VISITORS will soon be able to stare death in the face at a North Yorkshire museum, where the ancient Egyptian's take on the Grim Reaper is set to go on display.

The unique 2,500-year-old mask of the jackal-headed god Anubis will be the centrepiece of a collection of rare Egyptian artefacts which goes on display at the Royal Pump Room Museum in Harrogate as part of the Land Of The Pharaohs exhibition, which opens on March 2. The discovery of the true importance of the ceremonial mask, which has been in the care of the museum since it was bequeathed to the town in 1968, could have Egyptologists rewriting the history books.

Previously it was thought the ancient Egyptians believed that only Anubis, who had the duty of guiding the souls of the dead about the Underworld, could perform the funeral ritual.

But now experts believe the mask could have been worn by priests who took on the role of the god for mummification.

The mask, made of cartonnage - layers of linen and papyrus stiffened with plaster - is one of only three masks to have survived which were worn by the living as opposed to those like Tutankhamen's gold mask designed for the dead.

The exhibition, which looks at daily life and the rituals of death in ancient Egypt, runs at the museum, in Crown Place, until February 23 next year.

Updated: 11:24 Wednesday, February 20, 2002