A Conversation about Life and Death in Ancient Egypt

At a special exhibit on ancient Egyptian burials at the National Museum of Scotland, I was looking at the sarcophagus of the priest Nehemsumut, circa 840-815 BC. There was a group of grade one children, on a class outing, in the same area. I was pressed by the assignment sheets they were using as a lesson examining burial practices and using impressive vocabulary words. A little boy, with blond hair, wearing his school uniform blue jumper, engaged me in an earnest conversation:

Boy: That's a mummy.

Me: Yes. It is very cool, isn't it?

Boy: You know the mummy in there is still alive!

Me: Are you sure?

Boy: Yes. He’s really alive!

Boy’s friend: (with analytical skepticism) I think he’s dead.

Me: (nodding, earnestly) I think he is dead too.