No decision made on Durban mummy’s return to Egypt

An Egyptian mummy currently on display at the Durban Natural Science Museum may soon be returned to Egypt, confirmed the eThekwini Municipality.

Speaking to Northglen News, the municipality’s head of department for international and governance relations, Eric Apelgren said while a decision was yet to be made on the return of the more than 2000 year old mummy, the City had voluntarily offered to repatriate the remains to Egypt.

Delegates from eThekwini Municipality and from the Egyptian embassy engaged in a virtual meeting last week on the possible return of the mummy, said to be Peten-Amun, a priest said to have died at the age of 60 years.

According to The Egyptian Society of South Africa (TESSA), the mummy is reputedly from Akhmim, Upper Egypt, of the early Ptolemaic date (300 BCE).

It is believed a British army officer brought the mummy from Egypt when he came to South Africa.

“There is currently a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Durban and Alexandria, both port cities, which we aim to sustain that relationship. There has been a growing call from Egypt to return historical artefacts taken from the country. As I understand it the artefacts would be placed in a museum like Cairo’s National Museum of Egyptian focusing on Egyptology. We as the City approached the Egyptian ambassador to explore if the country wanted the mummy back,” explained Apelgren.

“The ambassador was very appreciative that the City has voluntarily offered the mummy back but a decision is yet to be made on its possible return. If the decision is accepted by the Egyptian authorities, we will do everything we can to repatriate remains to its country of origin. Whether the mummy returns or not, we respect the sentiment and decision of the Egyptian authorities,” he said.