The Musée de la Civilization opened one of its major exhibitions on Wednesday. The time of the pharaohs impressed by the amount of artefacts presented, more than 350, but also by the beauty and stunning state of preservation of these objects, some of which are almost 4000 years old.
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Despite the presentation of Fascinating Mummies in 2009 and Magical Egypt in 2015, the museum is not finished unraveling the mysteries of Egypt. This time, the exhibition, divided into eight zones, focuses on the pharaohs as well as the environment and daily life of the common Egyptians who lived before our era.
Among the objects that make us take a great leap into history, we mention several stelae with mysterious hieroglyphs, statues of deities, coffins, fragments of temples, jewels, a cat mummy, a sacred animal and large models of those of the first known pyramid.
Photo courtesy of François Ozan
This replica of a sailing boat, the main mode of transport on the Nile, is 4000 years old.
A large part is reserved for “modest but unique” everyday objects of the time, such as earthenware vessels. The flagship item is undoubtedly a simple doormat that is 4000 years old.
“Some objects in the exhibition have stood the test of time because they are quite robust, made of stone or granite,” explains curator Vincent Giguère. Here we have a doormat made from papyrus, a plant material. He could very well have disappeared. We are very surprised to see that when we open the boxes it is an unexpected encounter with history. »
Another example of exceptional preservation is a piece of papyrus from the Book of the Dead, a document of great historical value that explains what needs to be done after death to gain eternal life. “The piece will not be represented for a long time, given its great fragility,” notes Vincent Giguère.
Photo courtesy of François Ozan
An excerpt from the Book of the Dead written on papyrus.
Look into mummies
Ancient Egypt was ruled by about 170 pharaohs who were divine, half-human, half-divine rulers. The exhibition features six of the most famous of them, Cheops, Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Amenhotep III, Akhenaten and Ramses II with various objects associated with them.
Photo courtesy of François Ozan
The exhibition presents a mummy, its sarcophagus, a coffin and a mummy blanket in exceptional condition.
The highlight of the exhibition concerns mummification and burial rituals. Here is the mummy and sarcophagus of Lady Takhar, a woman from Thebes who lived until 656 BC. lived.
Unusual fact: we can observe a hologram that shows us the inside of the mummy, ie its skeleton and the 50 layers of bandages.
“The mummy was scanned using new imaging techniques in a specialized CT machine, making it possible to see the mummy’s successive layers without destroying it. We used to have the bad habit of unpacking the mummy. Yes, it allowed us to see amulets, but we destroyed what we were observing. »
►The exhibition The time of the pharaohs runs until March 12, 2023.