International Museum Day 2021: The Albert Hall Museum in Jaipur has 2,300-year-old Egyptian mummy
On International Museum Day 2021, let’s discuss the story of the 2,300-year-old Egyptian mummy which is among the rare objects of historical interest placed inside the Albert Hall Museum in Jaipur.
The mummy, named Tutu, a female member of a family of priests, dates back to Egypt’s Ptolemic period from early 300 B.C. to 30 B.C and was excavated from a pyramid in Akhmim area of the ancient city of Panopolis.
It is one of only six mummies preserved in India and was gifted by the Museum of Cairo for an exhibition in Jaipur organised by the then ruler of the princely state, Sawai Madho Singh II, in 1887. Three experts from Egypt’s Ministry of Culture, who came here in 2011 to conserve the mummy, had concluded that it was in good condition. They had sterilised all attached objects to wipe out microbes.
Mummy was saved from torrential rains
In 2020, during the torrential rains that lashed the city last week, The mummy was taken out of its glass box in the museum’s basement and shifted to another hall in the building.
The rainwater, which inundated several roads and residential colonies of the State capital on August 14, entered the museum’s basement and submerged artefacts, paintings, maps, files and documents. Just before the water at four-foot level could touch the mummy, the staff broke the glass and carried it to a dry area on the upper floor.