The Cairo Museum
Part 2
See small pictures of the artifacts mentioned in the text to the right -
click on the pictures to see larger. more detailed copies.
Click here to return to Part I of this
article.
Continued from Part 1...
Leaving behind one of my favourites - that is the statue of King Hor, one
comes at last to the New Kingdom exhibits. I will mention just a few pieces on
our way to view an important part of the collection - that is the in the
Akhenaten or Amarna room
On the way, look out for the very nice sphinx with the face of the female
Pharaoh Hatshepsut [ca.1498-1483BCE] (see Hatshepsut
-The Queen Who Would be King). Also here is a painted head of the same
female Pharaoh, showing her wearing the royal false beard.
Note also the block statue close by - this one depicts a high official at the
court of Hatshepsut, a man called Senenmut; one of his duties was to act as
tutor to her young daughter, Neferura. In this block statue, he appears to be
holding the little girl on his lap.
One more noteworthy piece is a seated statue of a scribe - Amenhotep, son of
Hapu. Unlike most statues which portray the owner as young and strong, this one,
in grey granite, depicts the scribe as an older man with furrowed brow and
sagging belly. Note the scribal palette that he carries over his shoulder; it
has two compartments, for red and black ink.
Arriving at last at the Akhenaten room, you can see there isn't really much
to see! Despite there being very little known about Pharaoh Akhenaten and his
time, more has been written about him than many other more notable Pharaohs.
This so-called heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten reigned for about 20 years
[1350-1354BCE]; shortly after the beginning of his reign he overthrew all the
gods of Egypt, including the state god Amun, closed the temples and instituted
the worship of the Aten or sun disc; he moved his entire court to a new city
that he had built in Middle Egypt, which he called Akhet-aten (Horizen of the
Aten), today called Tel el Amarna.
Other changes instituted by him can be seen in the art of the time - whereas
earlier depictions of Pharaohs show them as regal and often impersonal figures,
now the style is much freer and in some ways more realistic; quite different to
the rigid prescribed forms of any other time - in this room there are massive
statues of Akhenaten depicted in an almost grotesque way - his oddly shaped head
has a long face with exaggerated features, he has breasts, a sagging belly and
heavy thighs on spindly lower legs. Whether he really looked this way is
debatable and has been the subject of much academic discussion - there are, in
fact other statues extant which depict him and his wife Nefertiti in less
exaggerated form. Nefertiti and his six daughters are also portrayed in this way
and some depictions of his daughters show them with grossly enlarged occiputs -
surely an exaggeration? Some of the family is depicted together on a huge stone
shrine worshipping the sun disc whose rays end in small hands.
Also on display here is the lovely unfinished head of Queen Nefertiti as well
as fragments of painted frescoes, all found in the ruins of the razed city -
beautiful depictions of plants, animals and birds.
In the centre of the room is the lid of a mysterious coffin - found in KV 55,
the cartouche containing the name of the mummy has been removed as has the 'face
piece' so it's not possible to identify the owner but for various reasons, it's
believed to have been used by a member of Akhenaton's family. The basin of the
coffin was too badly damaged to be conserved and in this room is represented by
a copy in Perspex.
After the death of this Pharaoh, the new city was abandoned and the new king,
Tutankhaten changed his name to Tutankhamun; the court returned to Waset
(Thebes), the worship of Amun was reinstated and all the works of Akhenaten were
destroyed. His new city, Akhet-aten was razed to the ground and his name omitted
from all king lists. This small area houses just a few artifacts from a bizarre
period of Ancient Egyptian history.
Having now mentioned the name of Tutankhamun we can retrace our steps and
ascend via the staircase close to the Old Kingdom exhibits to view the
Tutankhamun collection - arriving on the first floor one is confronted by the
first of the four golden shrines - which all fitted one in to the other, each
one slightly smaller than the last. In the stone sarcophagus found inside the
last shrine were three coffins - the first two gold clad while the inner one is
of solid gold - about 200kg of it! His mummy is still in his tomb in the Valley
of the Kings in Luxor - sadly not in a good condition due not only to over
enthusiastic use of unguents meant to preserve him but also to the depredations
of man. (See The Tomb of Tutankhamun in the
Valley of the Kings).
This coffin, the famous solid gold mask and his jewellery collection are
housed in a room off the corridor close to these shrines. The jewellery is
magnificent, heavy earrings, bracelets, armlets, rings and collars - some of the
gold pieces set with carnelian, turquoise or lapis lazuli - absolutely
magnificent! A sheet gold pectoral represents one of the tutelary goddesses of
Egypt - Nekhbet the vulture goddess of Upper Egypt. A beautifully wrought dagger
with gold sheath is quite lovely.
The gold mask stands on its own in a case, the gold 'nemes' headdress is
inlaid with lapis lazuli and on the forehead are the two protective goddesses of
the king - Wadjet, the Cobra goddess of Lower Egypt and Nekhbet, the vulture -
the workmanship is of the finest quality.
The fabulous coffin of solid gold is inlaid with glass and semi precious
stones. The hands of the Pharaoh hold the royal symbols of crook and flail and
the wings of two vultures enfold the king at the waist - they hold in their
claws the 'shen' sign which has two meanings but in this context, was a
protective symbol.
The rest of the Tutankhamun collection is laid out along the wide corridor
and carries on around the next corner! Chariots, the three gold-clad funerary
beds, thrones, seats, boxes, sandals, a pair of gauntlets, bows and arrows, a
collection of walking sticks, throwing sticks, lamps and unguent containers in
finest white calcite (Egyptian alabaster) - the list of treasures goes on and
on. The wonder of it all is this - how did all this fit into his very small
tomb!
In a room close by is the Tanis collection - objects from the tombs of the
21st and 22nd dynasties [ca.1069-715BCE]. The jewellery is beautiful as well as
the fine golden mummy mask of Pharaoh Psusennes I [1039-991BCE]. Note the silver
coffin from the tomb of the same Pharaoh - it has gold embellishments on the
headdress.
Also here is the Jewellery Room - here is displayed jewellery from all
periods of Egyptian history - beautiful objects, some in stone but also in gold
and semi precious stone such as carnelian, turquoise and lapis lazuli. Some of
my favourites are the diadem of Princess Sit-Hathor-Yunet and the pretty circlet
of Princess Khnumet.
Other rooms of interest are the three mummy rooms - one holds the museum's
collection of animal mummies which include baboons, cats, crocodiles and a small
buck, the pet of a princess. Well worth visiting!
There are two mummy rooms; these hold the mummies of most of the Pharaohs of
the 18th and 19th dynasties including some of the royal ladies - note that you
will have to pay an extra LE100 to visit these rooms. The mummies are kept in
special temperature controlled glass cases and each one is named and provided
with some basic information. It is an amazing experience to be in the same room
as these fabled Pharaohs; however, having witnessed the behaviour of some
visitors to this room, I'm not so sure that they should be displayed for all and
sundry to gawk at. Having said that, of course it is up to the individual as to
whether they are prepared to pay the extra LE100.
The staircase close to the first mummy room leads back to the ground floor;
at the bottom of the stairs are some fine items from the Greek and Roman
Periods.
There is so much to see in this Museum that 'sensory overload' is inevitable
and a return visit is always recommended - but if there is only time for one
visit then the items described above are what you concentrate on. If you're on
your own, try to visit the museum around lunch time when the huge crowds thin
out somewhat. Things to remember are to bring a small torch with you and that
all cameras have to be left outside at the special check room near the ticket
office.
Click here to return to Part I of this
article.
To find out how you can visit this fascinating site, please contact Cecelia
or Lindy on
+27 11 678 4777 or +27 11 478 2884 or email us on:
info@egyptandbeyond.co.za.
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