SALT LAKE CITY -- Hundreds of people lined up early on Saturday morning to walk amongst the dead at The Leonardo Museum.
The Mummies of the World exhibit features artifacts and more than 50 mummies—the oldest of which is more than 6,400 years old. Angelina Kendzior, director of marketing for The Leonardo, said the exhibit is the biggest of its kind.
“It’s the largest collection of real mummies from all over,” she said. “It’s not just from Egypt. They’re from all over the world, so you can really see the difference in the different continents and the different countries how they did their burial procedures.
The exhibit is on a seven-city U.S. tour, and the collection will call the Leonardo home until May 27. Each mummy on display is accompanied with information about the science and history tied to it.
It takes viewers about an hour and a half to move through the display, which is dimly lit and accompanied by mystical music. Exhibit attendee Alex Gonzalez said he enjoyed the experience.
“I think it was amazing: the opportunity we have to see these in Salt Lake—sometimes you have to travel far away to see it, and I’m glad we had the opportunity here,” he said.
The tour only came to six other locations in the U.S., and exhibit attendee Nicole Westfahl said she liked that Utah was able to host this unique experience.
“I think it’s great because so many times I feel like Utah gets passed over on things, and it’s nice to have The Leonardo here and have them have something like this that you wouldn’t be able to see otherwise,” she said.
