A few highlights not to be missed
Among the must-see items at the exhibition are the granite sculptures, the figure of a woman kneading dough, striking bronze figurines and painted mummy cases that will be displayed upright and not horizontally as in the past. Also don’t miss the wooden grave stele portraying Taperet, the bard of the god Amun, in a devotional pose before the god Ra-Hathor and the goddess Ma’at, and the Fayum death portrait of a boy, painted in tempera on linen (late 4th century AD). The upper zone of the wooden burial casket of the priest Padihor bears an extract from the Book of the Dead (c. 770-657 BC). One of the most engaging exhibits is the bronze statue of Takushit, c. 670 BC. Her father Akanos was the leader of a Libyan tribe from near Lake Mareotis, south of Alexandria. A gilded wooden casket encrusted with semi-precious stones (c.1550-1196 BC) contains the mummy of Nespakashuti, head hymn writer in the temple of the god Min at Akhmim in Middle Egypt. Also eye-catching are the layers of plaster and linen-bands dipped in glue (c. 1070-712 BC) and the wooden model of a boat with its crew, also a funerary object. The load of bread in the first room is real, as are the rope, the coconuts and the soles of shoes.
