The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Mummy needs public help for preservation
Culture chiefs see exhibit as the jewel of the City Hall museum but it is very fragile
A fundraising appeal has been launched to help raise an ancient Egyptian mummy from its resting place beneath one of Scotland’s oldest museums.
The 3,000-year-old exhibit is a survivor from the time the pyramids were built.
Her story has fascinated visitors and staff since she was first presented to Perth Museum and Art Gallery in the 1930s.
But now Ta-kr-hb, pronounced Taherheb, needs the public’s help before she is lost to the history books forever.
Her condition has become so fragile that she can no longer go on display.
However, culture chiefs in the Fair City want her as a star exhibit at the new-look Perth City Hall museum, due to open in three years.
Culture Perth and Kinross, the charitable trust that manages Perth’s museums and galleries, said it will cost
“
This is a wonderful opportunity to give Takr-hb the specialist care and attention she needs so that she can more fully share with us the story of her life in ancient Egypt.
MARK HALL
£16,000 for Ta-kr-hb’s much-needed conservation work.
More than half of that has already been gathered and donated to the trust over the years, but more than £7,000 is still needed to ensure her survival.
The money will help pay for work to stabilise her condition, but will also allow for a 3D digital reconstruction of her face.
Mark Hall, collections officer at Perth Museum, said: “This is a wonderful opportunity to give Ta-kr-hb the specialist care and attention she needs so that she can more fully share with us the story of her life in ancient Egypt.”
To donate to the campaign visit justgiving.com/campaign/cpkmummy
A rare acquisition for a provincial museum, the body which is believed to be that of a priestess or princess was donated to the museum by the Alloa Society of Natural Science and Archaeology in 1936.
In an effort to learn more about the mummy’s origins, it was transported to Manchester Children’s Hospital in 2013 for a scan and x-ray.
The work revealed the skeleton had been damaged some time in the past – possibly during efforts to remove the body from her coffin – and that her teeth were ground down due to her diet.
An expert from Manchester Museum was able to decipher some of the hieroglyphs on the sarcophagus, revealing the mummy’s name for the first time in centuries.