extend its opening day hours through midnight on Friday, September 18th.
The NHM presentation of Mummies: New Secrets from the Tombs explores the individuality of each mummy, all of whom were once living men, women, and children. Throughout the exhibition, scientific examination will uncover details about the mummies as individuals, their cultures, and why they were mummified.
Divided into two main sections, Peru and Egypt, each with its own introduction to discuss who is inside the wrappings of the mummies, how climate helps preserve human remains, and modern methods of examination. Burial tombs will be reconstructed within each area to gain a deeper understanding of the ingeniousness of burial techniques, and how living communities outside related to the mummies. Peruvian and Egyptian sections are linked together by a component that compares and contrasts each of the societies and their different responses to death, burial and the afterlife.
Mummification in Peru began 2,000 years before Egypt. Mummies explores the Chinchorro, Paracas, Chancay, Nazcan and later Incan traditions of burial and mummification. CT scans, X-rays, and 3D-printed skulls unlock mysteries inside the five Peruvian mummies profiled in the exhibition. One of the Peruvian mummy bundles is visually unwrapped by CT scan, and movingly reveals both a woman and her baby who probably both died in childbirth.
The Peruvian section of Mummies examines the different mummification and burial practices of Peruvian societies with burial objects often indicating their roles in life as weavers, fishermen, etc. De-fleshing blades used in the mummification process and a clay burial mummy mask show how the Chinchorro peoples memorialized their dead, while the Chancay culture’s sitting bundles are portrayed in layers of colorful textiles, surrounded by guardian figurines and pots of food and chicha (corn beer).
In contrast to the Egyptians, who tried to seal tombs forever and guard against thieves, Chancay families of Peru would quite often enter tombs to replenish food and drink offerings to their relatives.
The Egyptian section of Mummies: New Secrets from the Tombs recreates an immersive walk-in tomb, featuring real stone sarcophagus fragments and a real, intricately painted coffin from 600 BC (26th Dynasty). Visitors will understand why Egyptians mummified cats, baboons, gazelles, and crocodiles, and included these animal mummies when burying their loved ones. An extremely rare “naturally preserved” mummy of a woman pre-dates even the beginning of dynastic kingdoms in Egypt. Tools, canopic jars to hold preserved organs, simple and complex wrapping techniques, and gilded masks from later periods highlight the different mummification methods (artificial and natural) used in different eras of ancient Egypt.
Recently conserved mummies from Pre-Dynastic through Roman-Era Egypt are some of the most extraordinary in the exhibition. The 14-year-old boy “Minirdis” was mummified with beautiful cartonnage coverings and a gilded mask, but was interred in a used coffin from an earlier dynasty that, poignantly, was too big for him. Seeing the opened coffin of Minirdis in two pieces will allow visitors to understand how the coffin was constructed. The mummy of a 40-year-old female of the Roman era, known as “Gilded Lady,” had remained safely stored in the Museum’s vaults since 1893, along with several other mummies from the World’s Columbian Exposition. CT scans have revealed her age, a slight overbite, and Cleopatra-like curly hair. Visitors will also meet a boy from the Ptolemaic era (305 - 30 BC)—about eleven years old when he died. His family arranged for superbly gilded and decorated masks.
Planned around 10,000 square feet of exhibition space, Mummies will be installed inside NHM’s newly renovated galleries on the Ground Level and will feature a dedicated museum store inspired by the exhibition.
Organized by The Field Museum, Chicago, the exhibition will travel to other major natural history museums and science centers in the United States before returning to The Field in 2018.
Mummies: New Secrets from the Tombs
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90007
If you have questions, please feel free to call Gayle Anderson at 323-460-5732 or e-mail Gayle at Gayle.Anderson@KTLA.com
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