Japan tour success for Durham’s Egyptian treasure
Jul 9 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal
THE Eastern Promise of an oriental venture has paid off for an exotic North East visitor attraction.
About 150 prize objects from the Ancient Egyptian collections in Durham University’s Oriental Museum were sent on a year-long tour of Japan.
They have now returned after having been seen by almost 200,000 Japanese.
And the £60,000 in revenue that the tour has earned has been reinvested in revamping the Egyptian gallery at the museum.
It will re-open to the public tomorrow after having been closed for almost two years for refurbishment work and while the Japan tour took place.
The cash windfall has also paid for the opening of a second Egyptian gallery mainly aimed at visiting school parties, and which displays mainly objects from everyday life.
The Oriental Museum is the only museum in the North East dedicated solely to the art and archaeology of the Orient. As well as Egypt, the collections cover the cultures of China, Japan, Korea, India, the Near and Middle East, and North Africa.
The returning items from Japan will be better displayed in the revamped gallery, which now has LED lighting, together with objects which have never previously been on show. They include gilded gold and painted face mask for a mummy, which dates from 1,500BC.
Also on show will be one of the most important objects in the Egyptian collections – a six-inch high wooden figure of a servant girl with a pot, from 1,300BC.
