Death will come and it will have your eyes: Inside the thrilling new halls of Tutankhamun at GEM
In the stunning new halls of Tutankhamun at GEM .
It’S FUN the new museum in Giza. Vast. Of translucent limestone, chamfered triangles mirroring the pyramids across the way, 100,000 objects of priceless value and beauty.
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I loved the old museum in Tahrir, with its pink paint and colonial air (the yellowed tabs on the typewriter or even handwritten ones), the glass-paneled wooden display cases, the ease of smuggling a granite god. But GEM is a different kind of experience. Integrative. I had the foresight to go straight to the halls of Tutankhamun, and I did wisely, because 3 days is not enough time to get a whiff of the museum. At least I enjoyed the new exhibits, all the chariots together (for ceremonies or war), the gold-plated flesh-eaters (an inappropriate word since flesh was not eaten here, which is why the Egyptians called their cibras “Lords of Life”), their toys and their sticks, his masterpiece golden throne with him and his wife, Anchenamon, under the rays of the Sun god – his necklaces, the amulets they placed on his chest and heart, the golden fingers, the rings, the alabaster box where they encased his entrails…
For a man of stone, like me, all of this was like an irresistible gift. Here are some photos (and I’ll be back at some point)
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THE ONE WHO IS FINE
The child-king emerges from the petals of a blue lotus in the watery chaos of the beginning of the world. Tutankhamun is here identified with the god Nefertem, who represented the first light of the sun, having emerged from the primordial waters in a blossom of blue water lily. Some of his names were “He who is beautiful” and “Sun Nufar”. In essence, this work is not just a portrait but a magical “tool” that ensured the king would wake up every morning with the sun.
Sheets of gold on cedar wood for the box the sarcophagus would go into. The goddess Isis spreads her protective wing over the dead king. The prayers from the “Book of the Dead” are visible. In ancient Egyptian belief, the wings of the deities created a “divine wind” that breathed life into the deceased for their journey to eternity. It was also believed that the skin of the gods was made of pure gold. Makes sense.
Gold on plaster on light wood create this Ferrari of antiquity – the ceremonial chariot of the king. The floor made of braided leather straps, as a natural suspension, absorbed the shocks as the chariot ran across sand or uneven ground. It was so light that two men could lift it, but at the same time it could withstand being boarded. It was probably used in religious processions or official appearances of the king at Thebes, so that it would shine under the sun like an earthly god.
New enemies are bound by the neck in the embossed gold of this rather war chariot of the king. The preservation of these chariots by GEM was one of the most delicate operations in the history of archaeology. The conservators used nano-materials to fix the gold leaves to the wood, which had shrunk over the centuries, preventing them from separating.
Although ecstatic, I can’t help but get short at some point. It’s all good, the journey of the dead, immortality, the gilded tomb. But, sweet child, where is life? Where is the beauty of form, the living body of the ancient Greeks, which is sometimes a deer, sometimes a laurel, sometimes a demigod full of love, philosophy or desire? Much death, my little brother, sizes divine – you perceive through the abduction to nothing the greatness of the Greek measure which in human size found the meaning of life, in life itself.
The GEM architecture is unique, triangles within other triangles. The firm that won the global competition (out of 1,500+ entries) is Heneghan Peng Architects from Dublin. Everything looks out and spills into the three pyramids of Giza – present and past as if embraced. At night, the facade, made of transparent alabaster and local limestone, is lit from within, making the building look like a phosphate constellation, fallen fromspace in the desert sand.
One of the two guards found in the antechamber of the young pharaoh’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Black resin and gold leaf cover the wood. The foot extended, in motion, suggests life, as does the black paint symbolizing the fertile mudflats of the Nile. These statues were thought to have been implanted by the Ka (the spiritual power) of Tutankhamun, to guard it in the other world.
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A masterpiece. Tut’s golden throne. But mostly a tender scene of a man and a woman. There is no power here; only the intimate bond of the couple. Queen Anchenamun anoints Tutankhamun’s shoulder with some aromatic oil, they wear only one sandal each (perhaps symbolism that they share everything), winged cobras on the sides and two lions on the arms keep enemies at bay, so that love can be accomplished. Above the pair is a sun with rays, a small, childlike hand (I don’t know if you can see it) sprouting at the edge of each ray, holding the symbol Ankh, the breath of eternal life. A brilliant work, yet mysteriously tangible and human – something rarely seen in the art of ancient Egypt.
When Howard Carter and his team began to unwrap the mummy’s linen bandages (which were resin-soaked, rock-hard), they discovered over 140 objects and jewelry arranged in different layers. This necklace of the hawk god Horus, made of enamel, lapis lazuli and orange-red carnelian was placed right on Tutankhamun’s chest, protecting his heart and breath for eternity. In his bare claws he holds the circle of Shen, a symbol of eternity. The wings curve like arms, to embrace the desert dead on his metaphysical journey.
The light gently diffuses into the translucent alabaster of the canopic case where the Pharaoh’s internal organs were kept – beneath the four heads: the liver, the lungs, the stomach, the intestines. And the heart? Where did they keep this strange muscle that has so plagued men? Ah, the heart was given special treatment, it wasn’t ripped out by heartless embalmers. They left it inside the mummy’s body (or replaced it with a stone scarab), because they believed it was the center of cognition and emotion. The heart was necessary for the “Weighing of the Soul” in the other world, where it would have to be lighter than the wing of the goddess Maat.
The Canopic Sanctuary of Tutankhamun was the outer enclosure of the alabaster case containing the instruments. Four goddesses-prostates, extremely delicate (Amarna period style), embrace it all around – in the photograph, Selkis and Isis can be seen. The upper part of the sanctuary is a masterpiece in itself. Rows of upright cobras, as if ready to pounce on anyone who approaches the king’s guarded organs. Each cobra bears a solar disk on its head. This shrine was carried to the tomb in pieces, otherwise it would not fit in. The ancient craftsmen had engraved assembly instructions on the wood (before covering it with gold), like an ancient “manual”, so they would know where each side went in. In GEM, the maintainers used these exact clues to set it up again with absolute precision.
Over 80 pairs of sandals with signs of use were found in Toot’s tomb, most of them with signs of use, but this was the most impressive. Geometric and floral-centric patterns in turquoise and yellow – also a great achievement by the GEM conservators. Sandals with leather or papyrus bottoms, after 3,300 years, had become extremely dry; any change in humidity could shatter them. The biggest headache, however, was the thousands of tiny glass beads. The thread that held them together had long since melted, so that they were held in place almost ‘miraculously’ or with special fixings. They were transported to the new museum as a sacred spider web, on special trays that fully absorbed the shocks. Now they are displayed (like many other exhibits) in a case with gas instead of plain air, which prevents chemical decomposition of the materials.
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This is where the heart of the Museum beats. Visitors circle around King Tut’s mask, which looms like a hologram in the half-darkened hall. It’s an extravaganza with a touch of Bollywood, but it works with more than that.
Death WILL RIDE AND LOSE YOUR EYES
Something rarely seen in Tutankhamun’s photos is the back of the mask. Here is engraved text from Chapter 151B of the “Book of the Dead”. This text acted as a “magic code” that identified each point of the mask with a god (e.g. “your forehead is Anubis”, “your eyes are the boat of the Sun”). The purpose was for the king’s spirit to be able to recognize the body of the deceased and return within it.
The mask is made of two layers of high-purity gold (22.5-23.5 carats), which were forged together so perfectly that their “seams” are invisible. The face and neck have a slightly different hue from the rest of the mask, the eye-white is quartz, the pupil whose gaze pins the hyperbole is obsidian, the eyebrows and the lines around the eyes are lapsulite lazuli. If her lip popped a little and she didn’t have that eerie sadness, you could say that a museum in the East now has its own Mona Lisa, too.
And suddenly, amidst all the wealth and unparalleled opulence, a fig bag coated in off-white plaster. No decoration. Like the trunk of a humble Greek home in the 1950s. Yet it belonged to the Pharaoh – found inside his tomb. He must have used it himself to carry it, or they would have brought him something more luxurious. Perhaps he kept his favourite sandals in it, his linen clothes, something personal anyway. We’ll never know. To maintain it as you see it, they sweated. Plaster tends to flake (as you can see in the corners of the photo). GEM’s conservators used special injectable materials to fix the white coating onto the wood, ensuring that it will remain intact for generations to come.
Tutankhamon’s medium gold sarcophagus of gold, inlaid semi-precious stones and coloured glass has a long, braided beard that ends in a curve, a symbol of Osiri,the god of the underworld. It shows that Tutankhamun has now been identified with Osiris and has gained immortality. The Scepter and the Whip are seen crossed on his chest, symbols of order and security. The cobra and vulture protrude powerfully from the forehead, offering protection of Upper and Lower Egypt.
When Carter opened the grave, this sarcophagus was covered with a black, sticky resin that had been spilled during the burial. GEM conservators spent years carefully cleaning this material to reveal the gold luster and lapis lazuli colors we see today.
The base of the sarcophagus. A miracle of dizzying harmony…
Engraved texts and images from the “Book of the Gates” or the “Book of Amduat” on the all-gold shrine in which they deposited the royal mummy. Describing the journey of the Sun god through the darkness of the night,until Tutankhamun became one with the Sun, so that he would “rise” every morning eternally, maintaining his Ankh, his little life.
YP:
All the hyperbole you’ve heard about the new Museum at the Pyramids is true. It is an ark of human civilization. Unparalleled. Priceless. Of incredible beauty. Of immense importance. Go at the first opportunity. It’s vast, takes days. Here today you got a glimpse of the main hall – but there’s a whole host of masterpieces hidden in the rest of the hall.
