The Allard
Pierson Museum in Amsterdam, the
Netherlands, is probably one of the most overlooked mummy museums in the
world. With all the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam, most visitors probably
walk right past this museum, unaware that it holds many Egyptian
treasures. On the Singel Canal, near the Vroom and Dreesmann department
store, the museum is not only worth a visit, it's worth the trip itself
(especially coupled with a stop in Leiden
and Assen).
The archaeological museum
for the University of Amsterdam, the Allard Pierson Museum displays
a number of animal mummies
(three fish are particularly interesting), a few human
mummies and many mummy masks and coffins
and even some mummy
sandals. A recreation
of an Old Kingdom burial is also of interest.
Perhaps the most
unusual display is the textile used to wrap a Coptic (i.e., Christian)
burial around 400 A.D. Because of the dry climate, a person who was
not artificially mummified could end up being naturally mummified. A
black-and-white photo of one such natural
Coptic mummy is included in the display.
