There is a conversation that is not happening, and that should. That’s where it all started.
I grew up dreaming of becoming an Egyptologist from the age of 13, but I never imagined that fascination would lead me to spend my career studying human remains in museums. And perhaps, that is reassuring! I grew up in France, in the West suburbs of Paris, and it is in Paris that my passion for ancient Egypt began, at the Musee du Louvre. I interned there for the first time at 15, but it is my job as a gallery attendant there that led me on a path to exploring questions of displays in museums. I left France, where I grew up, to pursue my calling in the UK. I earned a BA in Ancient History and Egyptology from University College London, an MA and a PhD in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester, and held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Science Museum in London. During all this time, my research focused exclusively on Egyptian mummified bodies in museums — their histories, their display, and the ethical questions that surround them.
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In 2017, I created Mummy Stories
Iin 2019, I was awarded a Future Leader Award from the University of Leicester for Mummy Stories
In 2022, I published Mummified, a book inspired by the project
In 2022, both the book and the project led me to being elected a full Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
In 2023, I was awarded a Public Service Award for the University of Leicester - the only person to receive two awards from the university!
In 2025, Mummified was sent to reprint as a paperback and my first book in French, Promenades egyptologiques, was published.
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Every degree, every position, every project has been about more than just research. I have always valued emotions, storytelling, and human connection as central to understanding history. My work embraces these elements because museums are not just about objects, they are about people. I strive to make the conversations around human remains accessible, empathetic, and thought-provoking. In many ways, I see my role as championing courage, vulnerability, and curiosity in spaces where difficult questions live.
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Public engagement is complex: it is both delicate and exhilarating. Through Mummy Stories, which I have run independently for nine years, I have collected nearly a hundred stories from around the world, hosted events, written a book, and consulted for museums and universities. My work creates pathways for dialogue — shifting the conversation away from questions of “right or wrong” and toward deeper reflection, ethical awareness, and shared understanding.
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This is what drives me: the belief that museums can be spaces where history, ethics, and emotion meet; where storytelling is as important as scholarship; and where audiences are not passive observers, but active participants in reshaping the conversation about the human past.​​
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A conversation about being human.

Listen to my podcasts
The Ethics of
Museum Mummies
This episode is about mummies, museum ethics, and the dark history of how these human remains became common in museums worldwide.
Should mummies
be on display?
Angela Stienne explains how many Egyptian mummies ended up in European museums, and delves into current debates over how they should be displayed and treated.
The Ethics of Mummies
in Museums
Why are there mummies in your museum? Should they be there? What are visitors getting out of an encounter with Egyptian remains? Is there an ethical way to display mummies?

“Mummies have been objectified by museums but, first and foremost, they are human bodies”
Angela Stienne, BBC History Magazine (read here)



