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To all of you in London who have to wait till October to see this exhibition, here is a little preview.
Stimulated through sounds, decor, and exhibits, it is easy, with a touch of imagination, to travel over 3,000 years back in time. This was the golden age of the pharaohs. 130 artifacts from that era have been transported all the way from Egypt and are on display in Philadelphia till the end of September.
I entered an opulent Egyptian temple. Numerous objects used by the priests during the process of mummification were on display. Looking at the exhibited jars, one could not help the feeling of ‘being there’, surrounded with priests chanting, while the Head Priest with the mask of the jackal god Anubis performed the ritual of the opening of the mouth. With the hook in the most beautiful opal blue, which also was on the display, he would extract the brain. Other internal organs, such as liver, stomach, intestine, lungs would be carefully placed in separate jars. Some had simple lines carved in alabaster, and some were inlaid with semi precious stones. The heart was always left in the body, so that it could be weight against the feather of Maat. If the deceased was a good person and his spiritual heart was lighter than the feather, the deceased would meet Osiris.
From the surrounds of the temple, I moved into the darkness of the tomb. This is the closest one could ever get to experience what Howard Carter must have felt in 1922 when he discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun.
I looked with fascination at the hieroglyphic carvings on the golden sarcophagus of the queen Tuyu, great grandmother of Tutankhamun. Intricately carved scarab beetles symbolising the rebirth, the key of life and many other hieroglyphs adorned the sarcophagus.
There were numerous beautifully carved shabti, figurines placed in the tomb to perform manual tasks for the pharaoh or the queen in their afterlife.
I felt the great excitement when I entered the chamber I thought was the one before the last. Five objects that were buried with the body of Tutankhamun were on display, including the gold crown with a cobra and a vulture placed on Tutankhamun’s head. The dagger was also wrapped in the sheets of the mummy to protect it in the afterlife. On the floor, the lines marked five coffins that, like a Russian doll, contained five sarcophagi and a mummified body of 19 year old pharaoh Tutankhamun.
I moved like in trance anticipating the next room to contain the one object worthy of a grand finale – Tutankhamun’s sarcophagus. Instead, I found myself in the gift shop. I felt a momentary disappointment, which soon dissipated as I remembered the dramatic and spectacular exhibition I have just witnessed.
