We’d seen the documentary on the discovery channel along time before christmas about the Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibition as it left New York, and headed for the UK. It was a great documentary on how huge the setup and administration of the exhibition was, and also gave a great insight what was actually on display.
I’ve always loved myths, legends, and in particular ancient Egypt. The name of my blog, Naquada is not only a reference to the hit science fiction series Stargate, but it’s also a reference to one of the most ancient cities of Egypt, Naqada. So theres a bit of deep routed interest in the Egyptian side of things.
When the British archaeologist Howard Carter uncovered the remarkably preserved tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, he created a worldwide sensation. The last time any of the Tutankhamun artifacts toured the world, it was 1977, and the term blockbuster exhibition was born.
Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, the new exhibition, offers visitors a chance to see new treasures and to enter the world that gives them meaning. It covers 250 years that encapsulated the very pinnacle of ancient Egyptian culture, wealth, and power. The 250 years is covered by more that 130 ancient artefacts, excavated from from the tombs of Tutankhamun, and his relatives Thutmose, Akhenaten, Nefertiti and others.
The exhibition is divided into eleven galleries, and is accompanied by an optional audio commentary by Omar Sharif, this I personally recommend getting if you go to the exhibition, as it adds an awful lot to the experience, without the audio guide you are going to miss a lot of information and background on the artifacts and history behind the objects.
The first of the galleries is an introduction on large screen, again given by Omar, and sets the scene for the galleries to come. Gallery 2 starts to cover the Daily life in Ancient Egypt, and follows into the traditional religious beliefs in gallery 3, and the radical readjustments of these by Akhenaten in gallery 4. Gallery 5 covers the Egyptian beliefs of death, burial and the afterlife and how important this was at the time. Gallery 6 starts to move into the actual tomb and life of Tutankhamun, since up to this point the exhibition has, as the title suggests, been around the golden age of the pharaohs, including Tutankhamun. Gallery 7 starts to explain about Tutankhamun himself, and his role at the young king of Egypt, moving through galleries 8,9 and 10 which focus in more depth on the boy kings life, death and burial. Gallery 11 concentrates on the CT and MRI scans that were done on the Tutankhamun from the 70’s through to today, throwing up, and dismissing many myths and believes on possible causes of his untimely death.
The exhibition galleries are just amazingly well presented, gone are the days of dull, lifeless glass cabinets showing artifact after artifact with uninspiring notes under them detailing the time and date of discovery. The Tutankhamun exhibition makes each and every artifact stand out. They are well lit, well spaced and completely in context with the other displays around them. It’s clear that a lot of time has been put into not only lighting, but the surroundings, the inside of the O2 bubble transformed with tasteful, and fitting chambers and pillars, encapsulating the feel of ancient Egypt. This gives the whole exhibition has a very eerie and haunting feel to it, and focuses you firmly on the artifacts and history behind them.
For things that are well over 3,000 years old, you could be mistaken for thinking they were almost new. The colours of the paint used on the items are bright, clean and sharp, the gold shines like true high value gold, and the wide range of objects is fascinating. Chairs that were used in life, and buried with the owner, show the indentation of the person that sat on them, which does leave you feeling quite humbled, these are not replicas of items recovered from the dust, these are real things, made, touched, lovingly crafted and buried with their king, accompanying him for over 3,000 years in the dark, cool almost eternal night of his tomb. This is brought home in the final few galleries where some of the objects can be see being carried from the tomb along side Carter.
The press list this exhibition as a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I’d say that is somewhat true. after the 1977 tour of the world, many of the artifacts were damaged, or are now deemed to fragile to travel. This unfortunately means that the big stars like Tutankhamuns death mask, the iconic image everyone associates with the boy king, is not part of the exhibition. However, even without these well known items, the ones included are awe inspiring. It also means that this may be the final time the Tutankhamun artifacts leave Egypt, almost certainly in our lifetime. Also gone are the massive queues that met Tutankhamun on his 1977 visit, you purchase tickets on a timed basis (half hour slots during the day), you can enter during this time, and stay as long as you like, although you’re only likely to spend about 90 minutes in there, a good tip is once your past the first gallery, hang back slightly as only 60 people at a time enter the exhibition, so you can enjoy the showcases without others being in your way before the next 60 come in.
Should you visit this exhibition? Absolutely yes, you’d be a fool not to. Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs is currently at The O2 Bubble and will close on August 31st to return to the USA to Dallas Museum of Art in 2008, and remember, Tutankhamuns touring life if pretty much coming to an end, and the only way you’ll get to see it again is by going to Egypt.
Tickets are £15 for weekdays and £20 for weekends, ensure you also get the audio guide, and check out the Kelloggs discount giving £5 off a family ticket.
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