Museo di Egizio

One of the finest collection of Egyptian artifacts are in Torino, housed at the Museo di Egizio. Students in Ancient History are starting to study the Egyptians and Art History students have already studied a bit of Egyptian Art and Architecture.

If we're talking Egyptian Art, we're most likely talking about funerary art and architecture. Here is the model of an Egyptian tomb. I always have to remember that there was no electricity then and so all of wall painting was done by torchlight.

The body of an Egyptian of about 30 years old. Found in the grave were items to take into the afterlife.

A wooden coffin that survives to this day. If you look closely, you can see my reflection in the glass. That's the part I think is really cool.

A replica of what might be found in an Egyptian tomb. The rowers represent those who would take the deceased to the afterlife.

The eyes on the coffin were painted to allow the deceased to see "beyond" into the afterlife.

The Temple of Ellesiya was built to pacify the Nubians (residents of modern day Sudan). It was given to the Italian people by the Egyptian government in thanks for the Italian effort in helping relocate historic artifacts when the Aswan High Dam was built.

Inside the Temple of Ellesiya

The Stele of Maia and Hamet shows the couple in the top register praising Osiris and Hather. The couples nine children are shown in the lower registers. As an Art History student I am getting better at "reading" the art, but still, I need it to be explained to me. It's not intuitive for me.

Two students of Greek getting down on the ground to try and test out their new skills in reading marble inscribed with hieroglyphics and Ancient Greek.

Mummies!

These tools were supposedly used to pick out brain matter through the nostrils, of the the deceased of course.

This scene depicts a judgment of the deceased. Here Maat, the goddess of harmony and justice puts the heart of the deceased on the scales to judge whether or not to allow the deceased into the afterlife. The beast sits and waits for orders from Maat to eat the deceased's body if condemned.

The baboon was the Lunar God and a representation of the Sciences.

King Sety II. Notice the traditional striding canon you see with all Egyptian statues. Left leg forward and arms down at the sides. It's a pose; it doesn't convey motion.

This is Sekmet because she wears the sun disk attribute. With her "fire" she vanquished the enemies of Egypt.

King Ramses II has the attribute of the sceptre.

Kings that united Upper and Lower Egypt had this inscription of the papyrus and lotus, which were the symbols of each part of Egypt.

The mirrors create an effect of an infinite number of sphinxes. The hall of mirrors here at the Museo di Egizio was installed by a Hollywood film artist in anticipation of the 2006 Winter Olympics. The installation was such a hit, the Museo has retained it.