First mummy museum in Arabia to open in Yemen

The General Authority for Antiquities and Museums is working to launch the Taweelah Museum of Mummies this year in Mahweet. It will be the first regional museum for embalmed mummies on the Arabian Peninsula.

Maintenance and refurbishment studies have been finalized to begin the preparation of the museum’s antique building, which is expected to be located in the Taweelah district of Mahweet governorate.

“While we were surveying the archaeological and historic sites, we found many rocky cemeteries that have many mummies. Thus, the idea of mummies’ museum came up in order to keep them in a good way and show them to others,” said Mohammed Qassim, Director of the GAAM office in Mahweet. 

The museum is expected to exhibit mummies discovered in rocky cemeteries in Mahweet dated back to the beginnings of the history, Qassim explained. 

“We are still preparing for this museum. The biggest problem that faces us is the financial support that forced us to stop the work,” added Qassim. But he said that preparation works would be kicked off soon this year.
 
“Another problem that we face is scientific cadres that the GAAM does not have, which means that we will ask foreign countries to provide us by qualified cadres,” said Qassim. He also said that the GAAM has begun to train Yemeni specialists with the help of foreign specialists. 

Officials of the museum will use preservatives in order to keep the mummies from becoming damaged, said Qassim. 

He said that the opening of the museum will be an important one in the Arabian Peninsula. These mummies will shed some light on the ancient human civilization in Yemen and Arabia. It will be the first museum in Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula for the corpses.

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