Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1310806
A Close enCounter with Ancient egyptiAns M i l l e n n i a after the final pharaoh put down his scepter and the last rulers were entombed for their lavish afterlifes in the Valley of Kings and Valley of Queens, the ancient Egyptians continue to enthrall us. During the Carter administration, "Treasures of Tutankhamun" — a six-city American museum tour in 1976-1979 organized as a magnificent cultural gesture between Egypt and the U.S. — birthed the modern blockbuster. Flash forward five decades, and Egypto-mania remains at an all-time Model of Queen Nefertari's tomb, early 1900s Statue of Idet and Ruiu, New Kingdom, early 18th dynasty, circa 1480- 1390 BCE ColleCtion Museo egizio, turin, italy high, more bittersweet since traveling to the Nile is impossible in our COVID time, coupled with the Mid East's geopolitical climate. But there's a grand way for Texas audiences to commune with the ancient Egyptians, and it opens this month, as the feminist-focused blockbuster "Queen Nefertari's Egypt" unfurls at the Kimbell Art Museum. The exhibition reveals what life was like during the New Kingdom (1539 – 1075 BCE), when the powerful monument- builder Ramesses II (who ruled 1279 to 1213 BCE) and his principal queen, Nefertari (her name translates as "the most beautiful of all"), reigned over the most elaborate and advanced civilization o f t h e a n c i e n t world. The Kimbell exhibition includes 230 extraordinary art objects and artifacts, most on loan from the Museo Egizio in Turin, where archaeologist and Egizio director Ernesto Schiaparelli installed them after his 1904 discovery of Nefertari's tomb — the most exquisitely decorated in Thebes' Valley of the Queens. The exhibition offers a broad focus on the role of women in Egypt 3,000 years ago. Curator Jennifer Casler Price organizes a presentation with drama and visual treasures aplenty as it resuscitates from the sands of time one of the four seminal queens of ancient Egypt. And, there's a bonus: an in-depth look at a side discovery, the well-preserved village of Deir el- Medina, where artisans and scribes outfitted the royal tombs, crafting remarkable objects for the afterlife of their inhabitants. "Queen Nefertari's Egypt," December 6, 2020 – March 14, 2021, at the Kimbell Art Museum, kimbellart.org. Watch for our upcoming Museums Delivered episode with Casler Price at papercitymag. com. Catherine D. Anspon Statue of the Goddess Mut, New Kingdom, early 19th dynasty, circa 1292–1250 BCE 66