| Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs
Review by STAN PARCHIN
April 21, 2010
| | Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18 (ca. 1332-1323 B.C.). Mannequin of Tutankhamun. Painted wood. H. 73.5 cm (28.9 in.). W. 41.5 cm (16.3) in.). D. 30.3 cm (11.9 in.). Thebes, Valley of the Kings, Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62). Egyptian Museum, Cairo. | 
| | Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, Amarna Period (ca. 1353-1335 B.C.). Head from a Composite Statue of Nefertiti. Brown Quartzite. H. 19 cm (7.5 in.); W 14.5 cm (5.7 in.); D. 19 cm (7.5 in.). Memphis, Mit Rahina, Palace of Merenptah. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. | 
| | Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty (ca. 1390-1352 B.C.). Gilded Coffin of Tjuya. Gilded wood. L. 218.5 cm (86 in.); W. 67.5 cm (26.6 in.); H. 100.8 cm (39.7 in.). Thebes, Valley of the Kings, Tomb of Yuya and Tjuya (KV 46). Egyptian Museum, Cairo. | 
| | Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, Amarna Period (ca. 1353-1335 B.C.). Balustrade Showing Akhenaten and Family under the Aten. Crystalline limestone. H. 102 cm (40.2 in.); W. 51 cm (20.1 in.); D. 15 cm (5.9 in.). Amarna, Great Palace. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. | 
| | Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18 (ca. 1332-1323 B.C.). Ceremonial Dagger And Sheath. Gold, cloisonné. Dagger: H. 38.1 cm (15 in.); W. 3.4 cm (1.3 in.). Sheath: H. 20.6 cm (8.1 in.); W. 4.5 cm (1.8 in.). Thebes, Valley of the Kings, Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62). Egyptian Museum, Cairo. |
Ancient Egypt's later 18th Dynasty and its controversial personalities come alive in an expanded version of the compelling special exhibition Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs at New York's Discovery Times Square Exposition (April 23, 2010-January 2, 2011), a spacious venue well-suited for the grand layout of the show's more than 130 antiquities. The works on display end their seven-city United States tour with a nine-month stay in the heart of Manhattan. Upon their return to Cairo, the objects and some 5,000 other treasures from the pharaoh's tomb will await their state-of-the-art installation in the Grand Egyptian Museum near the Great Pyramid at Giza, set to open in 2013.
After a brief video introduction, the exhibition opens up into 12 dramatically lit and thankfully carpeted galleries. Their contents are arranged chronologically and thematically. The show's first half is devoted to subjects such as: Egypt before Tutankhamun (r. 1332-1323 B.C.); daily life; traditional beliefs; death, burial and the afterlife; and religious revolution during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten (r. 1353-1335 B.C.), Tutankhamun's heretical father. A stark white transitional room runs archival film footage of the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb, compliments of The New York Times. The exhibition continues with an exploration of the boy-king and his world, objects from his burial and recent scientific discoveries.
Before the Reign of Tutankhamun
The installation goes far to set the stage on which the child Tutankhamun (then named Tutankhaten) first appeared through artifacts that describe Egyptian history, culture and religion immediately before and during the young pharaoh's nine-year reign. The visitor is greeted by a model boat meant to ferry his ka or life force across the sky, items of daily use, a miniature board game called Senet and fragmentary sculptures of his relatives. Of particular note are two naturalistically rendered stone busts of Akhenaten's principal wife, the beguilingly beautiful Nefertiti, and one of their six daughters. Even missing its inlaid eyes, the queen's brown quartzite likeness exudes a sense of sculptural beauty made possible by Akhenaten's emphasis on realism and intimacy in Egypt's artistic canon.
Visitors to the show are sure to come to a grinding halt when they encounter the Golden Coffin of Tjuya, the presumed great-grandmother of Tutankhamun, and her Gilded Funerary Mask (both ca. 1390-1352 B.C.). The massive wooden anthropoid sarcophagus, overlaid with reddish gold leaf and inscribed with protective spells, is a dazzling masterpiece to behold. Despite their humble non-royal backgrounds, Tjuya and her husband Yuya were accorded splendid burials in the Valley of the Kings, a testament to how much they were revered by their contemporaries.
The Heresy of the Aten
Akhenaten's religious devotion to the Aten or solar disk — to the exclusion of Egypt's traditional gods — brought with it radical changes in art and architecture. The heretic pharaoh's temples in his desert capital of Akhetaten (modern-day Amarna) were erected without roofs. This allowed the beneficent Aten's life-giving rays to shine upon the ruler, his family and his subjects. One of his open-air rituals is carved in low relief on a magnificent Balustrade Showing Akhenaten and Family Under the Aten (ca. 1353-1335 B.C.) from the monarch's Great Palace. The pharaoh, Nefertiti and their eldest daughter Meritaten are depicted in hieratic scale, Akhenaten being the tallest and most important of the three figures. The Aten's rays bestow ankhs or signs of life upon the king and queen while they offer ceremonial vessels to the god. Meritaten, her elongated head adorned with the side-lock of youth, shakes a sistrum or sacred rattle. Their bodies are executed in the early and more exaggerated style of Amarna art prescribed by Akhenaten, whose own countenance is the epitome of androgyny.
Family Tree and Mummy Replica
New to the show is an interesting gallery that describes the results of computerized tomography (CT) scans and DNA testing performed on the mummies of Tutankhamun and his relatives. The examinations were conducted to determine the boy-king's health, possible cause of death and his lineage. The room contains the miniature death mask and sarcophagus of one of the pharaoh's two stillborn daughters. A revised geneology is included in the presentation. Wall charts and a video illustrate the scientific procedures conducted on the boy-king and his family to explain his pedigree.
The family tree displays graphic color photographs of Akhenaten's and Tutankhamun's heads. Considering their bodies' poor state of mummification and the monotheistic controversy of the time, one has to wonder if their remains' condition is a result of intentional evildoing in antiquity. Such malfeasance could have been attempted by the powerful priesthood of the god Amun to deprive the father and son of their souls' bodily hosts in the afterlife, thus contributing to the eradication of their memories in Egyptian history. It is then ironic that wrapped within the linens of Tutankhamun's mummy was weaponry in the forms of an ornately fashioned Ceremonial Dagger and Sheath (ca. 1332-1323 B.C.), also on display.
Making its sensational debut in this room is the first three-dimensional reproduction of Tutankhamun's exposed mummy, a guaranteed showstopper. The amazingly accurate replica was created from the ruler's CT scans by artist Gary Staab. The sculptor was aided by Materialise, a Belgian hi-tech modeling company whose software is used to develop surgical simulations.
Tutankhamun's Golden Chariot
The exhibition's New York incarnation will boast in a month's time one of Tutankhamun's chariots, a gold-covered work discovered by archaeologist Howard Carter in the Antechamber of Tutankhamun's modest tomb. The sturdy vehicle, unlike its five companions, is simple in design and light in construction. Evidence of a wheel change suggests that the pharaoh actually used the chariot, possibly in battle or for hunting.
Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs offers a fascinating glimpse into ancient Egypt and its later 18th Dynasty through remarkably preserved works that describe various aspects of the civilization's regal history. The visitor comes away with a more informed appreciation of the boy-king's life and death thanks to recent scientific advances made available to the public for the first time.
Sources
Hawass, Zahi. The Golden Age of Tutankhamun (exh. cat.). Cairo and New York: American University in Cairo Press, 2004.
_____. Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs (exh. cat.). Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2005.
_____, et al. Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs (exh. cat.). Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2009.
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