Four years after the success of the exhibition dedicated to Tutankhamun, a new extravagant event dedicated to ancient Egypt opened in Paris on Friday. The highlight of the show, until September 6, is the sarcophagus of Ramses II.
“Exceptional”, “extremely rare”, “unbelievable”: in the words of Bénédicte Lauer, Egyptologist and scientific adviser to this exhibition at the Grande Halle de la Villette, the qualifiers have never been more.
“Paris will be the only city in Europe to host this exhibition and, above all, the only city where the sarcophagus of Ramses II will be shown, thanks to an unprecedented collaboration between France and Egypt,” he explains to AFP.
In 2019, more than 1.4 million visitors visited the exhibition dedicated to Tutankhamun. Now in the life and work of the “King of Kings”, sometimes called the “Sun King”: Ramses II, pharaoh of the 19th dynasty.
The excitement is already palpable: Organizers announced on Thursday that 145,000 tickets had already been sold, even before Tutankhamun opened to the public.
“He was the longest-reigning pharaoh (66 years), he married – among other things – the most beautiful woman in the world (Nefertari, literally ‘the most beautiful’), he had the largest family (at least 50 sons, 60 daughters)… In short, He was an extraordinary king”, Ms Lower continues.
Barrow’s last “visit” to France dates back to 1976. That year, the French scientific community was given a mission: to save the mummy, eaten by mold. After this rescue, the ties between the two countries have been strengthened, the Egyptologist insists.
“Indescribable Feeling”
After passing through the US – before Australia – the location in Paris: background music, elegant scenery, a lot of objects (statues, jewelry)… the exhibition offers an immersion in more than three parts. A thousand years of history.
In total, more than 180 original pieces, some of which never left Egypt, are on display to the public.
Everything is done to capture the life of this pharaoh. A 3D animation takes viewers to one of the king’s greatest battles: Kadesh (in present-day southern Syria), which pitted Egypt against the Hittite Empire.
The salt of the project was this builder’s visit to the king’s mausoleum. Unlike the Tutankhamun exhibition, the organizers had to show the imagination of Ramses II, which was about 820 m2 and was completely looted under Ramses IX.
To do this, they went in search of other funerary chambers, especially the precious objects (masks, jewels, etc.) of Egyptian princesses.
Among them is the imposing mask from the coffin of King Amenemope.
However, the star of the event was none other than the magnificently painted wooden coffin (without the mummy) of Ramses II.
“It represents an extraordinary opportunity not only for children but for people of all ages. It is an indescribable emotion,” Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak told AFPTV on Monday as she opened the coffin in the presence of the Egyptian ambassador.
Immortal
This sarcophagus depicting the king – with his arms crossed across his chest, holding the Hekka scepter and Negaka whip, with an upright cobra decorated with a neem tree and a false beard tucked under his chin – is not actually the original sarcophagus of Ramses II.
“When it was confirmed that the tomb had been looted, it was urgent to hide the mummy. It remained in the tomb of Pharaoh Seti I (father of Ramses II, editor’s note) for almost a century”, says the Egyptologist.
It was only after he was enshrined in the sarcophagus shown in the exhibition that he was more than 2800 years old. “Ramses II conquered time. He, like Tutankhamun, became immortal”, summarizes Ms Lower.
This article was published automatically. Sources: ats / afp
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