contessanally: Conegliano - Palazzo Sarcinelli - Egypt: Journey Towards Immortality

Saturday, November 02, 2024

Conegliano - Palazzo Sarcinelli - Egypt: Journey Towards Immortality

"Greetings to you, O Nile, who came out of the earth, who came to Egypt Live! ... Bringer of nourishment, rich in food, creator of all good things..."

Hymn to the Nile

Conegliano - Palazzo Sarcinelli

Egypt: Journey Towards Immortality

The exhibition Egypt: Journey Towards Immortality at Palazzo Sarcinelli in Conegliano - a stone's-throw from Venice - curated by - Egyptologist Maria Cristina Guidotti - until April 6 - organized by - ARTIKA - showcases over 100 artifacts—including mummies, sculptures, and funerary items—from the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Firenze. The exhibition highlights the Egyptians' complex beliefs and practices around death and the afterlife, inviting visitors to explore the rites, spirituality, and enduring allure of the pharaohs and their quest for immortality.

Coffin of priest Padihorpakhered - Foreground - 775-656-BCE

Coffin of Priest Padimut - 1070-664-BCE

In Ancient Egypt, death was seen not as an end but as a transition to an eternal afterlife. For the soul to reach immortality, it needed to be reincarnated in its own body, which had to be preserved forever. This belief spurred the development of advanced embalming techniques and the custom of placing objects in tombs to magically sustain the soul in the afterlife. All these funerary practices focused on preservation for the afterlife, not merely in death.

Mummy of a Woman - Roman Period 1st-2nd-century-CE

Funerary Stele of Pendu - 664-332-BCE

Curator, Maria Cristina Guidotti

Anna Consonni, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Firenze

"The lid is painted with the image of a boat, symbolising

the soul's journey towards the afterlife..."

Small box with a set of 28 Shabti - 664-332-BCE

Eyes for Funerary Mask - 664-332-BCE

"...cut from the wall of a tomb... the fragment depicts Imentet, the goddess of the West, which was the realm of the dead.She wears a tripartite wig surmounted by the feather, symbol of truth, and holds the ankh sign of life and the sceptre with her insignia. The inscription engraved next to the figure reads as follows: “Imentet, seat of truth” and “Offering that the pharaoh makes to Imentet, so that she may grant a good burial...”

Bas-relief with the goddess Imentet - 1291-1185BCE

Bust of Pharaoh Seti II - 1291-1185-BCE

Daniel Buso and Elena Zannoni - Artika Organizers

Shabti Box of Nekhtamontu - 1550-1070-BCE

Shabti of Iriru - 656-332a.C

Shabti of Hathoremheb - 1550-1070-BCE - Shabti of Huya -1550-1070-BCE

“Osiris, lord of eternity, he who is at the head of the westerners. For the ka of Osiris, scribe of the temple of Montu, Nekhtramontu, justified, privileged.”

Statuette of a concubine of the dead - 1550-1070-BCE

Statue of Ptah-Sokar-Oris - 664-332-BCE

Pyramidion - 1550-1291-BCE

Three Funerary Cones of Montuemhat - 775-525-BCE

Canopic Jars - 664-332-BCE

Daily Life Objects in the Funeral Equipment

To enable the deceased's soul to live on after death, it required its body and all essentials from earthly life—food, drink, clothing, and pleasures. Tombs were stocked with abundant provisions, furniture, clothes, valuables, and personal items. To ensure the deceased’s needs were met, Egyptians depicted offerings, daily environments, and life’s pleasures on tomb walls, believing these scenes would magically revive with the help of hieroglyphic spells and names carefully inscribed alongside the images.

Small Cosmetic Bowl - 2323-2152BCE - Kohl Tube - 1150-1070-BCE

Kohl Jar - 1150-1070-BCE - Small Cosmetic Bowl - 664-332-BCE