Barnum’s Mummy Is

A Visitor’s Blockbuster

BRIDGEPORT — Movie mummies may be big revenue producers these days – the latest, The Mummy Returns, raked in more than $116.5 million in its first ten days of release – but Bridgeport’s Barnum Museum has the real thing.

The Barnum’s mummy is Pa-Ib, more than 2,500 years old. A priest of the god Min, Pa-Ib lived in Egypt circa 500 BC, and was about 60 years old when he died and his body was preserved.

The mummy was one of the many rare items collected by P.T. Barnum in his world travels. It was given to the museum in 1896 by Barnum’s widow, Nancy Fish Barnum. Visitor surveys indicate the mummy exhibit is among the most memorable artifacts in the museum’s collection.

The Barnum Museum is at 820 Main Street in Bridgeport. Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 4:30 pm, and Sunday from noon to 4:30 pm.

Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for senior citizens and college students, and $3 for children ages 4  through 18. Call 203-331-1104 for information.