Spend a Night with Real Mummies

Viewing mummies by flashlight is an eerie adventure in the “40 Winks with the Sphinx” program at Penn Museum.

Taking inspiration from the popular “Night at the Museum” movies, the Museum of Archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania opens its doors – and shuts off the lights – for families eager to camp in the Lower Egyptian Gallery.

There, under the wind-worn gaze of the world’s third-largest sphinx, we rolled out our sleeping bags, weary but excited after an evening spent roaming halls filled with treasures from ancient Greece, Rome and China.

The event began with a “Where in the World?” game that invited kids on stage in a classroom/theater to see slides projected and identify famous sites such as Stonehenge, the Coliseum and Pyramid of Giza.

Then we had our choice of activities such as crafting our own mosaic in the museum’s Mosaic Hall, doing yoga or taking a class in hieroglyphics.

We wandered upstairs and came upon the interactive artifact cart, which featured skulls, bones and – gasp! – a real mummy that we were allowed to gently touch. The 1,000-year-old shriveled body of a Peruvian woman
is the museum’s “teaching mummy,” stored unceremoniously in a cardboard box. Long dark hair still hangs from her skull, but it feels dry and coarse - if you dare to touch it.

The evening culminated in a guided museum tour by flashlight – ancient sculptures with empty eyes gazing back at us as we crept past
exhibits.

The “40 Winks with the Sphinx” program accommodates up to 100 people, but Penn Museum is big enough that it’s easy to find yourself in a gallery with art and artifacts all to yourself. There’s plenty of time for independent exploration beyond the organized activities. General admission for the museum the next day is included.

Penn Museum includes exhibits from Africa, Polynesia, Israel, the American Southwest and Native Alaska.

Cost for the Friday-Saturday sleepover is $50. A light breakfast is served in the museum’s children’s lunchroom. Kids ages 6-12 receive a souvenir patch good for free admission throughout the school year.