Russell Cobb and Sarah Brandvold follow the remarkable journey of an Egyptian mummy, nicknamed “Horus.” Now at the University of Alberta, Horus has had a tumultuous time since being removed from Egypt—treated as an object of entertainment and fear, until eventually ending up in the University’s permanent collection. What questions does the afterlife of Horus raise about how we treat and display human remains?
Horus was showcased inside a decommissioned Edmonton Transit bus alongside various graveyard paraphernalia and taken on tour across Alberta. Along the way, Stewart concocted a biography for Horus: he was a 4,500-year-old physician (false); from Egypt’s Third Dynasty (false); and first “discovered” in Lower Egypt in the 1880s (maybe, but probably also false).
Funds did not materialize. Meanwhile, Edmonton wanted its loaner bus back and was threatening repossession. Never one to give up, Stewart petitioned city council for the use of some vacant city-owned store fronts to display “his” mummy and host a genealogical conference, promising to repay the rent with money raised from these schemes. The city declined.
More picks on Egypt
Cairo Song
“I could no longer bear to live within a system that is actively rigged against people, against life, against human flourishing.”
Remembering the Egyptian Childhood I Never Had Through Its Culinary Traditions
“Sometimes I think my parents were afraid they might fade into the ether if I didn’t understand what home meant to them. In a sense, they were probably right.”
In the Dark
This is an in-depth look at the rise of government-led internet blackouts around the world over the past decade, since the Mubarak regime’s shutdown of the internet in Egypt during the Arab Spring of 2011. Whole countries, including Sudan, Uganda, and Myanmar, have gone offline for days on end, as leaders try to cripple their…
Why King Tut Is Still Fascinating
“More children have worshipped Tutankhamun during the past century than ever did in his lifetime; whatever his authority in the ancient world, he now rules over the kingdom populated by dinosaurs and pirates, horses and astronauts.”
A Second Passport
In this personal essay, instead of returning home after a trip to Israel like most Birthright tourists do, Pam Mandel goes on to Egypt, and beyond.
