Between Spectacle and Science

Margaret Murray and the Tomb of the Two Brothers

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4516376
AutoresKathleen L Sheppard (Missouri University of Science and Technology, autor de correspondencia)
Año2012
Volumen25
Número4
Páginas525-549
Fecha de publicación2012-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaScience in Context (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0269-8897 • E-ISSN: 1474-0664
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0269889712000221
OpenAlexW2034411616
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas8
Referencias citadas29

ArgumentThis article explores the history of mummy unwrappings in the West, culminating in Margaret Murray's public unrolling of two mummies in Manchester in 1908. Mummy unwrappings as a practice have shifted often between public spectacles which displayed and objectified exotic artifacts, and scientific investigations which sought to reveal medical and historical information about ancient life. Although others have looked at Murray's work in the context of the history of mummy studies, I argue that her work should be viewed culturally as poised between spectacle and science, drawing morbid public interest while also producing ground-breaking scientific work that continues to this day. Murray's main goal was to excite the interest of the public while at the same time educating them in the true history of ancient Egypt, while ascertaining new scientific information and contributing to the scholarly interpretations of ancient Egypt

Archaeology · Epistemology · History of science · Political science · Spectacle · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Classics · History · Law · Paleopathology and ancient diseases · Philosophy