India / 2,400-yr-old mummy unboxed for 1st time in 130 yrs to save it from drowning

Jaipur: As heavy rain washed away low-lying shanties and submerged cars in Jaipur last Friday, the staff at the historic Albert Hall museum was busy in a different rescue operation. As water started filling the museum, housekeeping officials and guards hopped the stairs to the museum’s basement to get to a 2,400-year-old Egyptian mummy encased in a glass chamber.

Standing in waist-deep water and using the lights from mobile phones and torches, the staff broke the glass and carried the mummy to a drier area of the museum. “The ancient mummy is our most delicate antique and since a display in 2016, it has been extremely popular with local and international visitors,” said Rakesh Cholak, the museum superintendent.

“With timely intervention, we saved it from the slush and water that badly affected almost 17,000 artefacts in our store and display areas,” he said.

Jaipur received 132mm of rainfall on Friday. The rainwater, which inundated streets, entered the museum’s windows and corridors starting from its Moti Dungari Road side, and submerged several historical items such as Japanese pottery, ancient statues, Buddhist paintings, photographs, brassware, arms and armour, and wooden art, among others.

According to officials of Albert Hall museum, the mummy , Tutu, a female member of a priest’s family, dates back to Egypt’s Ptolemaic era (322 BC to 30 BC). It was found in the Akhmin area of the ancient city of Panopolis in Egypt more than 300 years ago.

This mummy, one of only six in India, was gifted by the Museum of Cairo for an exhibition in Jaipur organised by then king of Jaipur state Sawai Ishwar Singh in 1887. In 2011, three experts from Egyptian Ministry of Culture came to conserve the mummy and concluded that the mummy’s skeleton was in very good condition after conducting sterilisation all the items to wipe out microbes.

“The mummy is invaluable,” said Cholak.

While the mummy was saved, the rainwater left its mark on the coffin, and accompanying paraphernalia of about 200 items, such as Pharaonic idols and lockets, the superintendent said.

Besides artefacts, thousands of documents and files were drenched, and have been strewn around the floors of the museum for drying, officials said. “We have put up huge fans and halogen lights and kept the documents out for drying,” said Cholak, adding that the exact assessment of the damage and restoration may take months.