Mummified body will go on the move
The mummified body of an 11-year boy is to be moved from Paisley Museum as part of its four-year refurbishment programme.
As revealed in the Paisley Daily Express, the museum’s mascot Buddy the lion is, along with many other artefacts, to be deep frozen as part of the conservation work for the move, which will begin in late August.
However, the mummy, which dates back to ancient Egyptian times and has been in the museum’s collection for many years, is to be given extra-specially sensitive treatment for the move.
Sean Kelly, conservation and collections manager at the venue, said:“We’re getting a specialist conservator to come in to have a look at that.
“The conservator that will come in will have had experience of dealing with mummies in Egypt, and mummies I suppose across the world, and they’ll be able to advise us, both on the kind of practical side but also the ethical side of it.
“It will get put into a kind of bespoke crate that it will move in, because our mummy is not in a sarcophagus, which most of them normally are in museums. “This just gives it that bit of extra attention.” Paisley Museum holds an extensive archaeological collection of local objects from prehistoric through to Roman and medieval artefacts.
However, there are also objects from further afield, including South America, as well as Ancient Egypt.
Artefacts on display include a Bronze Age log boat found near Kilbirnie and a carving of the ancient Babylonian god Nisroch which is more 3000 years old.
All of these, including the mummy, will be moved to The Secret Collection, at 9 High Street.
This is the underground store that keeps the ‘overspill’from the museum and will house almost all of its collection during the £42 million refurbishment, which will see the venue close for four years.
Visit https://www.renfrewshireleisure.com/ thesecretcollection/ to find out more.