It was a good day, maybe it was my Mother’ Day a day early. Mohamed had to go Downtown to see one of the companies we deal with and also to see the lawyer so I went to the Museum. The Egyptian Museum (http://www.egyptianmuseum.gov.eg/) is in Tahrir Square right in the heart of the city – a huge pink building that was opened at the end of the nineteenth century and which will be supplanted by a brand new Museum that is currently being built just a few kilometres from us. And the locals I got to know better were just a few of the pharaohs and higher court officials of the ancient Egyptian dynasties.
The Museum is huge and absolutely stuffed with artefacts of all sizes and types, from colossal granite and limestone statues to the tiniest of gold beads. In between are wooden boats, papyri, linen clothes, chariots, funerary goods, mummies, the fabulous grave goods of Tutankhamun, leather sandals, exquisite jewellery and painted plaster pieces of tombs and temples. When I went before we only spent about 3 hours and there’s far too much to cover to even scratch the surface in that time. I had Hend with me as my guide then and while I was grateful to have some of the Museum’s treasures shown to me, I was also delighted to have this opportunity to wander on my own and just go where my whims took me.
Previously, Hend did all the work getting me in and I tagged along, but it was a simple matter to do it alone. There are many, many police around and all of them were friendly and welcoming. My ticket was 60 pounds and I went through several security points and had my passport checked. Cameras are not allowed, nor are food or drink and bags are X-rayed several times. It gets quite warm inside so you need to dress in fairy light clothes, or at least layer so you can strip down if you need to. Yesterday wasn’t as busy as it was the first time I went so it was a little easier to see what I wanted.
When you walk in you can almost be overwhelmed. To the left and right stretch large halls full of stone statues, stele, sarcophagi and coffins. Straight ahead, through an opening flanked by colossal statues, is the main hall, sunken, with a temple opening at the end, a pair of lit statues in front, just as you might see in situ at many temples in old Egypt. To the left and right of this hall are extra galleries, the one on the left containing one of the Dashur boasts and appearing to be closed off, while the right one also has a boat, but is open for you to walk part of the way through. Beyond a sign that says you can go no further is a long gallery full of dust covered objects of all types jumbled together. Some of tourists take no notice of the sign and walk on through.
The two Dashur boats are worth a close look. (http://cairodahshur.imrd.org/) As I get close, looking at the incredible mortise and tenon joints inside that hold the planks together I can smell a distinctive odour. It smells of age and dust, old mud, a slightly sweetish smell that is really indescribable but quite unforgettable. These boats were discovered under the sands on the Dashur plain in 1894 at the funerary complex of the Middle Kingdom pharaoh Senwosret III. Five or six were excavated but only four can now be located with certainty – these two in Cairo and two in the US. I wonder where the other two are.
Because I’m taking my time and looking closely at anything that interests me I am zigzagging around a bit. When I was studying art and art history we certainly learned a lot about the conventions of ancient Egyptian sculpture and painting. And this sort of potted knowledge certainly led me to believe that until the Graeco-Roman period added its own particular influence, the art appeared the same, bodies in the same position, figures and faces stylised to a great extent. And while this is true to an extent, closer study in the museum shows just how adept the ancient artists were at portraying the people (or wildlife) they were depicting, and how the differences, sometimes subtle, sometimes pronounced, almost outnumber the few conventions.
So in wandering through these first floor galleries I came to see lots of little (and large) gems that I am so delighted to have discovered. Some of them are famous and considered treasures of the Museum, others, like the small pottery fragment painted with the back quarters of what looked like a giraffe in the grass – exquisite.
But I think it was some of the “portraits” that I really enjoyed seeing most – the portrait of Siesi with his double chin and strange lip carved on a stele and the brilliant Rahotep and his wife Nofret (the Beautiful), carved and painted limestone from the 4th Dynasty , the reign of Sneferu (between 2613 and 2589 BC). This work looks as fresh as if it was done just a few years ago, but it was excavated in 1871 at Meidum. One thing that I found really unusual is that Rahotep has a moustache and there are not too many representations of this. So we know the concept of the “mo” is at least 4600 years old. These two are of the high nobility, Rahotep maybe a son of the king even, while his other titles label him as a priest of Ra and supervisor of works. As his pharaoh, Sneferu was a very active builder of pyramids, completing the step pyramid of Huni at Meidum, commissioned his own step pyramid at Meidum as well as the Bent Pyramid and Red Pyramid at Dashur, so maybe Rahotep had lots to supervise. The Museum describes his wife as a “Royal Acquaintance”. Wonder what that job description was?
Perhaps the most beautiful portrait is that of Nefertiti, not the painted one we are so familiar with in pictures (that isn’t in Egypt) but an unfinished sculpture which is still very beautiful, if this is what she looked like she really was a great elegant and classical beauty.
I loved the King Sahure relief which showed the gods/goddesses making tribute to the king. The Nile god had an amazing overhanging belly, while the ocean goddess had a body covered in waves. The corn goddess was covered in spots. Another goddess had the pendulous breasts and belly of an older woman who has had a number of children. These were definitely real people portrayed here.
Thutmose III was one of Egypt’s most warring pharaohs, reigning for 54 years (1479 – 1425 BC) and conducting many military campaigns. I’ve read a little about him and Egyptologists seem to agree that he was the most competent pharaoh in ancient Egypt. His portrait, on the statue of him as a young, athletic man, showed very defined features, a slightly hooked nose and almost feline eyes, smaller mouth and thinner lips – he even looked familiar to me, reminded me of someone from my past. (For my family I finally figured out it was the Genrich boys).
And of course Akenhaten is unmistakeable with his long face, big chin and full lips.
Another fragment of plasterwork that I loved was a small wall section that had geese painted on it. The sign said three species but it looked to me like two species, the male and female of each. But really, what do I know? But they were delightful, painted in such detail and in quite realistic poses. This was also from the 4th Dynasty (IV) from Neferma’et’s tomb at Meidum.
I did sneak upstairs quickly, because the crowds thinned right out so I swung by King Tut and had a long uninterrupted look at his mask – yes, THE mask, 11 kg of solid, beaten gold, lapis lazuli, glass paste and semi-precious stones - which is so beautiful, although not quite perfect with some of the lapis missing at the back. But it’s amazing to be able to have your face (albeit through the glass or Perspex) just a few inches away from it and really see it… All his grave goods and the big gold sarcophagi are incredible really. Not all of it is there just now; there is a temporary international travelling exhibition, the funds from which are going towards the new museum.
And I had the Tanis tombs room to myself for a few minutes, the jewellery is exquisite and the silver coffin of King Psusennes I, engraved all over, is really something. This is late, the XXI dynasty. The work is quite fine, wish I could read hieroglyphics.
One other thing that I loved on the upper floor was the coffin lid of Maakare. Maakare (a princess of the 3rd Intermediate Period, XXI Dynasty also) seems to have been the first of this dynasty of princesses who was sworn to celibacy. These princesses devoted themselves exclusively to the service of the god Amon, while retaining all the royal privileges, and they came to play an important political role. The funerary ensemble enclosing Maakare's mummy was found at Deir el-Bahari. The exterior coffin, whose lid is amazing, is the most elaborate part. The body of the coffin is decorated with intricate scenes of gods and goddesses protecting the " ba " of the deceased. But it is really, really lovely.
Anyway that’s more than enough from me – when you come to visit Egypt I hope that you can find your own special treasures in the Museum. I’ll be going back again someday to concentrate on another section. I still haven’t been to the Mummies Room or looked at the models or….
Till next time
lotsa luv
Lyndall
PS - you can't take photos inside the museum so I've relied on a few I have got from the web (with permission to use them)
