A mummification demonstration, a chance to handle ancient artefacts and real Egyptian papyrus were the highlights of a family activity day at Cliffe Castle Museum on Tuesday.

Children also learned how to decipher basic Egyptian hieroglyphics during the session, which was arranged by museum education officers.

Organiser Elizabeth Smith said: "We've had some very good feedback about the day.

"We've used a dummy to show how mummification really worked and that's proved very popular."

She said the youngsters also enjoyed handling ancient funerary figurines, called Shabtis. These were placed in graves to act as servants for the dead.

"For most of the children these would be the oldest manmade things they've ever held," she added.