International Ancient Egypt Exhibition makes North American debut in Victoria

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Bust of Hatshepsut, a female pharaoh

There are many exquisite works in Egypt: The Time of Pharaohs, which opens May 18 at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, its North American debut. “It doesn’t get more exciting than this,” says CEO Jack Lohman, standing amidst more than 300 objects from four key European collections. Along with a painted wooden tomb and various statues, including the bust of Hatshepsut, a female pharaoh, is a humbler object of interest to artists: a painter’s palette holding original pigments. It dates from about 1550 BC to 1100 BC.

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A painter’s palette holding original pigments

The exhibition, on view until Dec. 31, draws from three German institutions, the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, the Roemer und Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim and the Gustav Lübcke Museum in Hamm, as well as the University Museum of Aberdeen.

Thanks to new archaeological findings, the exhibition provides a detailed view of life for average Egyptians.

“Much of what we know and see of ancient Egypt we owe to the vision and work of generations of archaeologists from all over the world,” says Lohman. “Their efforts contribute to our knowledge of a civilization that marks the dawn of the human spirit.”

The exhibition starts with the Nile, which allowed the culture to grow and flourish, and then delves into the complex religion and death rituals. It also looks at the most intriguing pharaohs, and provides information about scribes and their writing.

A complementary film, Mysteries of Egypt, will play at the IMAX Victoria Theatre during the exhibition.