In a Feb. 18, 2011 photo, the Beauty of Xiaohe, a mummy discovered in the Tarim Basin in far western China, is shown at the “Secrets of the Silk Road” exhibit at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Philadelphia. (AP) PHILADELPHIA: “Return of the Mummies” may sound like a horror movie, but in this case there's a happy ending. The “Secrets of the Silk Road” exhibit reopened Friday at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology with a pair of show-stopping ancient mummies, now that a mysterious dispute with the Chinese government has been wrapped up. The drama has passed that had museum officials fearing their biggest exhibit in decades was doomed. But if you want your mummy, there's not much time. They'll be on display only until March 15, and the remaining artifacts will be on view until March 28. The full exhibit was initially slated to run until June 5; the hastened departure has not been explained. “It's kind of a wonder that it has actually come to pass,” said Victor Mair, a Penn professor of Chinese language and literature who has led expeditions in China for more than 20 years and helped develop the exhibit. “It is extraordinary to have so many important pieces all in one place.” Philadelphia is the final stop before the artifacts return to China. The mummies have Caucasian features, proof that western populations migrated eastward along the Silk Road, the vast web of trade routes connecting China, India, Central Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Africa and Europe. One, dubbed the Beauty of Xaiohe, has a head covering that looks remarkably similar to an alpine-style felt hat with a long feather, and the blanket wrappings on a 9-month-old baby mummy are similar to burial shrouds discovered in northern Europe. Because the mummies have not undergone DNA testing, specifics of their heritage remain unknown, Mair said.
