Look out, Orange County. The mummy invasion has come your way.
Capitalizing on enthusiasm for the King Tut exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Santa Ana's Bowers Museum presents Mummies: Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt, featuring six complete mummies from London's British Museum. Slated to run at Bowers for two years, the show is the largest Egyptian collection the British Museum has ever let travel outside of the country.
"You are actually meeting an ancient Egyptian when you look at these mummies," says John Taylor, the British Museum curator who helped set up the exhibit. "There is no other ancient civilization where you come face-to-face."
Mummies aren't the only new thing for Bowers. In September, construction begins on an $18 million wing that will house three new galleries, a 350-seat auditorium, and an atrium that will accommodate 500 people. ―Beth Lipoff
INFO: Mummies: Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt (10-4 Tue-Sun; from $17; Bowers Museum, 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana; www.bowers. org or 714/567-3600)
