The North Carolina Museum of Art welcomes the Golden Mummies of Egypt, an exhibition from the Manchester Museum in England, which is set to open Saturday, March 6. The exhibition will be celebrated with special lectures, studio art workshops, exclusive educator programs, virtual tours, and more.
The gilded mask of this mummy shows the deceased with a Roman hairstyle and jewelry, but the outer shroud carries scenes of Egyptian gods and hieroglyphs. The name of the woman is written in Greek at the top of the mask: ”Isaious (or Isarous) daughter of Demetrios.”
On view through July 11, in its first appearance at an American art museum, Golden Mummies of Egypt features eight extraordinary, gilded mummies and more than 100 related objects including papyri, jewelry, ceramics, and depictions of deities that connect the domestic, daily sphere of these Greco-Roman Egyptians to the religious world of the gods.
Inside the exhibition, visitors can explore beliefs about the afterlife during the relatively little-known era when Egypt was part of the Greek and Roman worlds (circa 300 B.C.E.–200 C.E.) through touchscreen interactive activities, a short film, and a family exhibition guide with afterlife drawing activity.
In a series of lavishly illustrated thematic sections, Golden Mummies showcases the outstanding collections of the Manchester Museum to allow visitors to examine life for the wealthy in multicultural Roman Egypt, where diverse Egyptian, Roman, and Greek communities and cultural influences were blended.
The exhibition also ties into the N.C. museum’s collection, where Greco-Roman objects are displayed in the Egyptian and classical galleries. After visitors view Golden Mummies, they can visit the collection to see more gold and mummy-related objects from this period and beyond.
Virtual Public Tours: The NCMA welcomes adult, community, and personal groups for virtual, engaging, online discussions led by a museum docent. Explore Highlights of the Collection or visit Golden Mummies of Egypt. Visit ncartmuseum.org/tours for details and to request a tour.
Ticket information: Exhibition tickets are $20 for nonmember adults, $17 for seniors, and $14 for youth ages 7–18 and currently on sale. Free entry with college ID every Friday, 3–5 p.m. Capacity is very limited, and tickets must be reserved in advance by emailing help@ncartmuseum.org.
More information about lectures, workshops, virtual tours and more is available now online.
