Escape the Mummy's Curse

Escape the Mummy's Curse

Samantha Kay Rivenbark

Explore the British Museum to escape the curse of the Unlucky Mummy!

Next

Getting Started

In this virtual escape room, you can interact with rooms and objects to learn about the British Museum. Immerse yourself in a mystery that has baffled visitors for over 100 years

• Click around the room to discover how to move through the museum

• If you get lost, there is a map on the bottom corner of each page
• This escape room is about an Egyptian mummy, but there is lots to learn about other exhibits in the British Museum!
• If you're stuck, click the button in the top right to reveal interactive areas
• Below are two examples of interactive elements.
• Click 'Start' to begin

Click to the left to reveal an interactive element

Click the map to view it

Start

You see the darkening sky through the windows of the Museum. You've spent a long day exploring the vast exhibits of the ancient world, but you know it's almost time to go. You just want to look at one more room...

Click 'Start'

The Sun is Setting on the British Museum

The Sun is Setting on the British Museum

Start

Entrance

Room 18

You're admiring the reliefs of Greek wars spanning the walls when the lights go out without warning. You freeze, hoping that the lights will turn back on at any moment. Then you realize you're alone in the gallery. When did everyone leave? More importantly, why aren't the lights coming back on?

Click around the room to explore

Exploring the Parthenon Room

You walk through the room, looking for clues. You hope to find a map, the museum's hours, anything that could help. You don't find anyone and become frustrated. Why is no one here? Why was there no warning before the lights went out?

Click around the room to explore

Go Back

You call for someone, anyone to help

The Museum is silent, your voice doesn't even echo. You are the only living person in a gallery of cold, marble faces. You get the feeling that their eyes follow you as you pass by...

Go Back

Keep Exploring?

While wandering the Greek statues, you finally see a hallway to the east. Should you go deeper into the Museum to try to find a way out? Or should you stay in Room 18 to wait for help?

Click around the room to explore to the North or to the East

More Statues...

You are the only living person in a gallery of cold, marble faces. You get the feeling that their eyes follow you as you pass by... You quickly turn around to leave. The quicker you can get away from the statues' eyes, the better.

Go Back

Countless rooms, filled with statues

To your left and right you see more Greek statues. Ahead you see countless more rooms filled with statues from all over the world. You can't remember which rooms you came through. Maybe if you could remember which room a map was in...

A locked door

You try the handle, but the door is locked. You can see a light shining behind it, but you don't hear any sound. It's dead silent behind the locked door.

Go Back

More Statues...

You are the only living person in a gallery of cold, marble faces. You get the feeling that their eyes follow you as you pass by... You quickly turn around to leave. The quicker you can get away from the statues' eyes, the better.

Go Back

Room 17

You leave the Greek statues of the Parthenon behind and enter into the West Wing. Before you is a maze of rooms filled with statues from across the ancient world. The sculptures in the West Wing are from Assyria, Greece, Rome, and your favorite, Egypt.

Click around the room to explore

You call for someone, anyone to help

The Museum is silent, your voice doesn't even echo. You are the only living person in a gallery of cold, watching eyes. You get the feeling that their eyes follow you as you pass by...

Go Back

Is someone watching?

Keep Going

Room 16

This room is filled only with friezes from a Greek temple. The friezes were once decorating the walls of the temple of Apollo in Bassai. The twisting bodies on the sculptures feel almost like they twist to watch you.

Click around the room to move to the next room

The Long Hall

You find yourself back in the long hallway that runs through the middle of the West Wing. You know the way to the Great Court, the way out, is through this hall, but you can't remember which rooms you had to go through.

Answer the question correctly to move in the right direction

Closer to the Great Court

You find yourself in Room 22, "Ptolemaic Egypt." You remember this room from earlier in the day. You learned about the Greek kings of Egypt and Cleopatra, the last pharaoh (king) of Egypt. You know it was close to the Great Court, but you can't remember which direction you should go. Before you can decide where to go, you see a shadow of movement to your left. A person! Maybe they can help!

Select an option to continue the story

Follow the Shadow

Run Away

Lost!

You get confused in the dark rooms and confusing hallways. You're lost, and it's too dark to make out details. You feel your way around the room. As your eyes adjust to the dark, you can make out a large statue in the middle of the room. You know that if you can figure out what the statue is, you'll know where you are and you can find your way back.

Click around the room to find your way again

The Silent Mausoleum

You follow the mysterious figure to room 21. As you follow them, you hear strange noises, like dragging feet shuffling across the floor. Confused, you wonder who you saw, who it is that you're following...

Who did you see?

A security guard

Was it my imagination?

A ghost

Something else...

Click and drag the light to find your way out of the mausoleum

Fumbling through the dark

You fall through a small door you didn't see in the dark mausoleum. You tumble into a new room, just as pitch black as the eerie tomb you came from. When you stand, you see a faint light directly ahead of you. Your eyes meet cold, painted on eyes filled with fury. Somehow, you know that the mummy in front of you was waiting. Waiting for you. You scream and run away.

Keep Going

You run away

You scream and run back out of the mausoleum. You saw eyes, someone was watching you! You're sure of it.

Who did you see?

A security guard

Was it my imagination?

A ghost

Something else...

A discarded pamphlet?

You run blindly around the corner, trying to find an unlocked door. Instead, you only find cold stone pillars and headless statues. You notice a crumpled piece of paper, discarded at the base of one of the many statues. You pick up the paper to throw it away when you find a trashbin. You flatten out the paper, curious, and realize it's an informational pamphlet from the museum.

The Curse of the Unlucky Mummy!

This ancient Egyptian mummy has cursed all those who come across it since the 1860s. The mummy is said to be a vengeful spirit, seeking revenge for being removed from its tomb in Egypt. When Thomas Douglas Murray bought the mummy in the 1860s, he died shortly after! Two of his companions lost their entire fortunes, and another was gravely injured. Talk about bad luck!

Today, the Unlucky Mummy is on display right here in the British Museum. It has been here since the 1890s, but not without strange events. There have been more injuries and deaths related to the mummy since its display. A photographer claimed that any photograph he took of the mummy came out with the image of an angry woman! Some even blame the sinking of the RMS Titanic on the mummy!

Click the pamphlet to enlarge it

Those Eyes...

You read the pamphlet with shaking hands. At the top of the second page is an image of the Unlucky Mummy's eyes. Eyes that you know you saw watching you earlier. You realize that the mummy, angry and looking for revenge, has been watching you all night. You wonder if it's the reason you became trapped here in the first place... You keep moving forward, looking for an unlocked door. You need to learn more about this mummy to stay safe until morning.

Keep Going

Finally, an unlocked door...

You find the door to the West Staircase and turn the handle. Surprisingly, the door is unlocked, and it squeaks as you open it. It only leads to the second floor, but maybe there are things here will give you some answers...

The Second Floor

You slowly climb the stairs to the second floor, where you saw those angry eyes watching you. Feeling uneasy, you set out to find answers to the strange things you've seen. The feeling of being watched strengthens with every step you take, but you push on. Surely there's nothing to be afraid of in the dark museum...

Click the 'Start' button to explore the second floor

A Hallway and a Map

Entering the second floor, you find that it's split into two rows of rooms with open doors. You sigh in relief, at least finding your way through the second floor will be easier. On the wall to the right of you is a map, which tells you that the Egyptian Wing is ahead and to the left.

A locked door

You try the handle, but the door is locked. The map shows you that there are more gallery rooms beyond the door. You turn back to explore the rest of the rooms.

Go Back

Dark, endless rooms

The second floor is split into two rows of rooms. The first row displays the ancient Middle East. Knowing that the Ancient Egyptian section is not far behind, you turn down the hall into the Egyptian Wing. Finding the right mummy should be easy. How many mummies could there be in two rooms of the wing? As you enter the Egyptian Wing, your stomach drops. In front of you, dozens and dozens of mummies face you in their cold display cases.

Explore the room to find the right mummy

Searching the staring faces

You begin searching through the seemingly endless display cases full of Egyptian mummies. Each face seems so lifelike, bursting with emotions. Their eyes seem to follow you as you pass. Or is that your imagination? You continue to explore, hoping to find some sort of clue that leads you to the right mummy.

Explore the room to search for the right mummy

The Unlucky Mummy

Just as you start to feel hopeless, you see familiar painted eyes. It's the mummy! You found it at last! You walk up to the mummy, getting as close as the glass display case will allow. You see now that the "Unlucky Mummy" is a woman covered in jewelry and hieroglyphs. You study the hieroglyphs on the coffin, wondering what they say...

Click around the room to find out more

The Missing Plaque

It seems as though every piece of information you find is damaged, missing, or too confusing to understand. Frustrated, you turn away from the mummy, back towards the entrance you came through. Looking at the rows of rooms and feeling the crumpled pamphlet in your pocket, you have an idea. What if who or whatever tore the plaque dropped it somehwhere nearby?

Explore the room to find the missing piece

Searching the rooms

You pass through the rooms filled with Egyptian mummies and statues. As you search for the missing plaque, you realize that some rooms are lit, while others are dark. As you continue your search, you avoid looking at the faces of the mummies. They seem almost... amused. The gentle smiles and dark, unblinking eyes unnerve you.

Explore the room to find the missing piece

Hieroglyphs?

Your mind races. Hieroglyphs? Every mummy, statue, shabti, piece of jewelry and furniture you had seen was covered in the ancient language. The Unlucky Mummy was no different. You wonder if the hieroglyphs could give you the answers. Maybe the Mummy has curses written all over it, or it explains why it's so angry. You decide to search for the translation instead of the plaque.

Explore the papyrus for clues to decode the hieroglyphs

The search continues

The plaques placed on every wall and display case in the museum slowly reveal the truth about Egyptian hieroglyphs. Letters, phrases, names, and scenes from ancient Egyptian life dance behind your eyelids when you close your eyes. You found some translation guides in other rooms, so you decide to continue searching for more. You know the Rosetta Stone is back downstairs, but is there a way to translate hieroglyphs without it?

Explore the room to find answers

A hidden shelf?

As you search the room, you find two small shelves hidden on the side of a pedestal. The tablet displayed on the pedestal is about an ancient Egyptian myth, but the papers you find in the shelf are not. You slide the papers out of the shelf to read them, but you find that one of them is written in hieroglyphs...

Read the papers to find the answers and break the curse

Magic spells and mummy coffins

The information sheet explain that the only magic spells Egyptians used were for safe travels to the afterlife. It seems like the only thing they cared about was their happiness and safety in death, not what happened to their bodies. Could you have been wrong about the Unlucky Mummy? Could the hieroglyphs on its coffin be about religious figures and nothing else? As you walk, you notice strange marks on the floor...

Explore the room to inspect the floor

Returning to the Unlucky Mummy

As you walk back through the halls to the Unlucky Mummy, you consider what you found. Could it really be that there were no curses written on the coffin? Everything you had found out about the hieroglyphs and Egyptian funeral practices told you that Egyptians didn't care about their bodies very much once they died, only that they rested and had guidance to the afterlife. When you turn to face the mummy, you see that someone replaced the missing plaque!

This object perhaps best known for the strange folkloric history attributed to it: it has acquired the popular nickname of the 'Unlucky Mummy', with a reputation for bringing misfortune. None of these stories have any basis in fact, but from time to time the strength of the rumors has led to a flood of enquiries. The mummy is said to have been bought by one of four young English travelers in Egypt during the 1860s or 1870s. Two died or were seriously injured in shooting incidents, and the other two died in poverty within a short time. The mummy was passed to the sister of one of the travelers, but as soon as it had entered her house the occupants suffered a series of misfortunes. The celebrated clairvoyant Madame Helena Blavatsky is alleged to have detected an evil influence, ultimately traced to the mummy. She urged the owner to dispose of it and in consequence it was presented to the British Museum. The most remarkable story is that the mummy was on board the SS Titanic on its maiden voyage in 1912, and that its presence caused the ship to collide with an iceberg and sink!

"The Unlucky Mummy"

The missing plaque!

The plaque you were reading about the Tale of Two Brothers was written small enough that you had to lean close to it to read it. When you leaned over the tablet on display, you saw yet another hidden piece of paper... No, a plaque! You snatch the plaque from its hiding spot and dash back to the Unlucky Mummy. This is the missing piece! Maybe you can learn more about this mummy and end its curse once and for all...

Add the plaque back to the display to find the answer

This object perhaps best known for the strange folkloric history attributed to it: it has acquired the popular nickname of the 'Unlucky Mummy', with a reputation for bringing misfortune. None of these stories have any basis in fact, but from time to time the strength of the rumors has led to a flood of enquiries. The mummy is said to have been bought by one of four young English travelers in Egypt during the 1860s or 1870s. Two died or were seriously injured in shooting incidents, and the other two died in poverty within a short time. The mummy was passed to the sister of one of the travelers, but as soon as it had entered her house the occupants suffered a series of misfortunes. The celebrated clairvoyant Madame Helena Blavatsky is alleged to have detected an evil influence, ultimately traced to the mummy. She urged the owner to dispose of it and in consequence it was presented to the British Museum. The most remarkable story is that the mummy was on board the SS Titanic on its maiden voyage in 1912, and that its presence caused the ship to collide with an iceberg and sink!

"The Unlucky Mummy"

The Unlucky Mummy... Coffin?

The mummy was never a mummy? The Unlucky Mummy was a mummy-board, a coffin lid, decorated to look like the person who was supposed to lay in it for eternity. Your eyes drift to the mummy resting at the right of the Unlucky "Mummy." If there was no mummy, there couldn't be a curse. The fear you felt is fading, replaced with confusion. Who did you see downstairs, walking away? Could it been a security guard after all? You look at the mummy coffin, at the face of the woman who once rested in it. As the sun rises, the light falls on her face. Her eyes seem less angry now, perhaps sad...

This object perhaps best known for the strange folkloric history attributed to it: it has acquired the popular nickname of the 'Unlucky Mummy', with a reputation for bringing misfortune. None of these stories have any basis in fact, but from time to time the strength of the rumors has led to a flood of enquiries. The mummy is said to have been bought by one of four young English travelers in Egypt during the 1860s or 1870s. Two died or were seriously injured in shooting incidents, and the other two died in poverty within a short time. The mummy was passed to the sister of one of the travelers, but as soon as it had entered her house the occupants suffered a series of misfortunes. The celebrated clairvoyant Madame Helena Blavatsky is alleged to have detected an evil influence, ultimately traced to the mummy. She urged the owner to dispose of it and in consequence it was presented to the British Museum. The most remarkable story is that the mummy was on board the SS Titanic on its maiden voyage in 1912, and that its presence caused the ship to collide with an iceberg and sink!

"The Unlucky Mummy"

The Sun Rises on the British Museum

Stressed, confused, and exhausted to the bone, you sit on the floor in front of the "Unlucky Mummy." You think about the strange occurrences throughout the night. You stare at the eyes of the mummy, the priestess. You decide to wait with her until someone finds you, she doesn't seem so angry now in the soft light of the morning. As you sit with the priestess, you consider the myths and the curse stories you read about. Why would someone make up stories about an empty coffin? The hieroglyphs on the case were about gods and the afterlife, not curses. The coffin was... a safe place, for the priestess to journey to her afterlife. It seems so sad that she has been made to seem angry and evil, just because her language was understood.

This object perhaps best known for the strange folkloric history attributed to it: it has acquired the popular nickname of the 'Unlucky Mummy', with a reputation for bringing misfortune. None of these stories have any basis in fact, but from time to time the strength of the rumors has led to a flood of enquiries. The mummy is said to have been bought by one of four young English travelers in Egypt during the 1860s or 1870s. Two died or were seriously injured in shooting incidents, and the other two died in poverty within a short time. The mummy was passed to the sister of one of the travelers, but as soon as it had entered her house the occupants suffered a series of misfortunes. The celebrated clairvoyant Madame Helena Blavatsky is alleged to have detected an evil influence, ultimately traced to the mummy. She urged the owner to dispose of it and in consequence it was presented to the British Museum. The most remarkable story is that the mummy was on board the SS Titanic on its maiden voyage in 1912, and that its presence caused the ship to collide with an iceberg and sink!

"The Unlucky Mummy"

The End

Sometime later, a security guard walks through the gallery where you're waiting. He jumps at the sight of you. You explain that you were locked in last night at closing, and then you explain all of the weird and frightening things that happened around you. "I'm very sorry you were locked in," the guard, Sam, apologizes. "Some kids broke in last night a few hours after close, they tampered with displays and caused all sorts of trouble. I've been chasing them down all night, which is why I never found you." Sam leads you out of the Museum as its employees file in for the day. You decide not to tell him that you thought a mummy was stalking the museum to lay a curse on you. It seems almost silly now, after sitting with the priestess. She didn't move or even blink, she only stared blankly out at the other mummies kept behind glass.

Thank you for playing!

Click this button for a surprise

Acknowledgements

This project was built under the guidance, support, and advice of UNCC History faculty. I want to thank Dr. Shull for her guidance and feedback throughout my time as a student, her help has been invaluable in my development of this project and as a public historian. I would also like to thank Dr. Thorsheim and Dr. Johnson for their feedback on the ideas for this project. Without each of your support, my crazy idea for an escape room would not have become a reality. Special thanks to Niko Prizzi for design editing and playtesting this project. Many accessibility and user-friendly design concepts are based on feedback from his playtests.

The security guard was named after my grandfather, Big Sam

Resources

This project accompanies the thesis "British Egyptology: Mania, Adventure, and Orientalism in the Nineteenth Century" in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History, Public History concentration at UNC Charlotte. Research for this project is sourced from both the accompanying thesis and the research materials used in it. Sources include newspapers, personal journals, and scholarly publications. Some information and images are sourced directly from the British Museum's Galleries, Collections, and Accessibility pages. All information from the website is linked on individual pages.

To view the full bibliography for this project, click here. To view the British Museum's website, click here.

Egyptian Life and Death

The Ancient Middle East

Rooms 61-65

Rooms 53-59

This gallery explores death and the afterlife, something which held particular significance and meaning for the ancient Egyptians. Mummification, magic and ritual are investigated through the objects on display here. These include mummies, coffins, funerary masks, portraits and other items designed to be buried with the deceased.

The civilisations of Babylonia and Assyria flourished during the first millennium BC. Political developments resulted in the incorporation of the entire Near East into a single empire, while increased international contact and trade influenced the material culture of the region.

The Lion Guards

Marble forepart and body of a lion. Missing are the hindquarters, rear legs, both forelegs from just below the body, the nose and lower jaw. The two fragments do not closely adjoin, although they probably belong to the same animal, and there is a large area of plaster restoration between them on each flank. There is damage to the mane on top of the head and neck, and also to the left ear. The surface of the marble is severely weathered, particularly on the right side.

The British Museum, “Figure,” https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1857-1220-241

The Staring Horse

Marble statue from the East pediment of the Parthenon (East pediment O). This figure was carved as an isolated horse’s head. Its ears are flattened back, its jaw gapes, it has flared nostrils and bulging eyes. A portion of the lower jaw and the inner side of the top of the head were cut away. This is the head of one of the horses that drew the chariot of the moon goddess Selene or Nyx, goddess of the night. Two other horses and Selene’s torso are in the Acropolis Museum, Athens.

The British Museum, “Statue; Pediment,” https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1816-0610-98.

The Bust of a King

Limestone bust of a royal figure, likely a sculptor’s model or trial piece. The king is depicted wearing the nemes headcloth (a striped headdress worn by Egyptian Kings, set low on the forehead and with the material tucked behind the ears. The smooth lappets extend down past the shoulders and reach to his chest. An ornament depicting a cobra’s coiled body is placed at the centre of the nemes above the forehead.

Faces of kings in the round were a popular subject for sculptor's models, particularly in the 30th Dynasty and early Ptolemaic Period. Such models were used by the sculptor as an aid to ensure the production of an even three-dimensional sculpture

The British Museum, “Figure; Trial-Piece,” https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA48665.

A Sri Lankan Goddess

A standing figure of a female deity (called Tārā) solid cast in bronze and gilded. The figure has a high tubular coiffure (a hairstyle called jatamukuta) held in place by a medallion flanked by makara-s (water creatures). The medallion was probably set with stones, as were the eyes. The earlobes are elongated and the lower body dressed in a tight-fitting cloth knotted at the hips. The upper body is uncovered. The proper right hand is in varadamudrā (gesture of giving), the left hand in katakahastamudrā (the hand pose wherein the tips of the fingers are applied to the thumb so as to form a ring, as if to hold a flower). The two middle fingers of the right hand are missing as are toes from both feet.

The British Museum, “Figure,” https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1830-0612-4.

How did the British Museum get its collections?

The British Museum, The Rosetta Stone.

Research into the history of the collections in the museum is ongoing. Many objects have been a part of the collection for hundreds of years so it's not always possible to know their full history. Some ways in which objects entered the British Museum are no longer current or acceptable, though others remain familiar. Objects continue to be collected to ensure the collection remains relevant and representative today and into the future. The British Museum acknowledges the controversial histories of its collections, including the contested means by which some collections have been acquired, such as through military action and its consequences.

The British Museum, “Collecting Histories,” https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/collecting-histories.

The Parthenon Sculptures

Where are they from?

The British Museum, “The Parthenon Sculptures,” https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/parthenon-sculptures.

The Curse of the Mummy

As long as archaeologists have been opening Egyptian tombs and unlocking the secrets of the ancient Egyptians, strange events have followed mummies. Archaeologists, journalists, and travelers have met untimely fates after encountering an Egyptian mummy. Some say that these mummies are angry with the archaeologists who removed them from their eternal rest. In their anger, are ancient Egyptians taking their revenge on anyone who encounters a mummy?

An illustration by Martin van Maële of the mummy from "Lot No. 249" a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle published in 1892.

The British Museum, “Greece: Athens and Lycia,” https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/galleries/greece-athens-and-lycia.

Two Reclining Women

Marble statue of two female figures from the East pediment of the Parthenon (called L and M). The East pediment showed the miraculous birth of the goddess Athena from the head of her father Zeus. Many of the figures from the central scene are now fragmentary or entirely lost. Figure L sits and M reclines on a stepped rock. Both wear chitons with buttoned sleeves and a himation (a Greek one-shoulder garment). L's chiton is additionally fastened with a cord across the shoulders. M reclines in L's lap, her right shoulder exposed.

The figures are carved from one block. The heads, hands and feet are missing. They are perhaps, from left to right, Hestia, Dione, and her daughter Aphrodite. However, another suggestion is that the two figures on the right are the personification of the Sea (Thalassa) in the lap of the Earth (Gaia).

The British Museum, “Statue; Pediment,” https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1816-0610-97.

Some rooms have secrets!

Click around rooms to find hidden pages like this one

Hidden pages will sometimes give you more information about exhibits in the British Museum. Some have questions hints, so be sure to explore the rooms! Use the information to answer questions and find tools you'll need to escape the Museum!

The Bassai Sculptures

The Temple of Apollo Epikourios ('Apollo the Helper') was built high on a rocky ridge of Mount Kotylion at Bassai in south-west Arcadia, a region of Greece. In the 2nd century AD, the Greek historian Pausanias wrote that the name 'Helper' was given to Apollo by citizens of nearby Phigaleia. It was in thanks for their deliverance from the plague of 429–427 BC. He also wrote that the temple was designed by Iktinos, one of the architects of the Parthenon. The Bassai Frieze is a high-relief marble sculpture. The 23 blocks of the frieze that ran around the interior of the temple show the battle between the Greeks and Amazons and the Lapiths and Centaurs.

The British Museum, “Greece: Bassai Sculptures,” https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/galleries/greece-bassai-sculptures.

The Harpy Tomb at Lycia

This tomb found in Lycia, Turkey in 1848 is from the Hellenistic Era of Greek history. Experts at the time first interpreted the reliefs as telling the myth of harpies attacking the daughters of King Pandareos of Lycia. These early interpretations have been proven false, but the tomb's real subject matter is still debated today.

The British Museum, “Greece: Athens and Lycia,” https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/galleries/greece-athens-and-lycia.

The Parthenon was built as a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena.

It was the centerpiece of an ambitious building programme on the Acropolis of Athens. The temple's great size and lavish use of white marble was intended to show off the city's power and wealth at the height of its empire. Room 18 exhibits sculptures that once decorated the outside of the building. The pediments and metopes (square spaces between triglyphs in a Doric frieze) illustrate episodes from Greek myth, while the frieze represents the people of contemporary Athens in religious procession.

The British Museum, “Greece: Parthenon,” https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/galleries/greece-parthenon.

Strange Eyes

While searching the dark room, you find a statue of an Egyptian woman carved onto a rock. You run your hand around the stone and circle it slowly, trying to figure out which statue it is. Are you back in the Egyptian rooms? That would mean you're close to the Great Court, the exit! As you touch the rough stone, you look up for signs of what room you're in. Instead, you see a dimly lit window on the second floor of the building. Are those... eyes?

In the window you see blank eyes staring out over the dark room. No... the eyes are watching you. The eyes are not human. They look painted on. The eyes are blank, yet somehow you know whoever— whatever is wacthing you is angry. You turn away, desperate to find your way out of this room.

Ramesses II ruled in Thebes, where they worshipped the god Amen-Ra. Egyptian gods Amen and Ra, the sun god, were combined into this one superior god during Ramesses II's dynasty in roughly 1250 BCE. Ramesses II's cartouche, his name written in hieroglyphs:

The British Museum, “Egyptian Sculpture,” https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/galleries/greece-athens-and-lycia.

The Unblinking Statues

The frieze shows the procession of the Panathenaic festival, the commemoration of the birthday of the goddess Athena. The frieze comprises of mounted horsemen, chariots, elders, musicians, pitcher-bearers, tray-bearers and figures leading sacrificial victims. The groups of riders are not divided equally. Dress varies from figure to figure. Some are heavily draped in mantle and tunic, while others are all but naked. Some ride bareheaded, while others wear a distinctive form of cap or a helmet.

The British Museum, “Temple-Relief,” https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1816-0610-46-b.

Answer this question correctly to find your way again.

The Wrong Mummy

Looking at the first mummy you see, you realize this is going to be harder than you thought. You only have the feeling of those angry eyes watching you, a small, crumpled picture of the mummy's face, and a pamphlet about the curse. Surely there's an easier way to find the right mummy?

Death and the Afterlife Held Particular Significance and Meaning for the Ancient Egyptians

The significance of death and the afterlife to ancient Egyptians meant complex funeral preparations and rites to ensure the transition of the individual from earthly existence to immortality. To ensure a successful afterlife for the dead through mummification, most internal organs were removed and preserved in distinctive jars. The brain was also removed, but not preserved, and the rest of the body was dried with natural salt, treated with oils and resins, and tightly wrapped in bandages.

The Book of the Dead of Hunefer

Small figures called shabtis were buried to provide for the deceased and help them pass into the afterlife. Animals sacred to the gods, like bulls, crocodiles, cats and falcons, were also mummified.

(Right) Blue-glazed Shabti of Sety I

British Museum, "Egyptian Death and Afterlife: Mummies," https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/galleries/egyptian-death-and-afterlife-mummies.

A Mummified Cat

You crouch down to examine a smaller mummy, only to find that it's a mummified cat. You notice the wrappings are intricately woven into a pattern and the head has a painted on face, not unlike a drawing of a cat that you would make.

The Wooden Coffin of Pensenhor

Pensenhor was a Libyan who settled in Egypt. The coffin lid features painted decoration: wearing wig and collar, the lid is decorated with religious scenes, including representations of Osiris, the four Sons of Horus, Thoth and Isis, and a prayer to Osiris. Unusual features include the vignette showing Anubis weighing the heart of the deceased and the emblem of Osiris hung over the collar. The foot section is decorated with a representation of the deceased before Osiris and Isis.

British Museum, "Wooden Coffin," https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA24906

A hand beckons you forward...

Mummy-Board 22542, "The Unlucky Mummy"

This object perhaps best known for the strange folkloric history attributed to it: it has acquired the popular nickname of the 'Unlucky Mummy', with a reputation for bringing misfortune. None of these stories have any basis in fact, but from time to time the strength of the rumours has led to a flood of enquiries. The mummy-board is said to have been bought by one of four young English travellers in Egypt during the 1860s or 1870s. Two died or were seriously injured in shooting incidents, and the other two died in poverty within a short time. The mummy-board was passed to the sister of one of the travellers, but as soon as it had entered her house the occupants suffered a series of misfortunes. The celebrated clairvoyant Madame Helena Blavatsky is alleged to have detected an evil influence, ultimately traced to the mummy-board. She urged the owner to dispose of it and in consequence it was presented to the British Museum. The most remarkable story is that the mummy-board was on board the SS Titanic on its maiden voyage in 1912, and that its presence caused the ship to collide with an iceberg and sink! Needless to say,

British Museum, "Mummy-Board," https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA22542

Statue of Senusret III

Senusret III ruled Egypt during the 12th Dynasty. Senusret wears a nemes headcloth with a uraeus and his characteristic amulet. He is depicted in an attitude of prayer, standing with his open hands on the stiffened front panel of his elaborately pleated, knee-length kilt. The extraordinary quality of the work is best seen in the subtle modeling of the king's soft but youthful-looking torso and the bravura carving of his incongruously craggy face. Senusret III was an influential ruler: he led many campaigns against Nubia, and built a chain of forts to secure a new fixed southern border at Semna. During his reign, Egypt went through significant changes in material culture. There was a major overhaul of burial customs, with the disappearance of wooden models and an end to the custom of writing extensive rituals and other funerary literature on coffins

British Museum, "Senusret III," https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA686; University College London, "Senusret III," https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/chronology/senusretIII.html

Explore the beginnings of ancient Egyptian civilisation, which developed along the Nile from about 11000 BC.

The annual flooding of the Nile created fertile land ideal for growing crops. Rapid advances in technology and social organisation during the fifth millennium BC produced a material culture of increasing sophistication. Toward the end of the Predynastic period, (about 3300 BC), regional rulers began competing for power and territory. This conflict ultimately led to the unification of Egypt under one king at about 3100 BC. The strong central control and increase in wealth led to dramatic achievements in architecture, writing and fine goods, culminating in the building of the Great Pyramids of Giza in about 2600 BC.

British Museum, "Early Egypt," https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/galleries/early-egypt

Shabtis on Display

Shabtis are small figures of adult male or female form inscribed with a special formula to be recited to carry out heavy manual tasks on behalf of a person in the afterlife. These figures were buried with the deceased to help them pass into the afterlife. In the New Kingdom (about 1550-1069 BC) and Late Period (about 1550 - 332 BC) these figures were carved in stone or wood or formed in faience. From the neck down the body was usually in the form of a mummy, but at the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty there are also shabtis in daily life dress. Shabtis were usually represented with tools in their hands - baskets, mattocks and hoes. The number of shabtis in a standard burial grew over time, from one in the Eighteenth Dynasty, to several in the Nineteenth Dynasty, to one for every day of the year by the Third Intermediate Period. In the early Third Intermediate Period (about 1069-850 BC), there was a special form of shabti with one hand to the side, the other holding a whip. These are 'overseers' to keep control of a set of ten: a typical elite burial would then have thirty-six overseers to keep control of the three hundred and sixty-five ordinary workers. In the Late Period the numbers remained in the hundreds, but the 'overseer' type was no longer used.

University College London, "Shabtis," https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/burialcustoms/shabtis.html

Timeline of Early Egypt

British Museum, "Early Egypt," https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/galleries/early-egypt

Reading Egyptian Hieroglyphs

Hieroglyphs is one of the oldest forms of writing in the world. Depicting objects and living beings from the real world such as humans, animals or plants, this script was used across Egypt for thousands of years. But until 1799, when the chance discovery of an object in an Egyptian fort provided the key to their decipherment, the meaning of this pictorial language remained a mystery.

British Museum, "How Egyptian Hieroglyphs were Decoded, a Timeline to Decipherment," https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/hieroglyphs-unlocking-ancient-egypt/egyptian-hieroglyphs-decipherment-timeline

Using inscriptions on the very objects that Champollion and other scholars studied, this immersive exhibition helped visitors to unlock one of the world’s oldest civilisations.

For centuries, life in ancient Egypt was a mystery.

Hieroglyphs revealed an unshakeable belief in the power of the pharaohs and the promise of the afterlife. Ancient Egyptians enjoyed good food, writing letters and making jokes.

We could only glimpse into this hidden world, until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone provided the key to decoding hieroglyphs, allowing us to read this ancient script. The breakthrough expanded our understanding of human history by some 3,000 years.

Initial efforts to translate were made by medieval Arab travelers and Renaissance scholars until more focused progress by French scholar Jean-François Champollion (1790–1832) and England’s Thomas Young (1773–1829) was made. The Rosetta Stone, discovered in 1799, with its decree written in hieroglyphs, demotic and the known language of ancient Greek, provided the key to decoding the ancient signs.

Hieroglyphs were not just beautiful symbols, they represented a living, spoken language.

From romantic poetry and international treaties, to shopping lists and tax returns, the hieroglyphic inscriptions and ancient handwriting revealed stories that are fantastically varied!

British Museum, "Hieroglyphs: Unlocking Ancient Egypt," https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/hieroglyphs-unlocking-ancient-egypt

Several Ancient Egyptian Coffins and Mummy Cases Have Been Found Covered in a Mysterious 'Black Goo'.

Djedkhonsiu-ef-ankh lived and died almost 3,000 years ago in ancient Egypt. We don't know a lot about Djedkhonsiu-ef-ankh's life, but we do know he was a priest in the temple of Amun at Karnak. Here he had two main roles – one was 'Opener of the Doors of Heaven', which meant he was one of the priests who was entitled to open the doors of the shrine in the temple sanctuary, containing the cult image of Amun. After Djedkhonsiu-ef-ankh died, he was mummified, wrapped in fine linen and sewn into his plaster and linen mummy case. This case was painted in bright colors and gilded with gold leaf over the face. At the time of his funeral, he was lowered into his coffin, and carried to his tomb. Then several liters of warm black 'goo' were poured all over the mummy case, covering it completely, effectively cementing the case into the coffin. The lid was then placed on the coffin, and he was left to journey forth to the underworld. Djedkhonsiu-ef-ankh was not unique. Though not used by everyone there are a number of instances of this 'black goo' being used in Egyptian burials. But what is it? And if we find out what it was made from, can we learn more about why the Egyptians used it?

We discovered that the goo is made of a combination of plant oil, animal fat, tree resin, beeswax and bitumen – which is solid crude oil. The exact ingredients vary from one coffin to the next, but the goo was always made from some of these ingredients.

There is more to be discovered. Most of the research so far has been into later examples of black goo, we hope that looking at examples from earlier times will tell us how the ingredients changed over time. We also hope to make some of the black goo ourselves to enable us to think more about how it was stored, transported and poured, what it smelt like, and how hot it had to be. This will help us to reimagine what a funeral might have been like in ancient Egyptian times.

British Museum, "Egyptian Coffins and Mystery Black Goo," https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/ancient-egyptian-coffins-and-mystery-black-goo

Using inscriptions on the very objects that Champollion and other scholars studied, this immersive exhibition helped visitors to unlock one of the world’s oldest civilisations.

For centuries, life in ancient Egypt was a mystery.

Hieroglyphs revealed an unshakeable belief in the power of the pharaohs and the promise of the afterlife. Ancient Egyptians enjoyed good food, writing letters and making jokes.

We could only glimpse into this hidden world, until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone provided the key to decoding hieroglyphs, allowing us to read this ancient script. The breakthrough expanded our understanding of human history by some 3,000 years.

Initial efforts to translate were made by medieval Arab travelers and Renaissance scholars until more focused progress by French scholar Jean-François Champollion (1790–1832) and England’s Thomas Young (1773–1829) was made. The Rosetta Stone, discovered in 1799, with its decree written in hieroglyphs, demotic and the known language of ancient Greek, provided the key to decoding the ancient signs.

Hieroglyphs were not just beautiful symbols, they represented a living, spoken language.

From romantic poetry and international treaties, to shopping lists and tax returns, the hieroglyphic inscriptions and ancient handwriting revealed stories that are fantastically varied!

British Museum, "Hieroglyphs: Unlocking Ancient Egypt," https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/hieroglyphs-unlocking-ancient-egypt

Cartonnage of the lady Baketenhor. Egypt, late 22nd Dynasty, between 945 and 715 BC. Courtesy of the Natural History Society of Northumbria. Image Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums. Champollion studied this cartonnage and mummy in the 1820s. In correspondence with colleagues in Newcastle, Champollion correctly identified the inscription on the mummy cover as a prayer addressed to several deities for the soul of the deceased.

British Museum, Hieroglyphs: Unlocking Ancient Egypt," https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/hieroglyphs-unlocking-ancient-egypt#&gid=1&pid=7

The Key to Decipherment

French political and military leader Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt in 1798 to cut off Britain's profitable trade route to India via the Red Sea. He also brought a large team of scholars and scientists who surveyed and mapped the country. In July 1799, French soldiers who were repairing a fort in the port city of Rashid pulled a large broken stone from the rubble of its foundations. On the stone were carved three distinct scripts: hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek. The stone's significance was immediately recognised – could this finally be the key to decipherment?

Prints and casts of the Rosetta Stone were distributed across Europe drawing the attention of French scholar Jean-François Champollion and England's Thomas Young. Their work overlapped as they came to realize that at least some of the hieroglyphs represented spoken words.

British Museum, Hieroglyphs: Unlocking Ancient Egypt," https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/hieroglyphs-unlocking-ancient-egypt#&gid=1&pid=7

On 14 September 1822, Champollion excitedly visited his brother. Waving his notes in the air, he gasped, 'Je tiens l'affaire, vois!' (Look, I've got it!) before promptly collapsing. The notes formed the basis of a historic letter in which Champollion outlined his findings on the translation of the hieroglyphs in royal names. The public reading of this letter on 27 September 1822 is considered the moment of decipherment.

Hieroglyph Charts

Signs which represent sounds (one letter)

Signs which represent sounds (two letters)

Signs which represent meanings

British Museum, "Can you Crack the Code?" https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/can-you-crack-code

Literature in Ancient Egypt

Despite the ground-breaking decipherment of hieroglyphs in 1822, the literature of ancient Egypt was not recognised until a few decades later. The belief that hieroglyphic or handwritten texts from ancient Egypt were either historical or sacred persisted and hindered a full appreciation of ancient literary pieces. The Tale of the Two Brothers on Papyrus d'Orbiney was the first text described as 'literature' by modern Egyptologists in 1852.

The Tale of the Two Brothers

British Museum, "Page Turners: Literature in Ancient Egypt," https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/page-turners-literature-ancient-egypt

The Tale of the Two Brothers features two semi-divine protagonists and their adventures. It begins by presenting an idyllic household consisting of Anubis, his wife and his brother, Bata. Their pleasant lifestyle is disrupted when the wife of Anubis unsuccessfully tries to seduce Bata. Upset by the humiliation of his refusal, she claims that Bata attacked her. Believing his wife, Anubis initially turns against his brother and forces him to leave the family. Anubis later discovers his wife's disloyalty and kills her. Meanwhile the gods have fashioned a wife for Bata. Unfortunately she rejects him in favor of the king. To win her over Bata assumes a sequence of different forms, the last being a Persea tree. Bata's wife orders the tree to be cut down. A splinter from the tree flies into her mouth, 'she swallowed it and in a moment she became pregnant'. Bata is reborn, now as her son, and becomes king of Egypt. He elevates his brother, Anubis, to succeed him, overcoming the catastrophes that had beset the pair. The story has variously been interpreted as a fairy tale, a historical allegory and a political satire.

Mummy-Board 22542, "The Unlucky Mummy"

The mummy-board had never left the Museum. This mummy-board is both a remarkable ancient object and an example of how Egyptian objects can develop their own modern existence. Mummy-boards were placed on top of the mummy, which would lie inside one or two wooden coffins decorated in a very similar fashion. The mummy this board belonged is said to have been destroyed. No inscriptions on the board identify the deceased, presumably because that task would have been performed by the outer coffins. Some historians believe she was a priestess of Amen-Ra in life. The wooden board was covered in plaster, serving as a painting ground. The decoration was executed with great care in red, blue, and light and dark green; the predominantly yellow effect comes either from the use of a yellow ground or from the varnish, applied to the finished object, which has gradually turned yellow. On the shoulders of the mummy-board is a massive colored collar, below which is a series of complex scenes. They include images of baboons worshipping the sun, figures of Osiris, and many protective deities, including the name of Amenhotep I, the dead king worshipped as a local deity in Thebes. One of the coffin's functions, other than to act as a container for the body, was to set the deceased within the larger environment of the universe itself; thus the solar and Osirian symbolism essential to assist the person's rebirth figures prominently.

This object perhaps best known for the strange folkloric history attributed to it: it has acquired the popular nickname of the 'Unlucky Mummy', with a reputation for bringing misfortune. None of these stories have any basis in fact, but from time to time the strength of the rumors has led to a flood of enquiries. The mummy is said to have been bought by one of four young English travelers in Egypt during the 1860s or 1870s. Two died or were seriously injured in shooting incidents, and the other two died in poverty within a short time. The mummy was passed to the sister of one of the travelers, but as soon as it had entered her house the occupants suffered a series of misfortunes. The celebrated clairvoyant Madame Helena Blavatsky is alleged to have detected an evil influence, ultimately traced to the mummy. She urged the owner to dispose of it and in consequence it was presented to the British Museum. The most remarkable story is that the mummy was on board the SS Titanic on its maiden voyage in 1912, and that its presence caused the ship to collide with an iceberg and sink!

Needless to say, there is no truth in any of this.

What was a Book of the Dead?

The Book of the Dead was not one single book; it was a book that wealthy Egyptians commissioned for their afterlife. Each Book of the Dead was unique to the deceased. Books of the Dead were filled with scenes of the Egyptian afterlife, often including Anubis weighing the heart of the deceased against a feather. Many sections of the scroll would be dedicated to symbolic offerings to the gods to honor them and receive safe passage to the field of Reeds (an Egyptian afterlife similar to Heaven). The most infamous contents of any Book of the Dead, though, were numerous spells. These spells were not curses or warnings, they were incantations and instructions for the deceased to find their way as they journeyed through the afterlife. Egyptians needed guidance for this journey to find Osiris, god of the dead and underworld, and Ra, god of the sun, and enter the eternal renewal cycle that Egyptians believed in. Egyptian coffins also depicted afterlife imagery and spells for safe travels, many times from the Book of the Dead.

Excerpt from The Book of the Dead of Nedjmet

Scenes from Nedjmet's Book of the Dead show Nedjmet and Herihor, her husband (whose burial has never been found) making offerings to Osiris, Isis and the four sons of Horus, who are also watching a small scene of weighing the heart. The weighing is supervised by Thoth in his form of a baboon, and the conventional heart is replaced by a small female figure which must represent Nedjmet. Although there is no doubt that the papyrus was Nedjmet's - she appears in the judgement scene, and the mummy shown in a vignette is hers - Herihor features prominently. This is probably due to his royal status. He was one of the first of the High Priests of Amun who effectively ruled Upper Egypt from the end of the Twentieth Dynasty (about 1186-1069 BC) until some time in the Twenty-second (about 945-715 BC). He was also the first of the high priests of Amun to take on royal attributes, such as placing his name in a cartouche, and showing himself with the royal uraeus on his brow.

British Museum, https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA10541

Shoe Marks?

You inspect the floor of the gallery rooms and notice, for the first time, that there are shoe marks everywhere. You know these aren't your shoe marks, because the feet that made them were much bigger than yours. And, there seem to be several different shoes that made the marks! They overlap and the tread patterns are different. You start to follow the tracks, and you find that they lead right back to the Unlucky Mummy...

Mummy-Board 22542, "The Unlucky Mummy"

The mummy-board had never left the Museum. This mummy-board is both a remarkable ancient object and an example of how Egyptian objects can develop their own modern existence. Mummy-boards were placed on top of the mummy, which would lie inside one or two wooden coffins decorated in a very similar fashion. The mummy this board belonged is said to have been destroyed. No inscriptions on the board identify the deceased, presumably because that task would have been performed by the outer coffins. Some historians believe she was a priestess of Amen-Ra in life. The wooden board was covered in plaster, serving as a painting ground. The decoration was executed with great care in red, blue, and light and dark green; the predominantly yellow effect comes either from the use of a yellow ground or from the varnish, applied to the finished object, which has gradually turned yellow. On the shoulders of the mummy-board is a massive colored collar, below which is a series of complex scenes. They include images of baboons worshipping the sun, figures of Osiris, and many protective deities, including the name of Amenhotep I, the dead king worshipped as a local deity in Thebes. One of the coffin's functions, other than to act as a container for the body, was to set the deceased within the larger environment of the universe itself; thus the solar and Osirian symbolism essential to assist the person's rebirth figures prominently.

This object perhaps best known for the strange folkloric history attributed to it: it has acquired the popular nickname of the 'Unlucky Mummy', with a reputation for bringing misfortune. None of these stories have any basis in fact, but from time to time the strength of the rumors has led to a flood of enquiries. The mummy is said to have been bought by one of four young English travelers in Egypt during the 1860s or 1870s. Two died or were seriously injured in shooting incidents, and the other two died in poverty within a short time. The mummy was passed to the sister of one of the travelers, but as soon as it had entered her house the occupants suffered a series of misfortunes. The celebrated clairvoyant Madame Helena Blavatsky is alleged to have detected an evil influence, ultimately traced to the mummy. She urged the owner to dispose of it and in consequence it was presented to the British Museum. The most remarkable story is that the mummy was on board the SS Titanic on its maiden voyage in 1912, and that its presence caused the ship to collide with an iceberg and sink!

Needless to say, there is no truth in any of this.