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The Unlucky Mummy, among other rare artefacts from the British Museum, has arrived at the Hong Kong Museum of Art amid tight security.

About 270 items covering  2 million years will feature at the 'Treasures of the World's Cultures from the British Museum' exhibition, which begins on September 14 and will run until December 2.

The items include sculptures, ceramics, wood carvings, jewellery, drawings and prints from various  cultures.

Thomas Chow Tat-ming, director of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, said: 'Visitors will be able to explore diverse cultures, from ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece, as well as other styles of European, African, American and Asian art.'

Mr Chow said the exhibition was among a series of official events to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the handover.

A famous icon of the British Museum, the Unlucky Mummy, which is not actually a mummy but a coffin lid that dates back 3,000 years, earned its nickname from the death and misfortune that is said to befall any who come in contact with it.

But museum staff yesterday demonstrated that the lid was not untouchable by checking its condition with their (gloved) hands.

Curator Ho Kam-chuen also dismissed a well-spread rumour that the Unlucky Mummy had been on the Titanic and was the cause of its doom.

Also on display in the exhibition is a 'Queen's lyre' from about 2600-2400BC, which was found in the Royal Cemetery at Ur, southern Iraq; a 13th century Egyptian brass 'Astrolabe', an astronomical computer for solving problems related to time and the position of the Sun and stars; a 2nd century marble Roman statue of Dionysos, the Greek god of wine; a walrus ivory chess piece made in about 1200 and found in Scotland; and a drawing of a nude man by Leonardo da Vinci.

British Consul-General Stephen Bradley  said the exhibition would give the people of Hong Kong 'a rare opportunity to experience an invaluable collection of treasures from the world's oldest and greatest museum'.

'I hope this exhibition will be popular with families and that we will see more and more cultural collaborations of this type between Hong Kong and the UK in future,' Mr Bradley  said.



Unlucky Mummy among British Museum artefacts set to cast their spell on the public