“A dead Egyptian body or a living British matriarch,” read the clue Alex Trebek gave to Jeopardy! Contestants in a February 2015 episode.
“What is a mummy?” answered one of the candidates.
Although Trebek accepted the answer, a museum curator in the UK today that very wording might tut-tut.
Visitors view some of the Egyptian mummies at the British Museum in London.
(Bryan Chan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
The National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh and the Great North Museum: Hancock in Newcastle have decided not to use it the term “mom”, rather “mummified remains” or “mummified person”.
“The word ‘mummy’ is not wrong but it is dehumanizing, while the use of the term ‘mummified person’ encourages our visitors to think of the person,” a spokeswoman for National Museums Scotland told the Daily Mail.
“If we know a person’s name, we use that, otherwise we use ‘mummified man, woman, boy, girl or person’ because we’re referring to people, not objects,” she added.
Jo Anderson, assistant archeology supervisor at the Great North Museum, explained the language switch in a lengthy blog post in 2021. The blog specifically focused on Irtyru, an old woman who has been on display in Newcastle for quite some time.
“The word ‘mummy’ today often evokes an image of a supernatural creature or a monster,” Anderson explained, adding that she hopes these old men and women will be treated as “real people who once lived and had very specific beliefs.” about how their bodies should be treated after death.”
The British Museum in London refuted a claim by the Daily Mail that they had banned the term themselves, but echoed the actions of their Edinburgh and Newcastle counterparts.
Museum staff view the Monstuef mummy mask and wreath at National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh.
(Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)
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Linguistic debate aside, the question of whether it is ethical to display human bodies in this way remains a current issue.
Anderson described several ways the remains of Irtyru were desecrated, including three surgeons unwrapping their bandages in front of a ticketed audience and applying shellac to them.
“A large bolt and ring were fastened through the skull so that it could be hung upright. At the same time, a large metal clamp was inserted into Irtyru’s spine, attaching it to the baseboards of the coffin below,” Anderson wrote.
Even mummies that weren’t so treated are shown out of their original context, another point of contention.
Archaeologists have now arrived Saqqara, Egypt have uncovered a pharaonic tomb containing what may be the country’s oldest and most complete mummy yet to be discovered, according to a statement from the excavation team leader Thursday.
The 4,300-year-old mummy has been identified as a man named Hekashepes. It was found at the bottom of a 15 meter shaft in a recently uncovered shaft Group of Tombs of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasty.
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Whether Hekashepes will ever be issued remains to be seen.
Reuters contributed to this report.
