WAY Meeting the Paisley mummy
WE REVISIT DEREK PARKER’S RAMBLES THROUGH RENFREWSHIRE
One of my early boyhood memories was seeing an Egyptian mummy in a glass case in Paisley Museum.
The realisation I was looking at the linen-wrapped embalmed body of a young Egyptian who died thousands of years earlier inspired mixed emotions of wonder, amazement, fear and dread.
I had read spine-tingling yarns in the Adventure, Hotspur, Rover and Wizard comics about long-dead Egyptian mummies returning to life and haunting archaeologists who plundered their centuries-old tombs.
Childish thoughts made me fear that I, too, could become a victim of the curse.
Would I be haunted for setting eyes on the long-dead Egyptian whose body was brought to Paisley by the town’s famous Coats family after a visit to the Middle East?
Many years later, I met the
Paisley mummy again – this time in Lochwinnoch Museum.
It featured in an exhibition honouring local woman Margaret
Orr, whose father, Arthur Mace, was a member of Lord Carnarvon and
Mine of information
Derek Parker knew many of Paisley’s secrets – the grimy and the good.
He wandered every corner in search of the clues that would unlock Renfrewshire’s rich history.
These tales were shared with readers in his hugely popular Parker’s Way column.
We’ve opened our vault to handpick our favourites for you.
Howard Carter’s archaeological team.
They excavated King Tutankhamun’s tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings in 1922.
Several people involved in the dig died mysteriously, including Mr Mace, in his 50s, Mrs Orr’s young friend, Frances Winlock, in her 20s, and Lord Carnarvon.
He was killed by a mosquito bite soon after the sovereign’s sepulchre was breached.
It was said all were victims of an ancient Egyptian curse: ‘Death comes on eagles’ wings to those who violate the Pharaoh’s tomb.’
The embalming process exemplified in the Paisley mummy was believed to preserve the dead body intact.
This as to ensure the soul, or ka, of the deceased was resurrected to spend eternity in the Orion star constellation with Osiris, the Egyptian god of death and the underworld.
Today, Biblical stories of the spiritual enlightenment of Moses and Joseph at the Pharaoh’s court reflect the Egyptian influence on Judaeo-Christianity.
Pharaonic Egypt’s star-centred nocturnal burial rites are the spiritual seed of Western Freemasonry.
Its Third Degree resurrection rituals reflect the journey of the raised Master from a state of darkness to the world of light.
I am glad my earthly pilgrimage began with an introduction to the riches of ancient Egyptian spirituality more than 50 years ago during a visit to our local museum and my meeting with the ancient Paisley mummy.