This exhibition, The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt, represents the largest collection of ancient artifacts to ever travel outside Egypt. It consists of more than one hundred objects that focus on the Egyptian search for the afterlife in a culture that existed 3500 years ago. The objects - sculpture, jewelry and numerous funerary artifacts - reflect the Egyptian burial rituals, religious beliefs about gods and goddesses, concepts of the afterlife, and the pursuit of immortality. Much of the exhibition dates to the New Kingdom period (c.1569-1081 BCE) and the life of a particular pharaoh, Thutmose III. However, objects dating through the Late Period (c.724-333 BCE) are also included.
Throughout ancient Egypt’s long history, its complex civilization flourished and many things remained fairly constant, such as the use of hieroglyphs and the rigid rules that dictated artistic styles. Yet there were some changes, such as the architectural design of the tombs of pharaohs. When people think of ancient Egypt, the pyramids come to mind first. The rise of the pyramid age, occurring during the “youth” of this civilization, is a period that is not focused on in this exhibition. Most of the objects in this collection were created a thousand years after the pyramids. By this time the use of pyramids had been abandoned for a new and different style of funerary architecture – tombs that were carved into the limestone cliffs across from Thebes on the west bank of the Nile River.
Highlighted in this exhibition is a very important, though perhaps less well known pharaoh, Thutmose III. Thutmose III was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty in the New Kingdom, an eventful period in Egyptian history. Fourteen pharaohs fall under the Eighteenth Dynasty, some of whom have very familiar names: Akhenaten, Hatshepsut, and of course, Tutankhamun, better known as King Tut. Included in the exhibition are nine objects that depict Thutmose III or are related to his kingship in one form or another, as well as an exact replica of his burial chamber.
This exhibition provides an opportunity for our visitors to learn about the many facets of Egyptian funerary rites, religious beliefs, and the quest for eternal life. The ancient Egyptians viewed the afterlife as a place to pass into where an individual’s spirit would continue to live on. It was viewed as an extension of this world. Therefore, processes such as mummification and supplies of food and useful objects used in daily life were important in this passage. Although most of these objects were made to be placed in the tomb of the deceased and must now be viewed out of their original context, these ancient objects give us a glimpse into an ancient civilization’s quest for the eternal.
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