Author Description

Bab el-Gasus, the hidden burial place of the priests, was discovered by French Egyptologists at the late date of 1891. They ultimately found 153 sets of mummy coffins. In the late nineteenth century, the Egyptian authorities distributed these coffins among seventeen friendly countries, including the Netherlands, France, and Vatican City. Today, many of the coffins are in poor condition, with flaking paint and fading colours. The three-thousand-year-old mummy coffins of the priests of Amun in Thebes form the focus of this exhibition. You will discover the world of these servants of the god Amun, learning about their ways of life and their central rituals of death and burial. Special attention will be devoted to the restoration of the mummy coffins now taking place in collaboration with the Vatican Museums and the Louvre. Exhibition: Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden, The Netherlands (20.04.-15.09.2013).