Resignation or Respect? Unraveling The Story of the WSHS Mummy
by Stephanie Lile
DEEP WITHIN THE WINDING CORRIDORS and crowded storage spaces of the Washington State Historical Society Research Center, Ankh-Wennefer lies entombed. He was a priest from the Temple of Min in Akhmim, Egypt, and he didn't choose this place. There are no ancient Egyptian pots, jars of food, or hammered gold ritual objects here to help him in his next life. There are no other priests or followers of the fertility god Min. Instead, his is a tomb called "large-object storage" where he rests high above the boats, wagons, and race cars that must seem strange to his Ba, or "soul," despite its journey through time and place. And journey Ankh-Wennefer's Ba likely has, clinging to his body and its painted coffin cases on the bumpy ride through Egypt's Eastern desert, around India to Yokohama, Japan, then across the Pacific Ocean to this strange, wet world we call "Washington."
As the story goes, the mummy was purchased as a souvenir by Tacoma businessman Allen C. Mason during his round-the-world trip in 1891. It had been plucked from its original resting place in the hills above the Nile River in Egypt like a golden apple from an orchard of ancient objects. In those days, such "curiosities" were often sold to rich travelers for a good profit. Purchased in Luxor, Egypt for two hundred dollars (over $4,000 today), the mummy of Ankh-Wennefer probably brought enough money to feed the seller's family for a year. Mason felt lucky to have made such a buy. He wrote home to his wife, Libby, that his "royal mummy was on board." Yet of the many souvenirs Mason shipped home, the mummy was Libby's least favorite. She refused to have Ankh-Wennefer in her house, and relegated him to Mason's office. There he lay for nearly seven years until Mason donated him to the Ferry Museum in 1898.
Twelve years later, when the Ferry Museum and the Washington State Historical Society joined forces to open a new museum, the mummy was one of its most popular exhibits. So popular, in fact, that kids from Tacoma High School formed the Ankh Unnufei Club to honor the mummy's ancient past. One of the club's founding members, Herbert Spinden, even went on to become an expert in ancient cultures.
Why Isn't the Mummy on Display?
MANY LONG-TIME VISITORS to the Washington State History Museum ask why Ankh-Wennefer is no longer on display. The answer is two-pronged, like the tongues of the cobras that slither along his coffin case. On the first prong, rests the museum and its changing mission. In the beginning, the main purpose of the museum was to bring the wonders of the world to the people of Washington. Now, the museum's job is to tell the stories of Washington to the world. As interesting as an Egyptian mummy is, it has little-if anything-to do with the story of Washington state.
On the other-and more important prong-dangles the dignity of the dead. How would you feel if your great-great-great-grandfather was pulled from his tomb and put on display? If you're like us, the thought of it makes you feel kind of sad, creepy, and disrespectful. That's why, back in the 1980s, the museum decided we would no longer exhibit human remains (that means body parts). So we don't. The mummy of Ankh-Wennefer included.
But that's not to say we can't honor him by sharing his story-and the clues that helped us figure out who he was and where he lived. These clues are painted on his coffin cases, in pictures and hieroglyphics that are nearly as vivid today as they were when painted 2,600 years ago.
DIG DEEPER
Hidden in the Hieroglyphics
Pictures in the Paintings
Map Ankh's Journey
The Conundrum
NOW THAT WE KNOW all of this about Ankh-Wennefer's mummified remains, the question is: What's the right thing to do with them?
Some people say he's a wonder for all to see, others say he should be reburied, researchers feel they have a right to study him, and still others believe he should be sent back to Egypt. Until this cultural conundrum can be solved, Ankh-Wennefer will lie in his modern tomb, surrounded by objects from Washington's past, and protected by the goddesses Nut, Isis, Hathor, and Nephthys. On the side of his wooden coffin case, the silent call of Spells 71 and 72 from The Book of the Dead echo through time. "Hail to thee Lords of Truth...I have come to thee Lord, that you might bring me to see thyself. 'Loosen him, free him, put him down; grant his desire' says the One-face Lord concerning me. I am the Falcon in the [southern] sky...
Read More About It
Decoding Egyptian Heiroglyphics: How to Read the Secret Language of the Pharaohs. Bridget McDermott. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2001.
The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day. Faulkner, Goetlet, and Wasserman. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, third edition 2008.
The Mummy in Ancient Egypt: Equipping the Dead for Eternity. Salima Ikram and Aidan Dodson. London: Thames and Hudson, 1998.
Author Stephanie Lile is the Managing Editor of COLUMBIAKids and Head of Education at the Washington State History Museum.
Special thanks to Dr. Jonathan P. Elias, Egyptologist and director of the Akhmim Mummy Studies Consortium, for reviewing this article.