Ancient Egypt

Canopic jar head

The civilization of ancient Egypt has fascinated us for generations, from the mysterious tombs and temples, to the last surviving wonder of the ancient world, the great pyramid. Mummies, the treasures of Tutankhamun, and the curse of the Pharaoh are all popular images of Egypt, widely seen on films and television. However, there is much more to ancient Egypt than this.

Shabti figurine

From before 3000 BC, when the people of Britain were building Stonehenge, until 30 BC when the Romans conquered it, the Egyptian civilization flourished in the valley of the Nile, in North Africa. When we think of ancient Egypt, it is often of the great kings, the Pharaohs, and how their bodies have survived through time as mummies, but the Pharaohs were by no means the only people to be mummified. Any Egyptian wealthy enough to afford the lengthy and expensive procedure would have had it done. The ancient Egyptians believed that in order to live forever in the afterlife, the body needed to survive, which was why mummification was so important. Our Egyptian material was all collected in the early 20th century, and the museum no longer adds to the collection.
The entire ancient Egyptian collection from the county museum is available online, as part of the Collections of Virtual Egypt and Sudan (COVES), and any of the material can be viewed by appointment at the museum resource centre.