Egyptian Mummies in Sydney

Arriving late for a mate's party you walk in on them merrily unwrapping a mummified corpse. "Don't worry," they say "you're not too late: we haven't even started the autopsy."

Unless your friend happens to be a leading Egyptologist and their living room happens to be the Nicholson Museum, then you'd probably better make your excuses and head for the nearest exit.

Believe it or not back in the 1800s this was really quite fashionable, so much so even good ol' Queen Vic got to a "Mummy Party". Brought home from Egypt as souvenirs, they were ceremoniously unwrapped in only the finest of British drawing rooms. If you couldn't afford the whole mummy then the good Egyptian souvenir touts would kindly sell you a part of one: a foot, a hand, a head - all yours to take home, unwrap and use as a paperweight.

Before tomb raiding became a) a video game and b) frowned upon, the only way to see a Mummy was to own one, know someone who owned one or (if you didn't move in such elite circles) attend a public "mummy strip-tease", which for two shillings was a bit of a bargain.

Today we are fortunate enough to have the Nicholson Museum which is home to three adults, one child and roughly a dozen mummy parts. The joys of mummies without dirtying your living-room carpet.

See your own Mummy at The Nicholson Museum.

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