TORONTO – After months of suspense, the Royal Ontario Museum’s golden ticket has finally been found by lucky 10-year-old Aiden Samuels, soon to be the ROM’s next mummy.
“Aiden’s a really lucky kid,” said egyptologist Gayle Gibson. “Second prize was just a lifetime membership and an Egypt-themed pizza party.”
After his brain is liquidized with a stick and drained, Aiden’s body will be packed in natron for 70 days, after which he will be displayed beside the ROM’s other mummies: Nefret-Mut (c. 945 B.C.E.), Antjau (c. 525 B.C.E.), and Dave (c. 1978 C.E.)
“Wow, I can’t believe I’ll get to become a real live mummy,” said Samuels, perhaps somewhat incorrectly. “It’s a dream come true.”
Aiden’s family says the budding egyptologist is so excited, he’s already picked out his canopic jars.
“If there’s one thing Tutankhamun taught us, it’s that 10-year-olds make primo mummies,” said Gibson. “Aiden’s a great kid, and if we keep him in a temperature-controlled environment, he’s going to be a great kid for at least the next 9,600 years.”
This is the most excited a 10-year-old has been by a trip to the ROM since 2005, when the Palaeontology department announced 4th-grader Hanna Cheng would be crushed under layers of sedimentary rock, thereby becoming their newest fossil.
