3122 - From Their Tombs To Our Museum: Mummies, Grave Robbers, and What's Next (Michael McDavid)
Course Description
Instructor: Michael McDavid
For centuries Westerners have been fascinated with the mummies from ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians practiced mumification of their dead for over 3,000 years. Because of the ideal climate and burial practices, many thousands of these mummies survived. In this one-day course we will examine the reasons why the ancient Egyptians devoted so much effort and treasure to mummify their dead, how they accomplished it, and the reasons why mummies are now found in museums around the world. We will also look at more recent controversies, such as the ethics and legalities of how museums acquire antiquities and the repatriation of such to their original homelands.
Bio: Michael McDavid has been interested in history since the second grade. Over the years his primary focus settled on European history, although if it happened in the past it was of potential interest. Michael majored in history as an undergrad at Furman University, then received master's degrees in European history and library science from Emory University. To earn money, he was a library manager at Equifax Inc and Georgia State University. During this same time to satisfy his historical itch Michael taught history at Georgia Perimeter College as an adjunct faculty member. Now after retiring from the Boston Consulting Group, he is privileged to offer courses at OLLI on favorite topics such 19th century Europe and his favorite “subspecialty”, the role of monarchy past and present.