City: Memphis, TN

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (901) 678-2224

Address: 3750 Norriswood Avenue

Description: Tucked away in a quiet corner of the University of Memphis Communication and Fine Arts Building, this museum features two small but excellent permanent exhibitions as well as shows of contemporary work that change frequently. One of the permanent exhibitions is a collection of Egyptian art, from the university’s Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology, that includes sculpture, religious and funerary objects, jewelry, and other items, some of it excavated at a cemetery near Memphis, Egypt, the city on the Nile for which the city on the Mississippi River is named. An authentic mummy is displayed under glass, with his feet and face exposed so that you can see how well preserved the body is (teeth and some toenails are still intact after several thousand years). There are also tiny snake mummies, which priests once sold to be used as votives to the gods. A painted wood model of a boat, which includes stiff-armed figures of servants standing onboard, is in remarkably good shape, considering that it dates from at least the 18th century b.c. The other permanent exhibit is Spirit of Africa, which displays masks, figurines, and other items from West Africa. Particularly interesting are the forest-spirit masks, donned for special ceremonies in the belief that the wearers would become the spirits represented by the mask. The museum is open Monday through Saturday except during university holidays and while exhibitions are being changed over. It’s best to stop at the university’s information office, a small, round building at Central Avenue and Patterson, to get directions to the museum. Ask about parking, which can be scarce on campus.