4,000-year-old Egyptian mummy to get a face-lift

The mummy returns.
 By 
Sohini Mitter
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The mummy returns, this time in India. An Egyptian mummy from 4,000 years ago will be restored in the eastern city of Kolkata, the Times of India reported Monday. Housed within the Indian Museum, the country’s largest and oldest museum, this mummy was brought to Kolkata by an Englishman in 1882, and continues to be among the most enduring attractions of the venue.

Incidentally, India is one of the few countries outside Europe and America that houses Egyptian mummies in six museums across six cities.

Though the mummy is well-preserved in an "insulated cabinet", experts will assess the conservation facilities going ahead, at the same time giving the museum's Egyptian Gallery section a much-needed face-lift.

For the restoration project, the Indian Museum will collaborate with Lucknow’s National Research Laboratory For Conservation Of Cultural Property and Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, formerly known as the Prince of Wales Museum.

The latter has helped restore a 4,500-year-old mummy this year from the State Museum in the southern city of Hyderabad.

Indian Museum director told TOI, "The mummy rests inside an insulated cabinet which has a micro-climate of its own. It is in no way exposed to the atmosphere. But the gallery needs to be repaired for it had been left out of the bicentenary renovation work two years ago."

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Sohini Mitter

India staff at Mashable. Formerly with Forbes India magazine and The Financial Express newspaper.

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