It is a controversial move, but the museums say the term is dehumanising to those who died and – of course – an unwelcome throwback to Britain’s colonial past.
The phrase now deemed politically acceptable is ‘mummified person’ or ‘mummified remains’. Among these ‘woke’ museums are: the British Museum in London, the National Museums of Scotland and the Great North Museum: Hancock.
They will use “mummified remains of” or “mummified person”, to describe the Egyptian artifacts whenever possible.
“The word ‘mummy’ is not incorrect, but it is dehumanizing, whereas using the term ‘mummified person’ encourages our visitors to think of the individual,” a spokeswoman for National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh said.
