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Exotic history is right here among us

Re: 2,300 years later, mummy looks good, May 4.

Yes, your front-page picture of the newly discovered 2,300-year-old mummy is exciting. The golden mask and brilliantly colored images on the burial cloth are stunning.

But local residents and visitors do not need to go to Saqqara, Egypt, to see an Egyptian mummy. We have an even older mummy right here in St. Petersburg at the Museum of History (located on the approach to the Pier).

"Our Lady of the Nile," as we call her, is approximately 3,000 years old, based on the mummification style employed. She came to St. Petersburg on a circus boat in 1922. The boat captain could not afford the local port fees so he offered the mummy in lieu of payment. The mummy eventually found her way to our history museum, where she has long been a favorite of visitors.

Our Lady has been X-rayed and undergone a CT scan. These tests identified placement of a scarab (Egyptian symbol of resurrection) in her chest. She is estimated to have died at approximately 30 years old. She is displayed in such a way that visitors touring the history museum have the option to see the mummy or not, and is presented in her cultural context with information on why Egyptians honored their dead through mummification.

It is an awesome experience to stand before this 3,000-year-old young woman and contemplate what she may have experienced and seen so many centuries ago.

[Last modified May 22, 2005, 01:06:16]