The most massive collection of relics ever lent out by Egypt for exhibition in the United States, “Treasures of Ancient Egypt: The Quest for Immortality,” opened at the New Orleans Museum of Art on Oct. 19.
It includes objects never before displayed in an exhibit.
Selected to reveal “Pharaonic concepts of the afterlife” in the New Kingdom (1550-1069 BCE) through the Late Period (664-332 BCE), art and artifacts dating back 4,000 years compose six sections of antiquity.
Ambassador of the Arab Republic, M. Nabil Fahmy called “Quest for Immortality,” “a fascinating and vivid exhibition that will leave long-standing impressions and have an invaluable contribution to better cultural understanding between Americans and Egyptians.”
NOMA visitors are taken through time on a journey starting with modern Egypt and meandering through the ancient tombs of the Underworld.
Visitors view Egyptian physical and spiritual immortality in relics: a boat from Amenhotep II’s tomb, a life-sized reconstruction of the tomb of Thutmose III, and the Amduat, a rare text of the sun god’s journey into the Afterworld.
NOMA’s exhibit examines the complex religious beliefs of Ancient Egyptians, focusing on the society’s denial of transient life by exhibiting elaborate statues, jewelry and painted coffins Egyptians designed to function in the afterlife, which was seen as a physical existence needy of being sustained.
The art reflects the difficulty of comprehending Ancient Egyptian religion, where religion and politics were unified, in our modern democratic and Judeo-Christian culture.
Egyptian sovereignty was linked to the sun. Major deities include Ra, the sun god, and Hathor, goddess of the sky.
Both are linked to natural phenomena.
“Every aspect of Egyptian funerary art is planned – nothing is arbitrary or without symbolic meaning,” wrote Erik Hornung and Besty M. Bryan, Board of Trustee members of the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
“Even the colors … conform to principles.”
The exhibit was planned by the United Exhibits Groups, the Supreme Council of Antiquities of the Republic of Egypt, and The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. where the exhibit began it’s five-year North American tour in Spring 2002.
NOMA operates Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., excluding legal holidays.
With a Loyola ID students, faculty, and staff receive discounted rates on tickets, which are normally $17.
Special rates are $10 for adults and $7.50 for students ages 3-17.
This fee includes an audio guide and exhibition pin. Admission to the museum is free on Tuesdays.
Loyola students, faculty, and staff should enter NOMA through the Members Only line for discounted tickets, or purchase with Ticketmaster or at the NOMA ticket booth.
For further information and special policies, call NOMA at 488-2631 or contact by web at www.noma.org.
Proceeds from “Quest for Immortality” will work toward the preservation of Egypt’s royal tombs and construction of a museum in Giza, Egypt.
After Feb. 25, 2004 “Treasures of Ancient Egypt: The Quest for Immortality” will travel to museums in Milwaukee, Denver, Nashville, Portland and Houston until 2007.
Pictured above is a chest of Queen Nedjmet. Late Twentieth Dynasty, c. 1087-1080 BC. It has come to NOMA from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. (Photo Courtesy of the New Orleans Museum of Art)
