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Wednesday, 24th May 2006 (5619 views)

A fascination with ancient Egypt is sweeping over the US this year, with a number of exhibitions examining the art and treasures of the pharaohs coming to museums all over the country.

The burial rites for ancient Egyptian nobles were undoubtedly elaborate, but the astonishing preservation of jewellery, weapons, gold-painted sarcophagi, death masks and even full-size boats give us unparalleled snapshots of a lost civilisation.

The Quest for Immortality, an exhibition touring Chicago, Texas and eventually London, is putting a tantalising number of these artefacts on display.

In Philadelphia, a fine arts exhibition examines Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the pharaohs. The golden diadem, the crown that king Tutankhamun may have worn when living, is one of 50 exhibits found in his tomb.

The most puzzling insight into the reign of an Egyptian monarch recently concluded at the Metropolitan museum of Art, New York.

In the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, a female pharaoh who ruled for 20 years, archaeologists discovered thousands of fragments of sculptures as well as evidence that art and craftsmanship had flourished greatly during the period.

Hatshepsut had been buried with an abundance of treasures, including the 'Horus collar', hammered from a sheet of solid gold.

At one stage in history, despite obvious respect from her contemporaries, the monarch's monuments were deliberately destroyed and her name removed from historical accounts.

The reconstruction of several sculptures, though, reveals that Hatshepsut promoted herself as a 'female king'. As well as feminine statues, immense representations were carved in which she is depicted in the guise of a man, with a false beard.

 

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