Washington University owns one of the world’s most prized mummies, currently on display at the St. Louis Art Museum. Many in the university community would like to see her moved to campus.

Prominent St. Louis banker and private collector, Charles Parsons, donated two mummies to the University in 1896. Both mummies have been on permanent loan to the St. Louis Art Museum since 2002. They were displayed at the University from August to December of 1999. Prior to this showing, they were in storage at the University.

One of those is Pet-Menekh, a male mummy, from the 4th or 3rd century B.C.E., whose wrapped toes can be seen at the foot of the coffin. The female mummy, Henut-Wedjebu, from roughly 1391-1350 B.C.E., is held in much higher esteem.

“It’s really a fluke that we have such a rare mummy,” said Professor of Art History and Archeology Sarantis Symeonoglou.

Henut-Wedjebu is the only one of the eight gilded mummies from the New Kingdom that is in the United States. The other seven mummies, from the age of the New Kingdom, are in Egypt. The New Kingdom, spanning from approximately 1550 to 1080 B.C.E., is considered the most glorious period of Ancient Egypt.

Henut-Wedjebu’s gilded status, marked by the gold foil on her coffin, represents a major accomplishment. The gilding of a coffin required special permission from the pharaoh. Out of the eight mummies gilded during the New Kingdom, she is the only one that was not a king or a queen. She was simply a temple singer at the Temple of Amun in Kalnak.

“She must have been an extremely beautiful and important woman to receive gilded status. Like a Marilyn Monroe of Ancient Egypt,” said Symeonoglou.

As artwork, Henut-Wedjebu’s coffin is lauded for its realism. In particular, it is one of the only coffins with carved nipples. “The modeling is extremely rare and beautiful. The coffin is very anthropomorphic,” said Sid Goldstein, curator of ancient and Islamic art at the St. Louis Art Museum.

Henut-Wedjebu’s body has significance in the history of embalmment as well. “She represents the end of the tradition in which mummies were buried with their brains intact. Radiographs of her body show that her brain is still in there,” said Goldstein.

The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum of Washington University has chosen not to include either of the two mummies in the museum. It has decided to dedicate its space to the strengths of its collection which lay in 19th, 20th, and 21st century art.

“In a perfect world everyone would like to have the mummies here, however, collection space is limited. The mummies are super-safe there, and they fit into an appropriate context so much better than we could fit them in here. Also, they are more available to the public. It’s not an ideal solution, but it’s better than having them in storage,” said Sara Hignit, chief registrar of the Mildred Kemper Lane Art Museum.

Hignit said that the mummies are loaned to the St. Louis Art Museum on a yearly basis. The University reconsiders them each year when its signs the papers to renew the loan.

“It’s something that is continually reassessed. Any museum ideally wants to show as much of its collection as possible,” said Michael Murawski, coordinator of education and public programs at Kemper.

At the St. Louis Art Museum, Henut-Wedjebu is surrounded by a collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts including alabaster vessels holding organs, statues, wooden figures and a mummy mask.

“She fits in context at the museum. She is consistent with our funerary tradition. It is important to consider how she relates to other materials from the period,” said Goldstein.

The mummies play a major role in educational programs at the St. Louis Art Museum. They are part of the museum’s most frequented gallery. In response to the prospect of Henut-Wedjebu being moved to the University’s campus, Goldstein said, “We’d be very sad. We’d be terribly disappointed, but it’s their object so they could do what they want. We think it makes great sense for our programs and we are happy to have her here.”

Symeonoglou adamantly believes that Henut-Wedjebu should be permanently placed on the University’s campus in a structure that resembles her tomb. “It’s common sense that mummies attract a lot of visitors. We could bring people from all over the Midwest to the University.”

Symeonoglou resents that Henut-Wedjebu has been part of traveling exhibitions in the past. “This lady likes to be kept at peace. As a professional, I am against traveling showings of mummies. When mummies are transported, the body is taken out of the coffin case. I believe this is a desecration. As a university, shouldn’t we know better?”

Many students would like to see the mummies on campus. “The mummies could draw a lot of attention to the Kemper itself, and add prestige to the museum,” said sophomore Emma Dent, an art history major and a permanent collection docent at the Mildred Lane Kemper Museum.

“If we own it, then we should show it on our campus,” said Rachel Edelman, a sophomore.

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