In-Person Program

In an effort to better understand why ancient Egyptian mummies hold such a fascination in popular culture, this lecture presents a history of Western civilization’s centuries-long interaction with ancient Egypt’s human remains, how attitudes regarding those mummies changed through time, and, how mummy-related folklore still influences the modern world.

This talk includes unpublished images of the actual mummies of several of Egypt’s most famous pharaohs, as well as behind the scenes images of 4,500-year-old mummies as they emerged from the sands during Dr. Phillips’ own recent archaeological excavations in the cemeteries adjacent to the Great Pyramids at Giza, Egypt.

NOTE: This presentation contains images of mummified ancient Egyptian human remains, presented in a respectful, professional manner designed to help us better understand and to celebrate the lives of people who were alive when the pyramids were still new.

Presenter: Stephen R. Phillips, Ph.D., is the Curatorial Research Coordinator in the Egyptian Section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Dr. Phillips earned his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in the fields of biological anthropology, archaeology, and Egyptology at the University of Pennsylvania. He is listed with the Register of Professional Archaeologists.  He has traveled extensively and participated in a wide range of archaeological excavations for more than 25 years, including fieldwork at Petra, Jordan; near Bordeaux in southwestern France; and in Egypt - at the Great Pyramids and at Saqqara.

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This presentation will be held in-person at the library.  Enter your information below to register. Questions? Contact DeAnne O'Brien at dobrien@ivpl.org.