Ancient Worlds opens at Manchester Museum

Manchester Museum is raiding its own collection of classical objects to update three of it’s core galleries. Featuring displays from the Greek, Roman and Egyptian archives, expect archaeological treasures galore collected during Britain’s Empire age. On the centenary of the museum’s first Egypt gallery, Ancient World’s updates the museum’s existing Egypt offering, exploring the people behind the objects, asking who made, used, collected and interpreted them. Featuring a large range of Egyptian mummy paraphenalia from masks to the secret treasures buried with the dead, the show gets inside the day-to-day rituals of life too, in Ancient Egypt, as well as Greece and Rome. One highlight is a unique piece of jewellery known as the Riqqeh Pectoral, a type of brooch worn by richer classes in ancient Egypt. Then as now, wine was an important feature of everyday life and the Roman collection has large numbers of amphorae (wine holders made out of clay), as well as drinking vessels and containers for olive oil. A must for anyone interested in our collective origins.

From Fri 26 Oct, Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M13 9PL. Tel: 0161 275 2648, www.ancientworlds.co.uk

Image: Amulets on display