Mummies, Magic, and the Macabre: Inside the Victorian Egyptian Obsession
The Victorians had a lot of kooky quirks, but their obsession with ancient Egypt might be the weirdest one.
From mummy unwrapping parties and stolen limbs to tales of shape-shifting beetles, the nineteenth century’s blend of colonial guilt and lust for conquest produced something truly wild.
In this online talk, Dr Jay Sullivan, author of Egyptian Gothic, will take you through the history of modern Egyptomania, from the mummy as medicine through to Tutmania. Meet the people who took human heads as souvenirs, discover what really went on at a mummy unwrapping party, and uncover the truth behind the mummy’s curse. Along the way, we’ll answer some of the strangest questions of the era: What was in mummy brown paint? Who had a secret stash of mummy penises? And did a mummy really sink the Titanic?
Speaker Bio
Dr Jay Sullivan is a writer and researcher based in South London. She holds a PhD from the University of Roehampton and an MA in Victorian Studies from Birkbeck College. Her research blends museum, sensory, and gothic studies with a focus on the Victorian Egyptianised Gothic genre. Egyptian Gothic 1884-1920, published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2025, is her first book.
Curated & Hosted by
Lena Schattenherz Heide-Brennand is a Norwegian lecturer with a master degree in language, culture and literature from the University of Oslo and Linnaeus University. She has been lecturing and teaching various subjects since 1998. Her field of interest and main focus has always been topics that others have considered strange, eccentric and eerie, and she has specialised in a variety of dark subjects linked to folklore, mythology and Victorian traditions and medicine. Her students often point out her thorough knowledge about the subjects she is teaching, in addition to her charismatic appearance. She refers to herself as a performance lecturer and always gives her audience an outstanding experience, Lena’s New Book – Mythical Creatures in Scandinavian Folklore is now available on Amazon
don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day
