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Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs
The Field Museum
Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs isn't the Tut of the 1970s. The jackal-statue of Anubis with its aloof, eternal composure is not in this exhibition. Nor is the famous funeral mask; nor are some of the larger and more impressive tomb goods that might have made their debut such as the chariots, the large animal-sided couches, or the life-sized statues of the king that once stood on either side of the entrance to his tomb. Nor are there mummies, one of the complaints most overheard of visitors (though perfectly serviceable mummies may be seen in the Field Museum's permanent exhibit on the lower level). There were those who came seeming to look for the sensational, wanting to be thrilled as if at a movie. But that's not what this exhibit is about. These are objects steeped in the silent mystery of the tomb, in a long legacy of shared humanity, not in any daylight sensationalism of cinema-type thrill. Those who walk quickly through, glancing at now one, now another, now on to the next room, will miss the point. Those who linger and enter into the feeling of it will be rewarded. The art of Ancient Egypt is by turns lofty with untouchable Pharaonic royalty, deeply rooted in life's pleasures, and charmed with unexpected vulgarity and intimacy. Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs offers a treasure trove of artifacts spanning nearly one hundred years of dynastic rule, from 1426-1322 BC: relics covering the rule of five pharaohs, many never before seen, opening with the striding vigor of a black-pitch wooden statue of Amenhotep II, and ending with the lavish wealth selected from the most complete tomb of Ancient Egypt ever discovered: the artifacts of pure gold and everyday matter of the tomb of Tutankhamun, the celebrated Boy King. On exhibit are not only articles from the rich funeral preparations of Tutankhamun himself, by all accounts only nine years old when he took the throne, only nineteen when he died, but as well, a cross-section of the art and artifacts of the four pharaohs who preceded him. Those from the tomb of the Boy King are naturally the draw, but in truth each of these 120 three-thousand-year-old artifacts, perfectly preserved by the uncanny conservative effects of Egypt's arid weather, hold their own fascination. They hand down through the centuries a rare glimpse of ancient beauty, and of the shared humanity between the ancient Egyptians, and us. Believing in an afterlife which re-created daily living for all eternity, pharaohs equipped their tombs with countless models and representations of their everyday pursuits. Scenes of hunting, boats for sailing the Nile, and images of the Pharaoh trampling his enemies appear side by side with images of unexpected intimacy and tenderness between royal husband and wife. Here are ideals of beauty, remembrances of queens and consorts, the stylized remoteness of religious figures, and surprising little grotesques. The exhibition falls generally into two halves, the initial galleries focusing primarily on the artifacts of Tut's forebears, including items from the lavish tombs of the pharaohs, their queens, and their important relatives. Midway, the emphasis shifts to Tutankhamun specifically. If in including these royal predecessors the exhibition relinquishes a bit of its Tut-centered focus, it gains the opportunity to present rare and equally superb items from less well-known individuals. Statuary and funerary goods from the reigns of Amenhotep II (ruled 1426-1400 BC), Thutmose IV (ruled 1400-1390 BC), and Amenhotep III (ruled 1390-1353 BC) -- Tut's great-great-great grandfather, great-great, and grandfather, respectively -- reflect the formal academic style in Egyptian art, already well-developed, and flourishing among a general high of culture, art and literature during this time. These artistic sensibilities were altered by the heretic-king Akhenaten (1353-1336 BC, initially Amenhotep IV), who wrenched the entire state religion into his own brand of monotheism, and introduced a radical new naturalism into Egyptian art in the form of elongated figures with sunken chests and pear-shaped hips. Tutankhamun's reign followed (ruled 1332-1322 BC). Tutankhamun's parentage has not, strictly, been proven, but family characteristics shared between Akhenaten and Tutankhamun make it a likely conjecture that he was a son or close relative, and the lineage of Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs is traced accordingly. Not only is the young pharaoh celebrated as being one of the most significant finds of antiquity, the artifacts as well represent an important period in Egyptian history. Under Tutankhamun's rule, all that had been done under Akhenaten's reign was restored to traditional modes. By the acts of Tutankhamun, or more likely by his counsellors due to his young age when he took the throne, came a return to centuries-old polytheism and formal artistic styles, though not without lingering traces of the prior period's influence. Egyptians of status and wealth prepared for the afterlife by including items relating to every aspect of daily necessity, some quite humble in their appearance and making, including small clay figurine shabti servants to do the work (with shabti overseers, no less, to make sure they did it), mock rolls of linen or papyrus, and mock storage vessels to ensure the deceased ample grain, oil and beer in the life beyond. Many of these are included in the exhibition, simple, rudely shaped figurines, roughly and hastily glazed, apparently 'good enough' for stand-in representations of the real thing. Elsewhere, more lavish goods represent daily pleasures in pictures: hunting, for example, including duck hunting by reed-boat along the banks of the Nile, or a chariot dashing full-tilt after ostriches on the desert sands. Other figures include religious statues and propitiating hieroglyphs to protect the dead from the dangers to be navigated in the hereafter. Lifelike representations of the deceased's face and features were required to ensure that he or she would have a sound body with which to enjoy these pleasures for all eternity.
It is this, perhaps, which lends these objects one of the most moving characteristics common to Egyptian artifact. Even Greek statuary with its naturalistic representation of physical perfection lacks such power to gaze back, to seem so human and so present, as do these alert, gently smiling masks and sculptures. The ancient beauty stimulates a level of immediate connection and a sense of shared human experiences with a culture of 3,500 years ago that few other ancient civilizations can boast of. In Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs that connection occurs on two levels. Artifacts such as the cedar chests, the slender wooden princess' seat and child's throne, the leather collar for a long-gone royal greyhound, bespeak the shared nature of human need. At the same time, the visages of statuary and sculpture, all exquisitely rendered, give form and face to the people who used these things. Egyptian artifacts seem particularly present, because they look back at you.
Whether the style is idealized, or more realistic, this impression is always strong. Guardian Statue of Amenhotep II (wood coated with resin: 80x22cm: 1426-1400 BC), one of the first statues opening the exhibition, is an example of the formal style in which idealization almost, but not quite, entirely overtakes the hints of individuality. The free-standing statue bears the aura of dignity, strength and orderly vigor which typifies statuary of the period. Clad in a stiffened kilt and nemes headdress, the figure strides forward on his left foot (or stands in this attitude, based on the flat placement of the feet), with left arm raised and bearing the remains of a staff, right arm at his side, possibly once having held a mace. The figure is youthful, and while simplified features such as the ear or form of the hands show formal handling, a slight plumpness to the cheeks and the careful modeling of the lips gives an impression individualized features. Similar stylization appears in the golden Funerary Mask of Tjuya (gilded cartonnage: 43.1 x 31.1 x 29.5 cm: 1390-1353 BC), grandmother of Akhenaten, possibly great-grandmother of Tutankhamun. The funerary mask was to serve as a stand-in for the lady's features for all eternity, and even rendered in the luminous gold, have a warmth that reaches through the distancing of the lavish materials. Gently swelling volumes of the great ritual wig and ornamental collar were worked out to give the golden mask with the interior space needed to fit snugly over the lady's fully-wrapped mummy, but the features retain both proportion and loveliness. "It's beautiful," one viewer remarked to his companion. "You can see a little smile, like the Mona Lisa. She was young." A pair of exquisite heads carved in stone, of Queen Nefertiti and a young Amarna-period princess, show the contrasting level of sensitivity and increased naturalization associated with the rule of Akhenaten (ruled 1353-1336 BC) in his self-built capital city, known now as Tell-el-Amarna or Amarna. Executed in warm, sand-colored stone, Face from a Composite Statue of Nefertiti (brown quartzite: 19 x 14.5 x 19 cm: 1353-1336 BC) is not only clearly a much more individualized face than that of the statue of Amenhotep II or the mask of Lady Tjuya, it exhibits an astonishing subtlety of handling in the fine dimples at the edges of her lips, and in the gentle dip at the inner fold of each eye. Head of an Amarna Princess (brown quartzite: 24.8 x 12.3 x 16.5 cm: 1353-1336 BC) likewise shows the tenderness and attention to realistic detail of the period; the elongated cranium is a feature of depictions of the royal family during this time, possibly due to some inherited physical condition. Model Boat of Amenhotep II (painted wood: 22 x 213 x 36 cm: 1426-1400 BC), a painted boat from the earliest period covered in the exhibition, shows the graphic arts as accomplished and vigorous within the stylized conventions employed for two-dimensional representation. This is a lively and attractive example of motifs both figural and geometric, adorning a wooden model meant to be a re-creation of the royal barge for the tomb. The impression is of order and the vigorous movement created by the repeated diagonals of the limbs and wings of the various creatures depicted. The figures include the animal-heads of the gods, as well as depictions of the king as half-lion or half-griffin. These are executed in flat, direct graphics in a palette of five pigments, black, white, red, malachite green, and yellow, on a plain wooden base. Contrasting this strict geometric angularity are spirals, swirls and disc shapes, their curving and more freehand forms seeming a strange interpolation, and apparently derived from the motifs of the Mediterranean peoples. Two unexpected aspects of ancient Egyptian character are revealed in Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs: a love of grotesques, and a surprising intimacy. The Chair of Princess Sitamun (wood, partially gilded and silver-plated: 77 x 52 x 63 cm: 1390-1353 BC) was a gift from Sitamun to her grandparents Yuya and Tjuya, who as parents of Amenhotep's queen, Tiye, held high positions in court and were permitted burial in the Valley of the Kings; their tomb was discovered in 1905 and at the time was the richest ever found, an honor later claimed by Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. This petite seat of precious woods is elaborately inlaid with figures in gold on the front, back, and both sides of the arm rests. On the insides of the arm rests, four priestesses offer gifts; the princess sits in state on the back rest, being presented a jeweled collar by a female servant. The exterior is as lively and grotesque as the interior is elegant and orderly. On the left exterior armrest are three leopard-dancers, identified as the little potbellied god Bes, brutish of feature but obviously engaged in a lively, sensual dance, each in a different hip-cocked pose with sinuous leopard tail. The right armrest pictures two similar Bes dancers and the stolid figure of Tawaret, the hippopotamus-like protector of women in childbirth. This is fine work of the highest quality, unexpectedly vulgar and lively in the dancing Bes figures; whether the rude charm of the beast-men was Sitamun's taste, or catered to her grandparents, one can only wonder. The small Unguent Vessel in the Shape of a Servant Bearing a jar (partially painted wood, ivory, colored paste: 13.6 x 5.6 x 6.9 cm: 1390-1353 BC) is a further piece showing love of clever figures, with the unguent jar supported on a statuette base in the shape of a chubby kneeling servant, who balances the vessel on his shoulders. The ability to realistically capture the sense of weight tensed down upon his crouching limbs in this small trinket shows that artisans of the time had a far greater repertoire of human figure than merely the stylized standing forms characteristic of formal statuary or wall painting. Depictions of intimacy entered Egyptian art with the Amarna period, whose other main artistic characteristics included a bizarre figural style involving elongated heads, narrow shoulders, pouched bellies and pear-shaped, feminine hips. Some conjecture that Akhenaten suffered from a type of physical anomaly and that these characteristics reflected his actual appearance. This was also the first time in which personal moments between the pharaoh and his family were represented in art. Balustrade Showing Akhenaten and Family Under the Aten (crystalline limestone: 102 x 51 x 15 cm: 1353-1336 BC) from the Great Palace in Amarna captures a little of that impression, with its scene of Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and one of their daughters all worshiping the rayed sun disk which was Akhenaten's sole god, the Aten. One criticism which may be leveled at Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs is that it dwells too briefly on the remarkable developments of the Amarna period, in which both religious belief and the representative conventions of Egyptian art were diverted in radical ways. Religion, radically, to the worship of a single god, The Aten; and art to unprecedentedly realistic depictions. Stylistically they compass a fascinating period during which a sudden, two-decade break radically affected the very foundations of Egyptian worship and its representation. But the Amarna period receives only a brief recap in a handful of items here, quickly eclipsed by the entrance into the Tutankhamun sections, which form the second half of the exhibition; perhaps because the art before and after Akhenaten has more stylistic link with itself, rather than with the Amarna period. Be that as it may, Akhenaten ends up being presented as a prelude to the real attraction: Tutankhamun himself.
"Everywhere, the glint of gold," explorer Howard Carter said of the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. An entire gallery is devoted to Tutankhamun's gold, and the selection of artifacts gives insights into the world of the Boy King. Symbols of the king's authority include the flail and scepter often seen depicted in Egyptian art, here seen as the actual items. Two golden statues portray Tutankhamun as ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt respectively; the influence of Amarna-period art may be seen in the pouched bellies, though other Amarna-type exaggerations have been diminished. Tut's authority over religious matters is shown in gilded wooden figures of several gods, Ptah, Horus the Elder, and Duamutef, as well as in religious objects including the only surviving example of a ritual trumpet. These and other objects indicate the diverse roles of this ultimate ruler of sacred and secular matters over the Two Lands -- and his pleasures. The joys of bow-hunting by chariot are shown on both sides of Fan Depicting an Ostrich Hunt (gilded wood: shaft 109.5 cm, fan 10.5 x 18.8 x 1.4 cm: 1332-1322 BC). On the front the chariot races after the fleeing prey with two horses at full speed and a hound running alongside, as Tutankhamun guides them with reins about his waist, both hands engaged in the tautly drawn bow. The reverse shows him returning after the successful hunt, horses drawn back, reins in hand, bow at ease, servants bearing back the limp, heavy bodies of the ostriches. Tut's golden shrine, Shrine for a Statue (wood and gold foil: 50.5 x 26.5 x 32 cm: 1332-1322 BC), shows that the depiction of tender moments of conjugal intimacy continued past the Amarna period. The shrine is covered with sheet gold on all sides, including the interior, and not a square inch is undecorated. Each side bears one or two panels showing Tutankhamun, often with his young wife, Ankhesenamun, engaged in a variety of activities. The royal couple are seen hunting ducks in the marshes in two separate scenes, in others, offering or sharing drinks or food. The exhibition catalogue notes that many of these scenes had overtones of fertility and regeneration, with subtle wordplay on the Egyptian terms for ducks, shooting, pouring or throwing (as in a throwing-stick for hunting) involving veiled references to sexuality and rebirth. Be that as it may, as we see them today, these visions of tender interaction are a far different impression from the cool remote calm of the earlier statues. As pharaoh, Tutankhamun was also supreme commander of Egypt's armies. The king's authority over conquered peoples is symbolized in Staff Depicting a Nubian Captive (gilded wood and ebony, faience: 115 cm: 1332-1322 BC), in which the re-curving handle of the cane-like staff is worked into a realistic figure, disturbingly and helplessly bent back and downward in a position redolent of subservience and subordination. Likewise, the Ceremonial Shield (gilded wood: 89 x 54 cm: 1332-1322 BC) is a remarkable representation of order conquering chaos. This openwork shield, adorned with gesso, gold, and paint, represents Tutankhamun as a sphinx trampling Nubians. Below, the diagonals created by the limbs of the fallen enemies push the lines of force every which way, elbows and knees directing and redirecting the eye. Rising from them and placed squarely in the center, the lithe form of the sphinx -- a lion hybrid with the king's crowned head -- brings a strong horizontal and dominating strong diagonals to firmly counteract the chaos below. Within the bounds of formal conventions, this is a well-thought-out image with strong visual impact. Tutankhamun's famous funerary mask is not in this exhibition. Standing in for it is the smaller, yet just as splendid Coffinette for the Viscera of Tutankhamun (gold, carnelian, obsidian, rock crystal, glass: 39.5 x 11 x 10 cm: 1332-1322 BC), also used as the signature image for the exhibition. One of four miniature coffins designed to hold the mummified king's organs, this is an ornate example of the jeweler's art, with every bit of the surface covered in gold and inlaid with semiprecious stone. But much as the gold of ancient Egypt fascinates with its impressions of illimitable wealth, many of the more humble and less well-known objects bring us closer to the humanity of the ancients, and the mystery of such humanity, thousands of years ago. Four chests of varying size may not be as dramatic as the glint of gold, but their insights resonate on a more immediate level. Portable Chest with Carrying Poles (wood, ebony, ivory, gold leaf, copper alloy, paste: 83 x 60.5 x 63.5 cm: 1332-1322 BC) is a simple large chest with two poles, meant to be carried by two servants. The bare cedar with its minimal ornamentation is spare, clean, and simple, a striking contrast to the unctuous affluence of the gold and gem-encrusted lavishness which precedes it. Seen illustrated in tomb paintings, this is the sole example ever found of the chest as actually constructed. Chest with Long Legs and Decorative Fretwork (painted wood, partially gessoed and gilded, colored paste: 70 x 43.7 x 40 cm: 1332-1322 BC) features an ornate open fretwork ornamentation of a repeating pattern of ankhs and protective was signs. The everyday quality of the chest gives hints as to what the pharaoh's household furnishings might have been like. There is a touchingly practical quality about the solid ivory Chest for Jewelry (13.1 x 15.7 x 12.6 cm: 1332-1322 BC), despite the preciousness of its material, that lies in its simple lines and spare ornament. The Cartouche Shaped Box (wood, ebony and ivory: 64 x 30.7 x 33.2 cm: 1332-1322 BC) features an unusual and quite accomplished wooden inlay on its cover, depicting the animal and symbol hieroglyphs of the king's birth name. Unlike the golden treasures these are items of use, not simply of appreciation: not simply to be looked at, but implying use, opening, the act of storage, implying the impulse for containment, organization. Tutankhamun discoverer Howard Carter was celebrated in his own day; his writings are still in print, the photographs as well, and many of these include artifacts featured in Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, lending an added spice to those who love archaeology and its making. Tutankhamun's Child's Chair with Footrest (ebony, ivory: 71.5 x 40.6 x 39.1 cm: 1332-1322 BC) and the Portable Chest with Carrying Poles noted above are both seen as originally discovered in Plate XVII in The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamen (Dover: 1977); both are tucked away beneath a lion-headed couch, the location of their initial discovery. The Dummy Folding Stool (wood, ivory, gold: 37.5 x 46.3 x 31.7 cm: 1332-1322 BC) appears in Plate XVIII, down by the hind legs of a Hathor-headed couch. Other items in the exhibition may be picked out in Carter's photographs by a discerning eye. (Several of the photographs are also reproduced in the exhibition catalogue.) Reading the books before or after a visit to the exhibition lends depth and dimension to the exhibition experience; Carter's chapter entitled "A Survey of the Antechamber" in particular describes of many of the objects on exhibition, in the archaeologist's own words, and in the placement and positions in which they were discovered in the antechamber of the tomb. Found on the very brows of the mummified young king, the Decorated Uraeus from Royal Headdress (gold, glass, obsidian, carnelian: length 19 cm, max. width 2.6 cm: 1332-1322 BC) brings one closest to Tutankhamun's ancient presence. The durability of its construction seems to indicate that it was intended for daily wear. Other grave goods were artificial, meant as accouterments for death; they ranged from cheap faience reproductions of daily items to lavishly-worked splendors of gold, semiprecious stones, and cloisonne' work; but all were intended to reside in the tomb, dry, cold, dead. They were furnishings for an afterlife, but in this life, made to sit unused in the everlasting darkness of the sealed chamber. Decorated Uraeus from Royal Headdress in contrast calls forth an image of the king as alive and vigorous. This was an 'everyday crown, as it were, lacking the high formality of the elaborate hat-headdresses of Upper and Lower Egypt. The supreme lord, commander of upper and lower egypt, high priest over all the gods and virtually a god himself, was also a 19-year-old young man whose head bore up this crown and whose eyes looked out from beneath the protective frontal gaze of the vulture and serpent ornaments. Which, one further notes, are slotted, apparently so they can be used for various headdresses -- an aspect curious in its evident frugality and common sense.
Tutankhamun's mummy remains in Egypt, perhaps itself only common sense, given three thousand years of fragility. In its place is a horizontal projection of the mummy in its sarcophagus. This presents an image of Tutankhamun in his coffin, fading through successive layers from the splendid, regular features of the golden anthropomorphic mask -- our main image of King Tut as a person, visibly human and yet supremely gold and forever untouchable thereby) to the wizened reality beneath: shriveled with 3200 years of preservation, yet still recognizably human in the dry-handsome way many of the mummies are. In these few strokes the duality of Tutankhamun is made manifest: the golden splendor which is his eternal image, and the shrunken remnant which is all that remains of his earthly flesh. Having seen all those striding images, going forth in splendor -- the king in granite, the king in gold leaf, the hunt scenes, the king as a royal griffin, trampling his enemies -- having seen all the lavishness, images of the sarcophagus, the three nested golden coffins and four nested golden shrines, the illimitable wealth, the magnificent display, boundless beyond imagination -- with, furthermore, all our associations with Tutankhamun, the legend, the popular imagery, the eternal mystery of ancient Egyptian magics -- the real Tutankhamun is impossibly small, touchingly so, though perhaps he would not appreciate our pity. But he is small, only five and a half feet tall in life, and death and its attendant preservation by the priests of the Necropolis shrank the tissues even further. This is the paradox of Tut: such lavishness and display, to contain such a small person; such a small person, to be so regal, important, and divine, to capture our imaginations so fully, three thousand years after his death. In the final room, a section entitled "The Many Faces of Tut" is a fitting cap to the moment generated by the mummy projection, because these anthropomorphic items are the means by which our impression of Tutankhamun as a human, as an identity, are formed. Photographs of Tutankhamun as represented on the many artifacts bring together the various faces, allowing one to scrutinize for commonalities in forming an impression of what the young pharaoh might actually have looked like. Also an illuminating addition are recent CT scans of Tutankhamun's mummy. Modern technology not only provides a non-invasive yet more penetrating examination, it both debunks and illuminates, as nearby panels detailing the various examination dates of the mummy indicated the evolution of knowledge about Tutankhamun from the 1920s to the present. Data gathered from early x-rays which seemed to indicate Tutankhamun suffered from scoliosis, or died from a severe blow to the head, has been refuted by CT scans which show the king as a well-formed, well-nourished individual whose death was possibly attributable to a severe infection from a leg seriously fractured just above the knee. Tutankhamun discoverer Howard Carter's words are a timely reminder of the incredible value of even a single of these objects: "Here, packed tightly together in this little chamber, were scores of objects, any one of which would have filled us with excitement under ordinary circumstances, and been considered ample repayment for a full season's work." There are treasures and rewards here: artifacts of great beauty and impressive value, the expressions of high culture of a skilled, vigorous, life-loving ancient culture, objects showing an unexpected appeal of personality, grotesques, intimacy. Although the expansion of the theme to include Tutankhamun's forebears shifts the focus somewhat from the Boy King, it as well offers a glimpse into the stylistic precursors and a wider context to his own time. Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs will be at the Field Museum of Natural History through January 1, 2007. Ancient Egypt continues to hold its enduring fascination. Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs by Zahi Hawass (National Geographic: June 2005), a 287-page catalogue in full color, accompanies the exhibition and is available for purchase at the Field Museum, or through Amazon.com. Produced in conjunction with National Geographic, the catalogue includes images of each of the exhibition artifacts, accompanying photos, and full text. --Katherine R. Lieber Katherine R. Lieber has edited ArtScope.net's Visual Arts reviews since 1998. Ms. Lieber is Editor and Associate Producer for ArtScope.net. Editorial Note: Titles of objects in this review are as labeled in the exhibition. The accompanying catalogue varies in its naming of the same items.
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