"Human Remains" isn't specific enough

[Woodenwonder]

Last weekend had an impromptu wander around the world museum in Liverpool. (Fantastic and free). Anyway in the Egypt section it states that the next exhibit features human remains or words to that effect. I'm thinking a sarcophagus with a mummy inside. And yes that was there, a couple of examples of wrapped up mummies, tastefully and respectfully displayed. Turn the corner and there are 3+ corpses. Not wrapped up and obviously somewhat dessicated.

I'm not squeamish but I find looking at a collection of led out bodies (albeit 1000s of years old) a bit disrespectful for want of a better word. It made me feel really weird.

Yes these souls are long gone but I was not prepared to see them laid out in that way. I don't think I was even expecting full bodies.

Aibu to think the sign could have been a touch more descriptive before entering the room?

The museum is a fantastic place but I just felt a little rattled.

Typo mistakes
I ment,
to say the quite recent concerns around deacesed relics being displayed in American museums ect

It’s “ fazed” not “ phased” OP

Correct.

I'm an (ex)archaeologist. I'm not of the younger generation of archaeologists who are vastly more squeamish about human remains than ours was. I do sometimes wonder how excavations in the future will manage to carry out any meaningful work at all!

Archaeologists should treat human remains that they excavate, store or study with a normal level of respect - but in all honesty, I think most of us/them are pretty pragmatic. These are 'remains' after all - they aren't people, not any longer. As such, they can tell us a great deal about past cultures, living conditions, health, environment, beliefs - endless information. So I don't think they should stop being viewed as a valid area of academic study. I also don't believe that archaeologists should have a monopoly on viewing and studying archaeological material - so I think a representative sample of it should be available for the public to view, think about, talk about, in museums. (For instance, once upon a time, any material viewed as 'risque' - like rude 5th century Athenian vases, or certain Pompeiian frescoes, or naughty scenes on seal stones - were locked away and only (male!) academics allowed access to view. Because they, unlike the uneducated plebs, could be trusted not to have a fiddle while studying them. ) So I think it's valid and entirely reasonable to have this aspect of ancient Egyptian culture on display in a museum.

I think it's fair enough, and probably sensible in the current climate, to have some sort of 'trigger warning' to alert a museum visitor to human remains, but I'm getting a bit tired of people who demand to be treated like fragile bone china. OP, 'human remains' is what they were. If you're squeamish about crispy skin then perhaps consider side-stepping galleries containing ancient Egyptian remains. Oh, and don't look at the bog bodies in the British Museum, for heavens sake!

I think its disrespectful to use the phrase "human peperami"! It may be what a mummy is...but its very disrespectful.

Someone mentioned the red-haired mummy in the British Museum. I was taken to see him when I was very small, a nice museum-keeper told me all about him, and that his name was Ginger. I saw that mummy dozens of times over the years (the British Museum was my mum's default trip during school holidays). I regard him as something of a friend, really. When I first got together with Mr Pony, we had a trip to the museum, where I nostalgically pointed my mummy friend out to Mr Pony (and he didn't dump me....).

Interesting post, thank you.

I'm not squeamish (as stated), I just didn't feel comfortable with what I saw on an emotional level.

I didn't expect human remains to mean intact bodies , I think I've spelled that out.

I'm definitely BU by most accounts and so there it is.