The Unique museum

In 1890, Jesse Haworth and Martyn Kennard presented to the Manchester Museum the unique and valuable set of objects of daily use from Petrie’s excavations at Kahun, Illahun and Gurob. These constituted one of the best collections of Egyptian antiquities in Britain. They were only the first of a succession of gifts made by Haworth to the Museum, which he acquired from Petrie’s excavations. For some nine years, he and Kennard were the sole major supporters of his excavations. His magnificent donations to the Manchester collection kindled great interest in Egyptology in the area. The Museum’s first major Egyptian acquisition had been the gift of a mummy with its coffins belonging to ‘Asru, Chantress of Amun in the Temple of Karnak’. These were presented to the Manchester Natural History Society (founders of the Museum) in 1825, when it was claimed that this was ‘one of the best preserved mummies in the kingdom’. It was, however, Jesse Haworth who contributed most to the Egyptian collection, and the year 1911 was an important landmark in the Museum’s history.