Did you know that there was an Egyptian Museum in the Capital of Silicon Valley and that it happens to be the largest of its kind on the US West Coast? Did you know that this place is believed to be the only Egyptian Museum in an actual Egyptian-styled building and that there is a real mummy in here?
Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum is the name of this museum in San Jose, California.
I had visited the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum two years ago and had written a post on it, here on Tipsy from the Trip. [A little bit of Egypt in San Jose] What I didn’t know then, was the story of the mummy that is this museum's pride.
It was week ago that I came across this story in the San Jose Mercury News, just in time for the Thanksgiving Holidays. I learnt from this piece that 40 Thanksgivings ago, a retailer of luxury gifts announced that they had 2 Egyptian coffins to give away -- a his and hers -- and in one was a mummy, which had come as a surprise to the gift retailer when he had the coffins shipped from London.
Anyway, the Rosacucian Order ordered for the coffins and the mummy inside and had it put up for show at the Egyptian Museum here.
In the story, the president of the Order is quoted having said that the mummy might actually belong to the royal family and if the DNA conclusions prove to be just that, the mummy might have to be returned to the African country.
Dear reader, if you want to see that mummy, you might want to do that as soon as possible.
- Story from the San Jose Mercury News by Mary Gotschalk - How a pricey catalogue landed in the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose.
- Official site of the museum - Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, San Jose
- From 2009, an old post from this blog A little bit of Egypt in San Jose
