Are those mummies real?
Gayle Gibson is an Egyptologist who works with the Royal Ontario Museum as an educator.
Gayle fell in love with ancient Egypt in grade 2. In the children’s section of the library she couldn’t find a book she wanted. The librarian suggested she go to the adult part of the library. There, she found a book by John Gardner Wilkinson called Manners and Customs of Ancient Egyptians. She couldn’t read many of the words, but she loved seeing the pictures of these ancient people playing, eating cooking and doing all sorts of interesting things.
When Gayle first saw the mummies in the Royal Ontario Museum (also in her grade 2 year)she was a little bit scared. But one day when she was older and was in the museum by herself, she read a card attached to the glass case. On it was the name of the mummy in the case. His name was Antjau. The card also listed the names of his mother, father and grandfather. This is when Gayle realized that these mummies were regular people with families just like hers. Instead of being afraid of the mummy, she became his friend.
In this episode, Gayle talks about what mummification is and why the wealthy ancient Egyptians wrapped up their loved ones and placed them in beautiful coffins. She also talks about how the poorer Egyptians cared for the people in their families who had passed on.
Gayle tells the story of Nakht a boy who died at 16. He was a professional weaver.
Although his name means “strong”, he wasn’t. His parents weren’t wealthy. When he died, he was wrapped in his old clothing and maybe clothing from his family. But he was placed in a very nice coffin and was buried in a holy place where kings were buried. It’s a mystery how he got such a beautiful coffin and why he was buried in such a special place.
Scientists and medical experts have been able to study Nakht and they have learned about diseases he had including malaria.
We ask Gayle why Egyptians mummified cats. We also discover that the ancient Egyptians mummified other animals including a bird called an Ibis.
Gayle talks about being inside pyramids, how they look and how they sound.
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