UCC is returning a 2,300-year-old Egyptian mummy to Egypt
The transfer will take place in 2023.
University College Cork (UCC) has announced that it is to repatriate a number of objects in its Heritage Collection to the Egyptian State.
The items in question include mummified human remains, a sarcophagus, a set of four Canopic jars, and items of cartonnage (coverings) dating variously from 100AD to about 975BCE.
UCC came into possession of the mummified remains by donation in 1928.
The University has been in an ongoing collaboration with the Egyptian Embassy, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the National Museum of Ireland and a plan for the safe preparation and transport of the objects has been developed. It is envisaged that the transfer will take place next year.
“UCC takes seriously the care of its heritage assets and is pleased to be in a position to present these objects to the Egyptian State.” said UCC President Professor John O’Halloran.
The 2,300-year-old mummy under the floorboards that UCC has been in custody dispute with Egypt over has been spotted on the move in the library #UCC pic.twitter.com/CDpIqddSTZ
— Samantha Calthrop (@stcalthrop) September 27, 2022
“I wish to thank all stakeholders for their assistance in developing a programme for the return of these items, particularly His Excellency Mohamed Sarwat Selim, Egyptian Ambassador to Ireland, Minister Simon Coveney and his officials at the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the National Museum of Ireland.”
The objects’ journey home to Egypt is to be documented in ‘Kinship’ a creative project led by artist Dr Dorothy Cross, and creative producer Mary Hickson.
“The essence of Kinship is the return of a mummified body of an Egyptian man from Ireland to Cairo, mirroring the tragic displacement and migration of thousands of people from their homelands today – linking one man through time.
“Kinship will memorialise his journey through film, writing, and visual art,” said Dr Cross.
