EXHIBITION ARCHIVE / Golden Mummies of Egypt

An interior view of Golden Mummies of Egypt at Manchester Museum, including mummies displayed in glass cases, with informational posters and a large screen showing Egyptian art in the background.

Golden Mummies of Egypt

18 February - 31 December 2023

Golden Mummies of Egypt closed on 14 April 2024 after a blockbuster run that welcomed more than a million visitors in China, the USA and Manchester.

It was the Museum’s first ever touring exhibition and the first to grace the new Exhibition Hall after we reopened in February 2023 and explored mummies, gold and an obsessive belief in the afterlife. These concepts are all central to our image of ‘Ancient Egypt’ but how important were they to the Egyptians, and how long did they survive after the last of the Pharaohs?

More than 1,000,000 visitors enjoyed this blockbuster exhibition.

Golden Mummies of Egypt focused on expectations of a life after death during the relatively little-known ‘Graeco-Roman’ Period of Egyptian history – when Egypt was ruled first by a Greek royal family, ending with Queen Cleopatra VII, then by Roman emperors (between 300 BCE and 300 CE). Wealthy members of this multicultural society made elaborate preparations for the afterlife, combining Egyptian, Greek, and Roman ideals of eternal beauty.

Featuring more than 100 objects and eight mummies, Golden Mummies of Egypt presented a rich perspective on beliefs about the afterlife during an era when Egypt was part of the Greek and Roman worlds.

An interior view of Golden Mummies of Egypt at Manchester Museum, showing a golden coffin, accompanied by informational panels about historical ideas of the afterlife.
Ancient Egyptian funeral mask on display in Golden Mummies of Egypt at Manchester Museum, with a mirrored background showing a detailed description and another face mask.
Funeral mask in Golden Mummies of Egypt at Manchester Museum, showing a woman's profile, in a museum display case. In the background, there are images of an ancient Egyptian temple and a starry sky.

Manchester Museum cares for 18,000 objects from Egypt and Sudan. Excavated at a time of British rule of Egypt in the 1880s-1910s, our responses to these objects may reveal more about ourselves than about the people who made and used them.

A close-up of a gilded coffin in Golden Mummies of Egypt at Manchester Museum.
Poster for an exhibition titled 'Golden Mummies of Egypt' at Manchester Museum, featuring a close-up of an ancient Egyptian gilded funerary mask with detailed painted decorations and a black background.

A beautifully illustrated book to accompany the exhibition, Golden Mummies of Egypt by Dr Campbell Price, is available to buy in the Museum Shop and online: https://manchestermuseumshop.com/products/golden-mummies-of-egypt-hardback.