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E MUMMIES ThI fromE$ypt toToledo i-t * FEBRUARY 3-MAY 6, 201 8 I EXHIBITIIIN GUIDE |dH.-r-"rr , lrytus rlrrr lfrrtr tii\ rl rrtr-r'.-:.m t G tf ), 4 4 6 I L-$ Mg$ 'tr \ \ A *A t *- -L{- E f ,, a n rl. e l \ t' t r *I: ffiE *"H E ( ffiSI .fi1,,,CADlLLACer ohioArt;S& pnoMrorce E Y $Y$Y THE MUMMIES: FROM EGYPT TO TOLEDO Ancient Eg5pt has fascinated the people of the Western world since the ancient Greeks, but "Egytrltomanid'hit a cultural climur at two key points: Napoleon's exploration of Eglpt at the turn ofthe 19th century and the opening of King Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. These two events helped to propel ancient Egyptian culture into the Western imagination-where it remains today-through appropriation of iconography and imagery associated with Eglptian gods, kings, and mummies This exhibition poses the question: How has Eglrptomania impacted how we look at ancient Egyptian culture? The enduring fascination with ancient Eglrpt is embedded in the early history of the Toledo Museum of Art. Among the earliest additions to the Museum's collection are two human mummies and hundreds of objects acquired by TMA co-founders and benefactors Edward Drummond Libbey and Florence Scott Libbey when they traveled to Eglnpt in 1906. The two mummies, one of a young priest and the other of an old man, form the hearb ofthis exhibition, which considers mummies in the context of Eglrptomania while also examiningtheir original role within ancient Eglrptian religious beliefs. As you explore this exhibition, think about your own perceptions of ancient Egypt and how they've been influenced by Eg4lt's portrayal in popular culture. THE MUMMIES: FR0M EGYPT T0 T(lLEIl() | Exhibition Guide c ffi att} - : [' {.o*. $-t I ,'1 .Q..,'* \ .T AB0VE The Libbeys in Gizo, 19o6. T[lP RIGHT Cover of the lgoi exhibition guide for the unveiling of the treosures the Libbeys brought back from Egypt. B0TT0M RIGHT Egypt, from Akhmim. Third lntermediote Period, Dynosty zz @qS-ltz BCE), Cortonnoge of Ankh-tesh. Cortonnoge (linen, glue, ond ploster with point), about 8oo BCE. Gift of Edword Drummond Libbey, tgo6.q THE LIBBEYS AND EGYPT When Toledo Museum founders Edward Drummond Libbey and Florence Scott Libbey visited Egyrpt in early 1906, they purchased 239 ancient Egyptian artifacts and works of art- includingMummyof an OldMan and Mummyof aYoung Priest-for the fledgling museum, founded only five years earlier. Back home, Mr. and Mrs. Libbey had two rooms built onto the small, original museum building at the corner of Madison and 13th Streets to display their new acquisitions. Fascinated by historical objects from so far away and long &go, people flocked to visit and have been coming to see the mummies and the Eglnptian art ever since. 1 EGYPTOMANIA: FROM NAPOLEON'S INVASION TO THE EARLY 2OTH CENTURY Ancient Eg[rytian culture dates back more than 5,000 years, but modern cultural appropriation of this societybegins in earnest with French Emperor Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1795. Employing approximately 2,000 artists and technicians, Napoleon's forces documented all aspects of Eg5rpt, from flora and faunato ancient tombs, temples, and sculpture fragrnents. The subsequent publication of the seminal tom e Ddscription d,e I'Eg7ptebegnning in 1809 marks the first time that ancient Eglrptian imagery was published and distributed throughout western Europe. "i. THE MUMMIES: FR0M EGYPT T0 T(lIEDtl I Exhibition Guide li*r by Edgar Allan Poe in rB5o, tells of the mummy of an ancient Egyptian named Allamistakeo who comes back to life to berate the group of scientists and amateur Egyptologists intent on dissecting him. It adds to the mummy mythology by suggesting that mummification acted as a kind of suspended animation, allowing embalmed I Egyptians to be revived thousands of years later. tEFT Louis Legrand (French, r863-195r), Quinze histories d'Edgor Pod (Fifteen Stories by Edgor [Allon] Poe). Book with oquotints, t897. Gift of Molly ond Wolter Bo reiss, 1984.674 products also took advantage of Egyptomania, making their own marketing connections to ancient Egypt. Companies like Palmolive were ffi :gE quick to make associations between their w t #H L products and what little was understood by most people about ancient Egyptian religious beliefs. I TL"I T.F} I= RIGHT Polmolive Shompoo. Advertisement ,IF f rom Lodies Home Journol, tgt1. Lent from the B ri e r- Re m I e r Col le cti o n 6\ ffiffi at this time and into the late l8oos was reflected in upper class society through jewelry, clothing, cosmetics, and architecture based on objects #Iffi6N and motifs like those documented in Ddscription de l'Egypte and exhibited at the Metropolitan ffiffi*n Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Fine ffin Arts in Boston, and the Oriental lnstitute at the University of Chicago. \ LEFT Fronce (Poris), Pointings Drawn from Mummy Cortonnoges, from Description de l'Egypte. Engroving, tSog-zg. Lent from the Brier-Remler Collection 3 EGYPTOMANIA: FROM THE OPENING OF KI NG TUT'S TOMB TO TODAY The nature of Egyptomaniatransitions from one of romantic nostalgia to moribund mystery with the opening of King Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922by British archaeologist Howard Carter. No pharaoh's tomb had been found as fully intact as that of the young king. Word of the tomb discovery quickly spread as teams of photographers and reporters waited outside while dazzling objects were brought out. Toledo Museum ofArt co-founders the Libbeys returned to Egypt in L924to visit the sites of Carter's excavations in Amarna. The extraordinary findings prompted another form of Egyptomania: Tutmania, with aII things mummy being desired. Since the mysterious deaths associated with the tomb's discovery- dubbed the "Curse of the Pharaoh" - ancient E grpt, and more specifically mummies, have been personified as icons of horror and camp in popular culture. From magic acts like George the Supreme Master of Magic to movies, notably Boris Karloff's The MumrnA (released in 1932) and Hammer Studio's The MumrnA (1959), our societal (mis)understanding of ancient Egypt still resides in the realm of the exotic and the fantastical. It is through this popular culture lens that we frequently see ancient Eglrpt and mummies. Mummies are sometimes perceived more as objects of curiosity-even fear-than as human remains carefully prepared in religious rites. THE MUMMIES: FR0M EGYPT T0 T(lIED(l I Exhibition Guide ,I,lu1 l- - lrr (^ ffi i"J { -'ta'-\ ry I..t .=_ : oa & 1 'til,lf u A These small mechanical pencils and fountain pens in the shapes of ancient Egyptian coffins could be worn as a pendant on a necklace when not in use as a writing utensil. AB0VE Mechonicol Pencils ond Fountoin Pins in the Shope of Mummy Coses, 1g2os. Lent from the Brier-Remler Collection A Jewelers at the turn of the 2oth centu ry and later capitalized on the rise of Egyptomania. One of the more popular icons in Egyptian-themed jewelry was the scarab beetle, a symbol of protection in ancient Egypt. AB0VE Brocelet with Scarqb. Silver with enomeling, 1g2os. Lent f rom the Brier-Remler Collection 5 EGYPT AND THE AFTERLIFE Marry ofthe Eglrptian art and objects familiar to us today were discovered in tombs. Tombs were designed to successfully transition one from'this'world to the afterlife. Ancient Egyptians believed that death began ajourney to the afterlife where all the necessities oftheir former lives, includingtheir bodies, would be essential to eternal survival. { ttre story of the god Osiris and his resurrection became key to the idea of life continuing in another sphere after death. According to one version of the myth, Osiris was murdered by his jealous brother Seth, who drowned him and then cut his body into pieces and scattered them up and down the Nile. His sister and wife, lsis, gathered the pieces of her husband and with the help of her sister Nepthys, Anubis (god of embalming), and Thoth (god of writing and magic) bandaged them together for burial to become the first mummy. Using magic, lsis revived Osiris's body and was able to conceive a son, Horus, the god identified with every ruler of Egypt. Osiris then descended to rule as king of the dead and god of rebirth and eternal life. T0P Egypt, Lote Period (Zrz-SSz BCE), Figure of Osiris. Bronze, solid cost, obout 6oo-4oo BCE. Gift of Edword Drummond I Libbey, t9o6.ttt -v BOITOM Egypt, Lote Period, Dynosty zS (nz-66q BCE), /sis ts ls ond Horus. lvory with Egyption blue inlays ond troces of gilding, Hoeug ^rro obout 6So BCE. Orion Fund, 2011.14 THE MUMMIES: FR0M EGYPT T0 I(lIED(l I Exhibition Guide l- to be a woman because it came to the Museum in the coffin of a woman named Ta-mit. The mummy's pose, however-arms crossed on the chest-is a position known * ,1 only for men. X-rays taken in tg97 and genetic testing L$ conducted in tgg8 confirmed that it is the body of a young adult male, likely about 20 years old. Radiocarbon dating determined that the young man died about Boo BCE. There is no evidence of cause of death. He was almost certainly a priest, because his head and body were completely shaved for ritual purification. LEFT Egypt, Third lntermediote Period, Dynosty zz @qS-lrz BCE), Mummy of o Young Priest. Gift of Edword Drummond Libbey, tgo6.tc - J A The intricate square pattern of the linen wrapping dates this mummy to 5o-15o CE, when Egypt was part of the Roman Empire. He was 45 to 55 when he died, about the average life expectancy for his time. ln addition to many missing teeth, bone loss in his jaws reveals severe gum disease and infection. One of his vertebrae is compressed as a result of fracture and the hip joint space has decreased in height. These details reveal a life of heavy labor, probably accompanied by severe, unremitting pain. AB0VE Egypt, Romon Period (So BCE sgS CE), Mummy of on Old Mqn. Gift of Edword Drummond Libbey, tgo6.zc 7 ffi FT */ \ \ ffi- ? , AB0VE Children viewing Mummy of on Old Mon ot the Toledo Museum of Art, circo lglos. THE ETHICS OF EXHIBITING MUMMIES ln the early 2oth century, when Mr. and Mrs. Libbey purchased Mummy of an Old Man and Mummy of a Young Priest and donated them to the Toledo Museum of Art, it was common to exhibit mummies as scientific and cultural curiosities. ln recent decades, there has been world-wide dialogue about respect for national cultural patrimonies and reverent treatment of the remains of the dead, whether ancient mummies or more recent burials of indigenous peoples. ln addition, the display of human remains in an art museum prompts its own q uestions of a ppropriateness. However, the Toledo Museum of Art is responsible for the two mummies and continually monitors their condition in specially built, climate- controlled cases. Since 1gg7, they have only been exhibited as part of exhibitions in which they have been displayed respectfully, treated with dignity, and placed in the context of the ancient Egyptian preparation for the afterlife. We hope this exhibition has raised questions about these issues for our visitors and has inspired examination of preconceived notions and myths about the people and culture of ancient Egypt. THE MUMMIES: FR0M EGYPT T0 ItlIED(l I Exhibition Guide