Asru’s remains have disappeared from public display. Was this the right move?

200 years ago, the mummified remains of a woman named Asru were unwrapped in Manchester. She had lived and died in Ancient Egypt 2,500 years before. Her coffin shows her to be a woman of status, and she died when she was around 50 to 60 years old.

Her body, in an open coffin, has been on almost continuous public display at Manchester Museum for two centuries. Millions know the museum as simply “the one with the mummies”.

But this morning the museum made a bombshell announcement: it’s taking her off display. The decision comes after a year-long public consultation, and is based on the museum’s understanding of what Asru’s wishes would have been.

Was this the right decision? Should we still be gazing at human remains, or is it time to leave that practice behind? And, while Asru waits in storage, what should happen to her next?

All of this will be the topic of The Mill’s next big event on 24th September at Manchester Museum. Expect disagreement and impassioned debate from the expert panel and audience.