Egyptian mummies from British Museum to go on display in Hong Kong

HONG KONG, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Six Egyptian mummies from the British Museum will be on display in Hong Kong, offering citizens here an opportunity to explore ancient Egypt from a "scientific angle," the Hong Kong Science Museum said Monday.

The exhibition, "Eternal Life - Exploring Ancient Egypt," will be held in the science museum from June 2 to Oct. 18, displaying six mummies and about 200 Egyptian cultural relics.

Three of the exhibits, including the mummy and inner coffin of Nestawedjat, a middle-aged woman in the 25th dynasty of ancient Egypt, and the pyramidion, a pyramid-shaped capstone of a tomb, of Wedjahor, a royal member in the 26th dynasty of ancient Egypt, has arrived in Hong Kong and were displayed in advance to press as they were taken out of crates by the British Museum staff members on Monday.

According to Curator of the the Hong Kong Science Museum Paulina Chan, the exhibition will take a "scientific angle" and allow visitors to "look inside" the mummies with the help of the latest computerized tomography (CT) scanning technology.

Digital interpretation of the mummies will demonstrate how non-invasive CT allows archaeologists and other specialists to determine the age and gender of the mummified bodies, and to learn more about the diet, state of health, mummification process and religious practices of the ancient Egyptians.