Manchester Museum asks visitors if Egyptian woman’s body should be taken off display

Asru, who lived 2,700 years ago, has been on display for two centuries but museum is trying to ‘decolonise’ exhibits

One of Europe’s leading museums is asking visitors if it should continue to display the body of an ancient Egyptian woman 200 years after it was brought to the UK by cotton merchants, as it “decolonises” some of its most famous exhibits.

Manchester Museum, which in May was named 2025’s European museum of the year, is running a consultation on the future of Asru, a woman who lived in Thebes, the ancient city in the location of modern-day Luxor, 2,700 years ago.