Replica of ancient Egyptian coffin on display at museum
KUCHING: There was an air of spookiness about the area at Dewan Tun Razak of the Sarawak Museum where an ancient Egyptian coffin was displayed.
The object of attention was actually a replica of an ancient Egyptian coffin on display since 2012.
Many visitors had heard of the ‘mummy’s curse’ associated with excavation of the pharaohs’ tombs in Egypt that intrigued people around the world.
At the museum, you can also get up close-up with Anubis, the jackal-headed god of the Egyptians associated with the afterlife.
The replica of a coffin was brought from Egypt as part of the Sarawak Museum’s ongoing exhibition on traditional burial culture and ceremonies of ethnic communities in Sarawak.
According to museum officer Awang Abdullah Awang Morshidi, it was not usual for Sarawak Museum to display the exhibit here.
“It is an opportunity for us to be enlightened on the ancient burial customs of the Egyptians.
“The exhibit is accompanied by information on the death rituals of various cultures,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.
Abdullah said Egyptian pharaohs were mummified upon death.
“The exhibition shows how the ancients prepare their dead for the afterlife,” he said.
The Sarawak Museum received the replica from the Egyptian government for people in this part of the world to know their rich culture and tradition.
Awang said the Egyptian coffin exhibit will be shipped out soon after being given a period of extension. The public can still take a look.
“They may never get the chance to see such artifacts again,” he said.