From 22 November, visitors to Natuurmuseum Fryslân can immerse themselves in the mysterious world of animal mummies. When you think of mummies, you might immediately think of Ancient Egypt, but they can also be found much closer to home. Mummy Mysteries is therefore a fascinating subject — intriguing and by no means complicated.
Mummies of pharaohs from Ancient Egypt are well known, but did you know that animal mummies were also common two thousand years ago? Cats, ibises and crocodiles were carefully embalmed and wrapped as sacred animals, pets, offerings to the gods, or food for the deceased. These mummies were deliberately created by people, intended to be preserved forever.
Animal mummies are also found in Fryslân. These often came about ‘by accident’, as a result of natural circumstances. Animals would crawl away and die in places where specific climatic conditions set the mummification process in motion. In effect, the animals were dried out. The museum’s collection includes several mummified animals: a cat found in a crawl space, a rat discovered behind wallpaper, and a dried bat that emerged from a vase years later.
The exciting exhibition features both the intentionally created mummies from Ancient Egypt and the unintentionally formed mummies from Fryslân. Visitors will find answers to questions such as: Which animals were used as mummies? How does mummification work? And why were animals mummified in the first place? The exhibition also explains how animals are preserved today and for what purpose.
Mummy Mysteries is part of the project Onder Ons, an initiative of the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, and is made possible in part by the VriendenLoterij and the Municipality of Leeuwarden.
About ‘Onder Ons’
Thanks to a generous contribution from the VriendenLoterij, the National Museum of Antiquities is able to develop ten exhibitions with ten Dutch museums between 2023 and 2027. The aim is to ensure that every Dutch resident can experience the national museum collection.
The exhibition runs from 22 November 2025 to 22 November 2026.
