Ancient Egypt is irrevocably connected with the trajectory of 'western' culture - from Renaissance Italy to revolutionary France and beyond. Focussing on the history of collecting and displaying Egyptian antiquities, including the unwrapping of mummies, this module interrogates the construction of different 'ancient Egypts' in European and North American contexts. Topics include museum displays from the 19th century to the present day; 19th century world fairs and international exhibitions; mummy unwrappings and other stagings of the Egyptian body and related artefacts; 'Egyptomania'; ancient Egypt, race, and Afrocentrism; and archaeological and artistic representations of Egypt.