On Tuesday, March 31 at 6 PM (CET), in collaboration with ACME (Amici e Collaboratori del Museo Egizio) we will host a lecture  held by Marie Vandenbeusch.

Since 2014, the British Museum has developed several temporary exhibitions focusing on the lives and deaths of ancient Egyptian mummified individuals. These exhibitions have provided unique opportunities to research these human remains and the funerary goods buried with them. This presentation will offer an overview of some of the scientific techniques using in these various projects, including a range of imaging, bioarchaeological and molecular analyses. This interdisciplinary approach has deepened our understanding of who these individuals were, how they lived, what they believed and how they were prepared for the afterlife. It also allows us to gain new insights into the manufacture and production of masks, portraits, shrouds and coffins. By placing both the objects and the people who made them back into their socio-economic context, we can explore the funerary industry in terms of trade, reuse and, above all, exceptional craftsmanship.

Marie Vandenbeusch is a curator in the Department of Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum, where she is responsible for the collection of funerary culture of the Nile Valley. She has served as lead curator of several exhibitions, including Pharaoh. Power and art in ancient Egypt (2024) and Egyptian mummies. Exploring ancient lives (2016-2024). She currently leads the project Divine Creatures. Researching animal mummies in ancient Egypt (2024-2027). Marie holds a PhD from the University of Geneva (her monograph L’âne dans la religion égyptienne was published in 2020 by Sidestones) and has previously worked in various UK and Swiss museums. Her research interests include funerary and magical practices in ancient Egypt, with particular emphasis on mummies and material culture, as well as the history of Egyptology and collecting.

The lecture will take place in our Conference Room, admission is free with a reservation on Eventbrite. Click HERE to book your place.

The lecture will be broadcast via streaming on the Museum's YouTube channel.