Ms. TAMAGNI RAY
2025
The Egyptian mummy housed within the State Museum, Lucknow, constitutes a remarkable ontological paradox—simultaneously a relic of antiquity and a vibrant interlocutor in contemporary discourse. The Egyptian Mummy: Decoding Death, Divinity, Dynasty, and Display represents a seminal interdisciplinary endeavour to interrogate this liminal entity through the convergent lenses of Egyptological scholarship, museological theory, and postcolonial critique. Mummified remains occupy a singular position in the archaeological imagination, serving as both material artefacts and metaphysical constructs. The Lucknow specimen, displaced from its original funerary context yet preserved within an Indian institutional framework, epitomises the complex interplay between cultural patrimony, colonial acquisition, and modern curatorial praxis. Its exhibition raises profound epistemological and ethical considerations: How may we reconcile the imperative for scholarly examination with the ontological status of human remains? What responsibilities attend the custodianship of sacred mortuary objects in an era of decolonial reckoning? The volume eschews reductive analysis in favour of a polyphonic approach, synthesising cutting-edge scientific research (including advanced imaging technologies and biomolecular analysis) with nuanced theoretical engagements drawn from thanatology, material culture studies, and heritage ethics. The resultant discourse transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries, offering neither facile conclusions nor prescriptive solutions, but rather a sophisticated framework for understanding these ancient remains as both historical subjects and active participants in ongoing cultural dialogues. Contextual Imperatives The present work emerges at a critical juncture in museum studies, coinciding with global reappraisals of collection histories and exhibition ethics. The Lucknow mummy serves as a particularly salient case study, embodying the tensions between scientific inqu
Read this work at the World Public Library (library card needed).