Momies

The exhibition opens the door to a world where the desire for immortality can be read on bodies preserved for centuries. Nine deceased individuals, notably from ancient Egypt, South America, and medieval Europe, guide visitors through a parcours where bandages, masks, and funerary objects become clues to reconstruct a life. The display, designed as an encounter rather than a showcase, begins with a discreet warning reminding that these presences are first and foremost people. The parcours unfolds in four complementary parts: meeting the mummified deceased; examining techniques and rites, from natural to artificial processes and ceremonial gestures; the historical and heritage perspective, revisiting the collection of human remains and the ethical debates it raises; and finally the scientific approach, presenting imaging, analyses, and datings that help reconstruct biographies. These successive stages offer visitors a multidisciplinary and sensitive perspective. Objects, archives, and contemporary works punctuate the parcours, enriching the reading of funerary practices across continents. The scientific curation, led by Éloïse Quétel and Pascal Sellier, combines rigor and respect, a tone that runs throughout the exhibition and allows delicate subjects to be addressed without sensationalism. Installed on an announced area of approximately 650 m² on the museum’s second floor, “Mummies” is suited to a careful visit: it is recommended to allow between one and one and a half hours to enjoy the listening and reading devices that extend the experience. More than a cabinet of curiosities, this exhibition aims to restore the dignity of the individuals presented and to provoke a deep reflection on memory and the heritage of the living.

Nine preserved destinies through the millennia The parcours of the “Mummies” exhibition at the Musée de l'Homme unfolds as a fluid narrative, guiding visitors through the layers of a funerary practice that transcends cultural and temporal boundaries. Right from the entrance, the approach is intimate and respectful: a discreet warning prepares the mind to contemplate preserved human bodies, emphasizing that these figures are not mere artifacts but individuals with unique lives. Sarcophagus of a singer of Amon from Karnak, ancient Egypt. The first stage immerses visitors in the diversity of motivations behind mummification. From the Chinchorro cultures, pioneers nine thousand years ago on the coasts of Peru and Chile, to the Toraja rituals in Indonesia where the deceased are honored every three years by solemn cleaning and dressing, the story highlights a universal thread: the unbreakable bond between the living and the dead. From Ptolemaic Egypt to the Peruvian Andes, mummification reveals a universal desire to maintain connections between living and dead. In Ptolemaic Egypt, embalming with natron and resins aimed to accompany the soul into the afterlife; among the Guanches of the Canaries, smoking in sun and smoke confers a sacred aura.

Millennia-old expertise between science and the sacred At the heart of this parcours, mummification techniques reveal themselves as masterpieces of human ingenuity. Various operational chains, natural by cold or acidity, artificial by evisceration and cloth embalming among the Chancay of Peru, are illustrated by precise reconstructions. Visitors follow the gestures of ancient funerary specialists, from Marquesan sun drying to the formalin injection of the 19th century. 9,000 Years of Mummification History, since the Chinchorro cultures This thematic section, enriched with funerary objects such as gilded masks and decorated bandages, evokes the rites surrounding these processes: processions, incantations, and offerings linking the deceased with their community. The “Mummies” exhibition at the Musée de l'Homme excellently weaves these threads, transforming the visit into a meditation on our own relationship with death. Man from the Chachapoya culture, 12th–16th century, Peru This man of the Chachapoya culture, a name given by the Incas meaning “cloud warriors,” was discovered in 1877 by explorer Paul Vidal-Sénèze on the cliff of Piedra Grande, in the Utcubamba valley in Peru. Donated to the National Museum of Natural History in 1878, he was exhibited at the Ethnography Museum of Trocadéro from its opening, then at the Musée de l'Homme from 1937. Aged 20 to 30 at death, he comes from the Peruvian Andes. This pre-Incan mummy inspired many artists, including Paul Gauguin and Edvard Munch for his famous painting The Scream, becoming one of the most emblematic pieces of the Museum's collections.

From Colonial Collection to Contemporary Ethical Questions Through never-before-seen archives, the exhibition recalls the rise of archaeology and the creation of museums in its wake. In the 19th century, archaeology was booming and excavations were frantically conducted by colonial powers. Many mummified bodies, mainly taken from Egypt or South America, then entered Western museum collections. Today, the approach has evolved: museums conduct provenance investigations and reflect on the journey of these deceased. This exhibition is an opportunity to showcase ethical reflections conducted, notably at the Museum, on issues of conservation and presentation. The scientific study of mummified bodies allows obtaining unprecedented information on the lifestyles of ancient populations. Ptolemaic mummy, Egypt, Ptolemaic period. Garcin