CAIRO: A “Treasures of the Pharaohs” exhibition opened at the de Young Museum in San Francisco this weekend, which includes 130 artifacts from ancient Egypt that are on show in the US for the first time.
The display, which runs until Jan. 31 next year, features treasures from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and the Luxor Museum that span 3,000 years of history. A particular highlight is the US debut of items from the “Golden City,” a workers’ settlement near Luxor that was discovered by Zahi Hawass, an Egyptologist and former Egyptian minister of antiquities.
“This is the first time that a collection from the Golden City — the most important archaeological discovery in Egypt in recent years — has been shown abroad,” Hawass said in a message posted on the museum’s Facebook page.
Sherif Fathy, Egypt’s minister of tourism and antiquities, said that traveling exhibitions serve as “ambassadors” for Egypt and its civilization, carrying powerful messages and human stories that continue to inspire people around the world.
The Golden City, the discovery of which was announced in April 2021, is a 3,000-year-old site dating to the reign of Amenhotep III, one of Egypt’s most powerful pharaohs. It is considered one of the most important archaeological finds since the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922.
Hawass described the city, called Aten, as the largest ancient city ever uncovered in Egypt, and experts said it offer a “rare glimpse” into the lives of ancient Egyptians during one of the empire’s wealthiest periods.
As well as artifacts from the “Golden City,” the exhibition in San Francisco includes funeral masks, royal jewelry, statues, sarcophagi and papyri, among them the gold funerary mask of King Amenemope; treasures of King Psusennes I; the golden sarcophagus of Queen Ahhotep II; the gilded wooden chair of Princess Sitamun; and the hieroglyphic funerary papyrus of Djedkhonsuiusankh.
Egyptologist Hussein Bassir told Arab News: “Gold treasures and royal jewelry showcase the exquisite craftsmanship of ancient Egyptian goldsmiths, revealing the ancient Egyptian concept of immortality, sanctity and connection to the sun.”
Some of the most prominent pieces in this category include fragments of royal jewelry and implements crafted from gold and semi-precious stones that display an advanced level of technical skill and artistic beauty, he said.
The exhibition also features pieces from more recent discoveries, including the Golden City, which shed light on life during Egypt’s New Kingdom period, added Bassir, who is director of the Alexandria Library Museum.
The strength of the display lies not only in the exceptional artifacts on show, he said, but in the way it tells the story of Egyptian civilization by presenting not just the treasures of kings but also items that reveal a comprehensive vision of ancient Egyptian society, including royal authority, religious beliefs, daily life, and attitudes to death and resurrection.
Tickets for the first week of the exhibition have sold out, the de Young Museum said, and more than 5,400 visitors were expected during the opening weekend alone. It previously opened in Rome in October last year, where it attracted more than 400,000 visitors before closing last month.
Last month, a Dutch archaeological mission from Leiden University, led by Carina van den Hoven, announced the discovery of previously unknown 3,000-year-old tomb in the Sheikh Abd El-Qurna necropolis on Luxor’s West Bank, which featured vivid wall paintings and inscriptions that identified its owner as a man named Paser.
