Death Magic

We all know about mummification, but Ancient Egyptian culture had a thorough inside and outside, head to toe and death-to-afterlife approach to the process of passing on – it wasn't just about looking good. For the Taylor Swifts of Ancient Egypt there were amulets and spells to protect them, minions to mummify their pets and lob a sacrificial bull's head into the Nile, and 'shabti' spirits to do their heavy lifting in the after life. This exhibition, curated by the Nicholson Museum's Michael Turner, gives you mummified humans, cats and ibises, coffins, scarab amulets and preserved dung beetles, scorpions and snakes, a preserved human heart and brain, and a preserved bull's head.