Should mummies be on display?

This April marks the centenary of the birth of Elizabeth II. In this special episode of our Life of the Week series, historian Kate Williams guides Charlotte Vosper through the late Queen’s life, picking a key moment from each decade that illuminates the monarch's personality, pu ...  Show more

At the end of the 13th century, England was gripped by grief as news of the queen's death shook the nation. Eleanor of Castile's funeral procession from Lincoln to London would become one of the most remarkable journeys in medieval English history – and would also be immortalised ...  Show more

In its final centuries, Ancient Egypt was conquered by the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans, beginning with the invasion of Alexander the Great in 332 BC. But these new arrivals didn't squash the Egyptian way of life - the invaders blended their customs, practices and style ...

Our story begins in 1899, when two archaeologists — Arthur Hunt and Bernard Grenfell — were on an expedition in Northern Egypt in an ancient town once known as Tebtunis on a search for mummies and other ancient artifacts.
This was during a growing Western fascination with anci ...  Show more

What does a mummy smell like? Prof. Ann Rosalie David is a pioneering researcher in mummies and ancient pathology. Having led many studies on Egyptian bodies, Prof. David helps reconstruct the lifestyles of the past. In this interview, she helpfully answers questions about ancien ...  Show more

Heba Abd el Gawad is an exhibition curator, public outreach specialist and researcher in Egyptian heritage within museum contexts. She is the postdoctoral researcher for the project ‘Egypt’s Dispersed Heritage: Views from Egypt’ at the Institute of Archaeology, University College ...  Show more