King Tut (and Extended Family) Visit de Young Museum

Some of the most fascinating treasures of Egyptian pharaohs are currently on display at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. Amazingly well preserved, three thousand years old statues and luxury items reflect an era of prosperity and artistic development. Gold and ivory, granite and alabaster, turquoise and lapis lazuli, colored glass and obsidian are commonly used materials in the artwork of stunning beauty. A golden sarcophagus and precious jars and coffinettes, used to contain the viscera of the most powerful rulers, carried into the Afterlife, fittingly occupy the underground level of the museum building. Elaborate gold figurines and royal adornments from the Tutankhamun’s burial glimmer in the tomb-like low-lit gallery. “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs,” which opens this Saturday, brings back the many wonders of the ancient civilization after a booming success of the show 30 years ago, visited by 1.3 million people and well remembered by the city dwellers. At the press opening, Diane Wilsey, President of the Board of Trustees, said that she was inspired by the 1979 show to pursue the current presentation. “After so many months of working on this project, I feel that Tut is my third child now, probably, the most successful child, “ said Wilsey, referring to the boy king, who ascended the throne at the age of 10. San Francisco Mayor, Gevin Newsom, present at the opening, shared his childhood memories about “the remarkable display of History” at the previous show, and announced that free admission to the exhibition will be granted to public schools every Monday. He also emphasized that the large chunk of the money collected in conjunction with the exhibition goes back to Egypt to preserve the antiquities. “This summer in our city it’s a Renaissance of sorts,” said Mayor Newsom. “Tut show at the de Young, the Samurai show at the Asian, Chagall and the Jewish theatre at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, and O’Keefe/Adams at SFMOMA.” Following the speeches, delivered also by John Buchanan, Director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Antiquities, and other exhibition organizers, the Bay Area press entered the galleries… Looking like sci-fi aliens with their elongated skulls and big slanted eyes, the ancients worshiped Sun and Moon, and animal-headed gods. They married their sisters and their enemies’ daughters. It was important to have children and to raise them well. Children were supposed to take care of their parents’ ka and ba, and their well being on the other side. They mummified fetuses and cats. Made Barbie doll-like shabti figurines supposed to perform agricultural duties and other hard labor in the eternity instead of the deceased. They wrote elaborate syllables expressed in birds, waves, and stick figures. “The West has always been fascinated by the world of the pharaohs,” says the introduction to the related tome by the National Geographic Society. “After the Arab invasion of Egypt, the pharaonic past was hidden from most Western eyes for centuries, until Renaissance scholars rediscovered the wonders of the ancient world.” Now, a small part of this ancient world made its way to the westernmost part of the West. The show runs through March 28, 2010 at 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park, SF. Visit www.famsf.org for more information. Photography by Yuri Krasov. 1. Diane Wilsey speaks at the opening. 2-5. Objects from the exhibition.