"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.

YABU saying “ led out”

Two things:

1. given the percentage, I would expect about 10% of people to have an issue with the photo. The fact that someone does, doesn't prove that YANBU
2. You had a warning about what you would see before you went into the room. If you had gone into a room that was full of people writing and talking about human remains, I don't think you would have had an issue. Nobody had a warning when clicking on the thread that you were going to share the photo.

@Woodenwonder

Why did you attend this museum in the first place if you were triggered 😳 by the human remains section then?

You extremely highly sensitive lot by allmost everything
need to take your own responsibilities in life

If you want to be wrapped in cotton wool bubble 🫧 in life,

Just stay indoors all the time or just stay in safe places such as a cafes or libarey
Make a list of them

I’m not your average person as I’ve studied archaeology and excavated human remains, so yes, to me human remains could be anything up to and including whole bodies.

The ethics around the keeping and display of human remains is a big topic of discussion in the museums world and most if not all museums have policies on this (Liverpool Museums’ is here https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/about/reports-plans-and-policies). Although most of the concern tends to be around more recent remains collected in the recent colonial past.

For what it’s worth, I’d be happy to be displayed as it would mean I’m interesting! But then I have said that if I’m cremated, I don’t want my cremated remains ground into powder so that if a future archaeologist excavated me, hopefully there’d be enough bits of bone left to be able to age and sex me.

@Woodenwonder no, I completely get it. The term ‘human remains’ to me might better describe unrecognisable parts, charred remains for example. There are other terms that might better describe whole intact bodies, eg human corpses, cadavers etc. In our culture, that is not something we see often, (or at all?) And certainly not without warning/informed consent.

Human remains are sacred in my opinion and should be treated with the upmost dignity and respect. Some of the comments from previous posters are flippant to say the least. That might be their way of dealing with their own death anxiety/fear of their own mortality, so try not to take it to heart OP (this is Mumsnet remember 😉).

Your emotional response to these souls is natural and to be expected. It’s a fine line/balance between education and respecting dignity and the fact that these people almost certainly didn’t consent to being displayed in a museum for all to see.

I'd say YABU on 2 separate counts.

Firstly, a sign saying 'Human remains' is a pretty clear indicator that there are going to be human remains. If that's potentially an issue for you or someone you're with, then you have the option of checking with someone working there or with the museum's website to see if you want to proceed or not. I've done that before when out with my DC, and I've always found people are very helpful and supportive.

Secondly, you posted a photograph with no warning, no 'sensitive image' blurring, no nothing. Despite the fact that you were sufficiently unsettled by the sight of human remains like that, that you started a thread to discuss it, you chose to expose other people to the thing that had caused you distress, without even the basic courtesy of affording people the warning you had received. That's just inconsiderate.

You don’t want to take a visit to the Hunterian Museum, don’t Google it.

@youveturnedupwelldone I went to the Peace Museum in Hiroshima and was absolutely horrified at the amount of people taking photos of the exhibits, including a child's trike that had been originally buried in the back garden with its owner by his father until it was dug up and the child given a proper burial. Plus clothing those who died were wearing on the day. Honestly it was sickening

If I read 'human remains' that's exactly what I'd be expecting. I honestly wouldn't even expect a warning for that, but it's nice, I suppose, that they include one.

Then again, I'm someone who took her 5 year old to The Bodies exhibit. She actually asked to go and found it fascinating. I could have done with a warning about the sex and reproduction section though, as she wasn't freaked out by dead bodies at all, but explaining the intricacies of sex wasn't quite something I'd prepared for. I knew that part of the exhibit existed, but I would have liked some sort of heads up it was coming as probably would have swerved around. 😂

YABVU to have a thread about the need for heavy trigger warnings for a certain image and then posting that image without warning at all.

You had a sign that accurately described what you were seeing.

https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/virtual-tours/ancient-egypt-virtual-tour

I have had a good look round virtually, it's amazing. I think the sign fully covers it:

I know this isn't the point of the thread at all, but you weren't phased by seeing the corpses, you were fazed.

@WitheredBloom No, sorry I wasn't clear, it was to the OP about the convo moving on.

The Ancient Egyptians believed that mummification kept the body intact for the eternal afterlife - which is why the heart, (where the soul resides according to their beliefs) is inside the body while all the other organs were removed. Bar the kidneys. Not sure why they left them.

So technically these 'souls' aren't long gone .

The latest Infinite Monkey Cage podcast on Egyptian mummies is fascinating, I've learnt so much!

It is indeed

Onlinetherapist - Some of the comments from previous posters are flippant to say the least. That might be their way of dealing with their own death anxiety/fear of their own mortality, so try not to take it to heart OP

OP got the reward for most flippant comment when they described the bodies as ''human pepperami'' ... no?

It reminds me of the ubiquitous safety warning: CONTENTS MAY BE HOT AFTER HEATING.

Yeah, OP doesn't seem like the most logical person.
YABVVU OP. The sign described the contents perfectly. If you felt rattled because you expected something else that's on you. Hope your mental health isn't too damaged by this. Also, nothing stopping you from leaving immediately instead of continuing to wander around!

I remember feeling a bit squeamish looking at the mummies in the British Museum a long time ago, when I was about 15.
But now I wouldn't.

I think 'human remains' is about as clear as it can be.

How rude !! You posted with a question and you’re getting your answers. This is a valid question - if you’re squeamish enough to need a detailed warning of what you might see, why visit this kind of museum ? How much of a warning other than ‘human remains’ do you want - a bone by bone description ?

Or, as I recently discovered, a DO NOT EAT warning on a pack of Brillo pads !!

Or a packet of nuts with 'might contain nuts' on it 😂

(i know i know - it's a factory packaging thing)

Was anyone else hoping this would be a post about the Julia Davis and Rob Brydon masterpiece "Human Remains"? (Which DOES need a content warning).

But this is AIBU not "why I'm being completely reasonable and the rest of the world is completely wrong."

Secondly, the (wrapped) image you posted isn't "halting" or whatever other nonsense you think. It's not making any point other than that you're a massive hypocrite arguing for the sake of arguing with people. If you want to see an unwrapped one, Google that instead and maybe note the differences. Did you just miss doing the Egyptians at primary school when the rest of us first saw all this, or did you have a note due to delicate constitution?

I spent many a happy Saturday at the Liverpool museum. The Egyptian rooms were my favourite part. I found it fascinating. They also used to have a display of shrunken heads, which though gruesome, as a child I loved them. they didn't look real .
Incidentally for the archeologists on the thread. Whats the cut off point between grave robbing and archeology? How old does a tomb have to be before its considered ok to dig it up?