Mummified bodies, thousands of years old, can now be seen lying beside their ancient coffins in the Humanities building.

They are part of “Tales and Treasures from the Tomb: Selected Artifacts from the Sutro Egyptian Collection,” an exhibit on display in Humanities room 510.

Inside the dimly lit room lies the 3,000-year-old linen-wrapped mummy of NES-PER-N-NUB, a man whose name is known because it is written in hieroglyphics down the front of his sarcophagus, better known to us as his coffin.

Next to it is another, unknown mummy that dates back to 600 B.C. Beyond it, in a separate glass case are two ancient human heads, one of which is coated with dark resin to prevent it from decaying. The head of this particular ancient Egyptian man was covered so carefully that his hair pattern can still be easily seen.

“This is real stuff,” said anthropology major Erin Nyhan, who serves as a docent in the museum. “There are only two replicas in this place. Everything else is completely real.”

The room is filled on one side with all sorts of ancient tomb treasures, including food such as a roasted duck, a piece of beef and a fig which were mummified and entombed with the bodies to feed the mummies in the afterlife. Photos of tomb paintings adorn the walls next to lids of jars that were once used to store the inner organs of the mummies.

On the other side of the room, in the “World of the Living,” colorful jewelry made of rocks and minerals is displayed. Its bright turquoise beading and classic appeal give it the appearance of a retro style that could be worn today, rather than thousands of years ago.

Mirrors and containers that used to hold ancient Egyptian eyeliner are also on display here, along with handmade pottery that still bears the fingerprints of its creator.

Students taking the Museum Studies 730: Museum Exhibition Design class designed the exhibits. They were given hands-on experience with the relics under the instruction of museum studies professor Marian Bernstein.

“We were in charge of making labels for parts of the exhibit,” said graduate student Paula Allen, whose focus is museum studies. She is also serving as a docent.

“Each of us was in charge of a particular part of the museum,” she added. “We chose the objects and arranged them. We also wrote the pamphlet information.”

Nyhan said the students had to be very careful when handling the artifacts.

“We get to touch everything, which I don’t like because I’m afraid I’m going to drop it,” Nyhan said.
She said the class gets excited about items in the collection.

“Every little thing teaches us something,” Nyhan said, pointing to the little jars that used to store coal.
The collection is named after Adolph Sutro, a collector who lived in San Francisco in the late 1800s and served for two years as mayor.

He owned the Sutro Baths, a three-acre complex that had five salt-water bathing pools and bleachers to seat thousands of people. It included three restaurants, an outdoor tide pool and a house band and museum, according to the exhibit brochure. The artifacts now in the Humanities building once sat in the Sutro Baths museum.

After George Whitney Jr. bought the baths in the early 1950s, SF State archeology professor Andreina Becker-Colonna convinced him to donate the items to the university just before he sold the site to developers in 1964. A fire ravaged the complex in 1966, and the National Park Service bought it in 1980.

Nyhan said the opportunity to handle the relics is meaningful to her.
“I’m never going to dig up anything like this,” she said. “The most I’m ever going to see is a pot shard.”

She added that she believes the experience is valuable to her education.

“You get a lot of education out of it," said Nyhan. "I’ll be able to use it in a lot of different areas, hopefully.

“But if not, then I just had a good time working with mummies.”

The artifacts will be viewable from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday through May 6. Sixth grade field trips will be held in the room, but students are welcome to stop by and check out the ancient treasures. To make an appointment for a group tour, contact Bernstein in the classics department at (415) 338-1500.