Ominous, monolithic wooden doors, slanted backwards to accentuate their apparent height, swing slowly and automatically outward, beckoning the carefully counted herd of visitors into a darkened room lit only with eerie blue light trickling out of hieroglyphic sconces. Doors close behind, the lights dim - so begins the visitor’s journey among the treasures of ancient Egypt. Each visitor’s Egyptian immersion, however, started long before entering the “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” exhibit at the San Francisco De Young museum. The ancient Egyptian “mega-myth” – of grandiose and opulent Pharaohs, majestic, mysterious pyramids, sphinxes, Cleopatra, Ramesses, and of course King Tut – is deeply ingrained through popular culture, glorified in countless films, novels, and even video games. So too is the mystique of the brave adventurous archaeologist fixed in every western mind, patterned after the fedora-donning and pistol-toting protagonists of “Indiana Jones” and “Tomb Raider.” The King Tutankhamun exhibit, instead of exploring historical facts and daring to counter these myths, embellishes and substantiates them, reinforcing the Egyptian “blockbuster” perception in an attempt to satisfy the preconceived notions of the average person in hopes of drawing masses to the museum.
The guiding force behind the Tut exhibit is profit, to attract and satisfy the most visitors as efficiently as possible. The exhibit's backers were clear in their profit-driven motives, and every aspect of the experience exudes this monetizing mindset, from the efficient entrance line to the finishing souvenir shop. The museum curators craftily target the exhibit to reinforce the simplified and majestic popular notions about ancient Egypt...
... middle of paper ...
...n behind Egypt's Boy King." SFGate. 27 June 2009. Web. 1 Mar. 2010. .
MacDonald, Sally. 2003. Lost in Time and Space: Ancient Egypt in Museums. Consuming Ancient Egypt, edited by Sally MacDonald and Michael Rice, pp 85-99. London: UCL Press.
Palmeri, Christopher. "Phil Anschutz: Media Wildcatter." BusinessWeek. 25 Apr. 2005. Web. 04 Mar. 2010.
Parker, Ian. "The Pharaoh." EBSCO. The New Yorker, 16 Nov. 2009. Web. 3 Mar. 2010. .
Waxman, Sharon. "Show-Biz Pharaoh of Egypt’s Antiquities.” The New York Times. 13 June 2005. Web. 1 Mar. 2010. .
Whenever the topic of Ancient Egypt is breached, a few generic topics are instantly recalled: maybe it’s the pyramids, King Tut’s tomb, maybe even the Exodus? Before Egypt became the Egypt that most everyone knows of now, it was a wildly disjointed, disunited preamble to the great empire it became known for. King Narmer was the factor that ultimately changed that. Unifier of Egypt and founder of the First Dynasty, Narmer set into motion a series of events that ultimately shaped Egypt into the modern republic it is now. In this episode of ‘A History of the World in 101 Objects,’ we will delve into the history behind this legendary Stele, explore the ancient and current significance of such a production, and attempt to lift the veil on topics such as consolidating Menes with Narmer.
Hawass,Zahi. The secrets of the Sphinx: restoration past and present. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 1998.
Menu, Bernadette Ramesses II Greatest of the Pharaohs (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1999)
Assmann, Jan. The Mind of Egypt: History and Meaning in the Time of the Pharaohs.
The statue of King Menkaure and his Queen exhibits with clarity the Egyptian devotion of art to a cannon of proportions. Its strictly frontal view point, the rigid poses of the figures, and a faithful accordance to rules and established customs can be interpreted as manifesting the nature of the Pharaoh’s authority over his subjects while at the same time exemplifying the highly regulated, hierarchical structure of ancient Egyptian society. The measured grid of verticals and counterbalancing horizontals, the stiff artificial postures and the overall idealized anatomical shapes of the bodies combined with naturalism is indicative of Egyptian taste for art and a representation of the character of Egyptian culture.
Weigall, A. E. P. B. 1970. The life and times of AkhnAten, Pharaoh of Egypt. Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press.
“Can see anything ?'; “Yes,'; Carter replied, “wonderful things.'; Such were the words of Howard Carter on February 17, 1923 as the archaeologist peered into the 3500 year old darkness of Pharaoh Tutankhamen’s burial chamber and forever altered the scope of man’s imagination. Carter and his team of the world’s most eminent archaeological experts uncovered what are undoubtedly among the greatest riches of this or any known time. The name Tutankhamen, in reality a relatively insignificant young king, has become legendary and has furthermore assumed a position in our vocabulary and cultural ethos rivaled by few other figures of ancient history. Of the events which directly followed that momentous day in 1923, we are utterly baffled. By 1929, twenty-two people who had been either directly or indirectly involved in the exhumation of Tut and his treasures were dead, in most cases, of undiagnosable causes. Was this just a flook or was it the curse of King Tutankhamen.
Al Ghazali, Zainab. Return of the Pharaoh: Memoir in Nasir’s Prison. The Islamic Foundation, 2006. Pp. vii, 188.
Statue of Ramesses II is one of ancient Egypt’s largely legendary and successful pharaohs. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, believes the achievements of Ramesses II as a leader who built tombstone everywhere in Egypt. MacGregor describes that Ramesses II was inspiring to many potential pharaohs and was respected as a God more than a thousand years. In the chapter, he portrays how the
Prisse, d’Avennes. Atlas of Egyptian Art. Egypt: The American University in Cairo Press. 200. Print
Wilkinson, Toby A. H.. The rise and fall of ancient Egypt. New York: Random House, 2010. Print.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ‘Egyptian Art’, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Art. New Series, Vol. 41, No. 3, Egyptian Art (Winter, 1983-1984): pp. 1+3-56
Maspero, Gaston. Manual Of Egyptian Archaeology And Guide To The Study Of Antiquities In Egypt. 1895. Print.
There is no doubt that scholars, artists, and educators remain undoubtedly amazed by the immense collection of treasures that are consistently found within ancient Egyptians tombs. There is true meaning and history behind each artifact that has been found; collectors still see these priceless items as art, and many forget that they once served the main purpose in the afterlife. Everything in the ancient Egyptian culture was meant to serve their highest deities and gods. They created treasures to ensure that their lives would mean something, and many forget to reflect on the purpose of art or an object in general.
1. Budge, E. A. Wallis. The literature of the ancient Egyptians,. London: J.M. Dent & Sons,