While the debate over whether Indianapolis can attract young professionals rages on, its ability to lure incredibly old people is no longer in question.

Case in point: Demetrios, the roughly 2,000 year-old Roman mummy who will go on display Sunday as part of the new Egyptian exhibit "To Live Forever" at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The exhibit, which will travel across the nation, is making its debut here.

"To Live Forever" features artifacts that illustrate how ancient Egyptians took great measures to prepare for -- and ultimately sought to defeat -- death. It boasts 120 pieces from the Brooklyn Museum of Art's renowned Egyptian collection.

"This is pretty important for Indiana," said Ted Celenko, IMA curator, Art of Africa, the South Pacific and the Americas. "There is very little Egyptian art in the state, and there are no major collections in the state. So we are very Egypt-deprived, and this show should be popular for that reason."

Traditionally, a traveling exhibit debuts at its host museum. Celenko said that because "To Live Forever" is opening here, it has offered his team a unique creative opportunity.

"This has never opened anywhere," he said. "It has never been assembled. We are doing all of that. We are making decisions on all the details."

The artifacts in "To Live Forever" span a 4,000-year time frame, from roughly 3600 B.C. to A.D. 400, and come from all over Egypt. Objects include coffins, jewels, vessels, and, in addition to Demetrios, two canine mummies.

And Celenko thinks the exhibit's afterlife theme will resonate with Hoosiers.

"A lot of people are Christians in Indiana," he said. "I think they'll find the whole idea of resurrection and living forever interesting."

Yet it's current technology that provides some of the most arresting contributions to "To Live Forever." For example, a recent CT scan of Demetrios sheds light on the mummy's gender, age and medical history -- including a gallstone preserved in his bladder. Visitors can watch video footage of the CT scan at the exhibit, and the IMA's Web site has a section where users can interact with the electronic images of the scan's results.

If neither science nor history appeals to you, the opportunity to see a really, really old deceased person is a rarity in itself.

"We have a dead person on exhibit -- a real mummy that Brooklyn has never shown publicly," Celenko said.

To Live Forever

Where: Indianapolis Museum of Art, 4000 Michigan Road.

When: July 13 through Sept. 7. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.

Tickets: $12, $10 for seniors, $6 for children and students.

Info: (317) 923-1331 or www.imamuseum.org.

- By Matt Gonzales / Star correspondent