The Egyptians—ahead of their time
While most of us associate Egypt with the pyramids of Giza and the grave of Tutankhamen, the exhibition “From the Dawn of Time,” currently on show in Munich’s Egyptian Museum, presents artifacts that were created more than one thousand years before the first Giza pyramid was built and more than two thousand years before the young god-king was put into his elaborately furnished grave. Loans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Egyptian Museum in Berlin complement the museum’s own collection, offering an enlightening view of the beginning stages of one of the world’s most fascinating high cultures.It seems fair to say that the Egyptian Museum in Munich is the city’s best-known little-known museum. Hidden behind the massive doors of the Residenz, it is easily overlooked. King Ludwig I started buying pieces of Egyptian art for his royal collection in the first half of the 19th century, but the Egyptian Museum did not open its doors to the public until as late as 1970. By mounting several fascinating and highly acclaimed temporary exhibitions, the museum has managed to attract an ever-increasing number of visitors over the past several years. The present exhibition, “From the Dawn of Time,” is no exception.
Egypt boasted a highly developed culture as early as the fourth millennium BC, when most of the rest of the world was still stuck in the Stone Age. Art originating from Egypt’s so-called predynastic period is the focus of the exhibition. Pottery is included among the earliest artifacts to have survived from the period and, because of its wide dissemination and the broad range of patterns and animal motifs adorning it, is believed to derive from three distinct subcultures — Negade I-III. The beginnings of the Egyptian writing system were found on pottery from as early as 3300 BC. But most spectacular are the objects made of stone shown in the main room of the exhibition. During no other period was the variety of animals portrayed in Egyptian art greater. Elephants, frogs, hippos, antelopes, birds and other beasts that inhabited the Nile region of that time are carved from many types of stone, ranging from soft limestone to hard rock crystal. A large alabaster statue of a baboon is most typical of the style of the period. The forms are minimalistic but capture the characteristics of the animal, creating a striking portrait that looks ancient and modern at the same time.
The joy of experimentation is clearly visible in human likenesses as well. A small-scale statue of a mother and child is carved with a high level of technical sophistication, yet possesses an archaic charm that sets it apart from the perfect aloofness of later Egyptian sculpture. Most of these statues as well as the models of boats are cult objects that were found in graves, conveying just how important the afterlife was in Egyptian culture, even at that early stage. The reconstruction of one of Egypt’s earliest murals from a grave in Hierakonpolis accentuates this fact.
While at the museum, visitors should not miss the permanent collection. Numerous painted wooden sarcophagi again recall the important role of the afterlife in the Egyptian religion. A most impressive piece is the larger-than-life-size golden death mask of queen Sat-Djehuti, who reigned about 1575 BC. Another room is devoted to the Egyptian pantheon, with mostly small-scale statues of gods in their various forms. In the main corridor, visitors follow a beautifully illustrated papyrus copy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, while moving from the purely Egyptian dynastic section of the exhibition to that devoted to the period in which the Roman Empire began to gain influence in the Nile region. At the end of the hall visitors again enter the world of the dead. Whereas the practice of embalming continued under Roman rule, the former abstracted death mask was now replaced by a painted portrait of the deceased, fine examples of which grace the exhibition. The latest period covered in the museum’s collection is the Coptic Era, which marks the introduction of the Christian religion in Egypt.
“From the Dawn of Time” will be on view until February 25.
Staatliche Sammlung Ägyptischer Kunst, Residenz, Hofgartenstr. 1, Tel. (089) 29 85 46. Open Tues.-Fri. 9-16:00, 19-21:00 on Tues., and 10-17:00 on Sat. and Sun. Admission is free on Sun. Free tours of the exhibition are offered on Tuesdays starting at 19:00. Free lectures on various aspects of Egyptian art and culture are held on Tuesdays.
