“An old book smells like ancient Egypt…”
Ray Bradbury
As a boy I was fascinated with the South Australian Museum. To be honest I was really only interested in the Egyptian room on the third floor. Climbing the small stairway at the back go the building filled me with joy and terror. There was a mummy in there, my first encounter with a dead body. Endlessly, I asked my parents if it was real. In fact there is more than one mummy, and they are real.The complete mummy with sarcophagus was a commissioned purchase in 1890. It was acquired for the Museum by the Reverend Fletcher. Fletcher was a noted Egyptologist and prior VC of the University of Adelaide. After retirement he led purchasing/stealing tours to Middle East. The mummy is a woman called Renpit-Nefert, who based on CT evidence appears to have died at an advanced age, around 400BCE. Other disarticulated mummy pieces in the collection were donated in 1933 by Mr Gray of Orrorro. Presumably, souvenirs of WW1. Rumours abound that the SA Museum plans to modernise its displays and close the potentially problematic Egyptian room. I hope they don’t. #thatroomisstillmagical #letsmakelemonade
Pen Paint and Scalpel 