Mummy Lecture Series: Unwrapping the Mummy: Hollywood Fantasies, Egyptian Realities

Lectures are scheduled to be held inside the Irving J. Gill Auditorium at the SDMoM’s administrative building (located just west of the main museum building) at 11:00 a.m.

Lecture cost: Price of museum admission; free to SDMoM members.

Stuart Tyson Smith, PhD Professor & Chair of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara; Co-Convener, Archaeology Research Focus Group, Interdisciplinary Humanities Center

This lecture will focus on the ancient Egyptian mummy genre in film, which recently burst into theaters with Universal Studios’ special effects driven remake and sequel, The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001). Dr. Smith will outline the basic Egypt-inspired themes in film with a focus on the mummy genre. Then he will compare Hollywood's mummies to the insights that archaeology and Egyptology have given us into the reality of death and burial in ancient Egypt, where mummies took a central, if a generally less mobile role. Dr. Smith will conclude his talk by considering the origins of Hollywood's mummy myths, along with some insights into the process of being a consultant on Stargate, The Mummy, and The Mummy Returns.