The mummified remains of an ancient Egyptian woman named Asru have been taken off public display at Manchester Museum. The decision, made earlier this month, follows more than 200 years of continuous exhibition.
Curators stated that the removal reflects efforts to respect "the wishes of the dead." A Manchester Museum spokesman explained that "elite Egyptians of her time expected that their mummified bodies would remain wrapped in their coffins, invisible to the living."
Asru's body was first put on display in Manchester in 1825 after being acquired by local traders. The museum consulted with Egyptian colleagues, members of the Egyptian diaspora, and visitors before making the change, which a spokesman said "reflects changes in how we think about our responsibility towards ancestors, museum collections and the communities they represent."
The museum is currently considering whether to keep Asru's coffin and body in storage or return them to Egypt, as her final resting place has not yet been decided. The public display of mummified remains has become a subject of ethical debate, with a 2025 report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Afrikan Reparations calling for an end to the practice in UK institutions.