THE Pharaohs may be long gone but a spectacular new North East exhibition shows their power lives on, according to an ancient Egypt expert.
The British Museum’s Neal Spencer was in Newcastle yesterday as installation work began on a display of treasures for the Pharaoh: King of Egypt exhibition, due to open at the Great North Museum on July 16.
The free exhibition will run until September 25. A total of 130 items from the British Museum’s collections, many of which have never been seen outside London, will tell the story of the rulers of ancient Egypt.
They range from 5,500-year-old bread, which was an offering to the gods, to a granite statue of the Pharaoh Rameses II of 1,250BC and intricate gold jewellery inlaid with precious stones, which spell the name of one of the kings.
“They are world-class exhibits, some of which have been taken from our permanent collections at the British Museum at the last-minute for this exhibition,” said Mr Spencer, a curator in the British Museum’s Ancient Egypt and the Sudan section.
“Through the exhibition we are doing what the Pharaohs wanted, which was that their names would live forever.”
The planning of the exhibition, its themes and the selection of items has been a joint effort between the Great North Museum in Newcastle and the British Museum.
The items were transported to the North East in two trucks fitted with special suspension and wheels to reduce road vibration and climate control equipment.
The exhibition will explore the roles of the Pharaohs as warrior kings and also representatives of the gods on Earth.
But it will also look at the realities of ruling a complex kingdom, from assassination attempts and government corruption to foreign conquerors becoming Pharaohs.
Objects include papyrus documents up to 4,600 years old, which have survived in the aridity of the desert, a guardian figure from the tomb of the Pharaoh Rameses I and offerings to the gods such as wine and beer jars, eye make-up and 3,000-year-old linen.
The voice of the Pharaoh which will be heard at the exhibition has been provided by Newcastle’s Chris Connel, who played the artist Oliver Kilbourn in the Pitmen Painters.
