Egyptology in Chile: Initial reflections on the Egyptian collection of National Museum of Natural History, Santiago

Abstract

In this paper, the foundations and preliminary results of research project Egyptian Mummies in Chile, centered on the Egyptian collection that belongs to the Anthropology Area of the National Museum of Natural History are presented. This collection is composed of three wooden sarcophagi; one internal cardboard sarcophagus; three artificially mummified human bodies; a mummified young crocodile; and 30 objects made of pottery, earthenware, metal, stone and textile. The general characteristics of the collection are presented here in museological, archaeological and egyptological terms. Its creation is documented, making explicit the important participation of Rodulfo Armando Philippi and Grete Mostny during this process. Also, cultural ascriptions of some of the collection's components are suggested, assigning them to specific periods of Egypt's Pharaonic history. The study also offers data corrections to Mostny's (1940) report on the collection, as well as the identification of a mummified individual which had remained nameless until present. Finally, some of the collection's significances and the role that it played for Egyptology's development in Chile are discussed, stressing what can be considered world class singularities.