Ancient Egyptian Art for the Afterlife is a private collection of objects owned by a Charlotte resident, now on loan to the Mint Museum of Art. The show is a view into the lives of Egyptians through the objects they chose to take along with them to the great beyond. These objects have survived because Egyptians were one of the first civilizations to carefully collect and preserve objects of importance in their lives. They didn't preserve these things to immortalize themselves for later generations on this earthly plane, but to aid themselves in their breathless next journey. "You can't take it with you" was not a truism bandied about in ancient Egypt.
We denizens of the modern age have managed to combine the Egyptian penchant for collecting things with our own tendencies to dig things up. There were no "do not disturb signs" on the outside of the tombs. Like the ancient Egyptians, we are curiously acquisitive — we like to collect things. We are also endlessly curious about bygone cultures. With that wicked brew of motives in gear, we got out our pick axes and pith helmets.
Thank goodness. This show feeds my prehistoric desire to peer over the window sill of history. I get to see a culture never intended for my eyes and I am allowed to indulge in the voyeuristic pleasure of pilfering though another's belongings. In front of these rough objects behind the clear plastic cases, we are all spies peering in on an alien culture. My curiosity, initially piqued by interest in the weirdness of others, soon succumbs to a recognition of the familiar. These ancient people were a lot like us.
This display — "A Zest for Life" — along with all the displays, comes with an explanatory wall text panel. If you come here as stupid as me, these summaries are crucial. Without this context, it's just a stone head:
"Most Egyptian artifacts indicate that the Egyptians valued life highly. They frequently prayed for a long life, and for a chance to enjoy life to the fullest. Since the fulfillment of their hopes depended on the gods, the Egyptians donated statues of themselves to the temples... showing themselves offering to the gods, as a visible expression of their piety. It was their hope that the gods would reciprocate by sharing some of their largess with them or by granting a long life on earth."
This case shows five objects of carved stone — four heads and a tablet. The head of King Tut (around 1320 BC) and Head of a Man (2300 BC) are each about the size of a bowling ball, are noseless, and appear to have their eyes open and closed at the same time. Smaller, cue ball-sized heads, made of red quartzite, are finely detailed, the man with the familiar Egyptian "pageboy" headdress, the woman in a knitted and segmented spherical skull cap. Likenesses were prized because the dearly departed did not wish the gods to confuse them with someone else along the road.
The Egyptians were not so unlike us. We pray for the same things they did, and we're pious, too — and often for the same lame reasons. These aliens look familiar, except we've got noses.
Chunks of limestone behind the Plexiglas depict scenes from a preferred afterlife. Just in case the gods did not remember the particulars of the good life, tablets describing lifestyles of choice were stored in the tombs of the dead. Carvings in stone show tables filled with food and the accoutrements necessary for hunting and fishing, and serve as an illustrated instruction manual. Couturiers who were close to the kings were given their own above ground tombs built close to the more prestigious pyramids. Servants, shown here toting necessary tools, were a necessary adjunct to the good life. Good men, and good women, were hard to find. Still are.
The Egyptians were democratic with their acceptance of various gods. Here, their culture veers away from our own. They were not fussy about the distinctions between your god and my god. They were our gods. The text panel reads:
"From earliest times, each town had its own local divinity. As these towns united politically to form the two kingdoms of upper and lower Egypt, the worship of different gods spread throughout the country, resulting in acceptance of a large number of deities."
Monotheism would have to wait a few centuries. In the meantime, the Egyptians invoked the beneficence, or wrath, of a number of interesting gods.
All the carvings are carefully sculpted from faience, a stone resembling jade. I imagine hopeful supplicants carried around these pocket-sized divine amulets depicting their favorite god, the token forebears of our modern day St. Francis hanging from the rear view mirror.
A few of the gods displayed here:
Egyptians apparently favored dying with a light heart. Still a good idea.
The exhibit Ancient Egyptian Art for the Afterlife will be shown at the Mint Museum of Art, 2730 Randolph Road, through December 4. For more information, call 704-337-2000.