Entry No. 16 — the Boston file — filed under: mummy
The Ether Dome
This 1821 domed surgical amphitheater — where the world's first public demonstration of ether anesthesia happened in 1846 — still keeps its original crowd of witnesses: an Egyptian mummy named Padihershef, gifted to the hospital in 1823, laid out today in a climate-controlled case a few feet from the operating table.
The story
Before October 16, 1846, surgery was an agonizing race against time. At Massachusetts General Hospital, operations took place under the high glass dome of the 1821 Bulfinch Building—a skylight designed to flood the operating table with natural sunlight and muffle patient screams four stories above the street. Surgeons took pride in amputating limbs in under two minutes while fully conscious patients were held down by assistants. That changed when local dentist William T.G. Morton walked into the amphitheater with a glass inhaler sphere full of sulfuric ether. Dr. John Collins Warren removed a tumor from the neck of patient Edward Gilbert Abbott, who reported feeling only a scratch upon waking. Warren turned to the stunned medical gallery and uttered his now-famous line: "Gentlemen, this is no Humbug."
More than 8,000 operations were performed in this surgical bowl between 1821 and 1867, but one spectator watched them all without flinching. In 1823, an ancient Egyptian mummy named Padihershef—a 2,500-year-old stonecutter from Thebes—was gifted to the hospital to help raise operational funds through public viewing. Hospital administrators set him up right in the operating room, where he spent decades quietly observing unanesthetized surgeries, bone saws, and landmark breakthroughs. Today, Padihershef remains in his climate-controlled case just steps from the original operating table, framed by steep amphitheater benches, historical medical equipment, and a massive oil painting capturing the exact moment modern anesthesia was born.
What it's like
To get inside, you'll need to navigate past the scrub-wearing rush of a working hospital campus to reach the historic Bulfinch Building, taking the elevator or stairs to the fourth floor. The room opens into a steep, metallic-tiered amphitheater that feels suspended in time, anchored by brass railings, vintage surgical instruments, and Padihershef sitting silently in his glass case. The catch is that MGH still actively uses this 1821 room for staff meetings, lectures, and hospital functions—if a presentation is underway, the heavy doors are locked. Stop by the free Paul S. Russell, MD Museum at 2 North Grove Street first or call ahead so you don't make the trek only to find a meeting in progress.
The move: Tour the free Russell Museum next door, then call ahead to see if the working Ether Dome itself (still used for hospital meetings) is open, and stand where surgeons operated on fully conscious patients before 1846.
- 📍 West End, Boston (Massachusetts General Hospital)
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: Bulfinch Building, Massachusetts General Hospital; visits arranged via the Paul S. Russell, MD Museum, 2 North Grove St, Boston, MA 02114
Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Ether Monument — Walk half a mile south into the Public Garden to see the 1867 Victorian monument built to honor the exact same breakthrough in surgical anesthesia.
- Boston Athenaeum — the skin-bound book — Walk four-tenths of a mile over Beacon Hill to a 1807 private library that preserves another 19th-century anatomical artifact: a highwayman's memoir bound in his own skin.
- Central Burying Ground — Head south to Boston Common's 1756 graveyard to explore early Boston's darker history, including mass graves and painter Gilbert Stuart's unmarked burial.
Good to know
Is it free to enter the Ether Dome?
Yes, visiting both the Ether Dome and the nearby Paul S. Russell, MD Museum is completely free to the public.
Why is there an Egyptian mummy inside a medical amphitheater?
Padihershef was given to MGH in 1823 as a gift from the city of Boston to help the newly opened hospital raise funds through public admission fees; he was placed in the surgical theater and has remained there ever since.
Can I visit the Ether Dome anytime the hospital is open?
While it is generally open during weekday hours, the Dome is an active teaching and meeting space for hospital staff. If a lecture or meeting is in session, access is restricted, so calling the museum desk ahead of time is recommended.
What surgical tools are on display in the room?
The amphitheater displays early 19th-century surgical instruments including bone saws, knives, and early anesthesia inhalers used during the era before modern antiseptic medicine.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: massgeneral.org · Wikipedia · harvardmagazine.com · russellmuseum.org · smithsonianmag.com
last checked: 2026-07-20