Don’t miss the “Ancient Egypt” exhibit at the Royal BC Museum

By Keith and Heather Nicol

 

    The latest Exhibit at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, BC is all about Egypt during the time of the Pharaohs and you have until the end of December, 2018 to see it. We have not seen many exhibits at this museum since we live in the Comox Valley and don’t get to Victoria that often but the ones we have seen we have really enjoyed. The last exhibit we saw in the spring of 2017 was about Terry Fox and we loved that presentation about Terry’s life.  With this new exhibit you get to walk back in time to ancient Egypt when Pharaohs ruled and built elaborate pyramids and temples. 

At the entrance to the exhibit

    There are many interactive displays and with more than 300 original artifacts, this exhibition covers many aspects of ancient Egyptian life.  Some pottery bowls and other artifacts date from 3500 BC making them over 5500 years old. Amazing! 

Samples of pottery dating back to the 4th millennium BC

      The elaborate display has numerous rooms dedicated to the following themes:  Landscape/Climate, Gods/Goddesses/Mythology, Pharaohs, The Citizens/ Private Life/Hieroglyphics, Architecture/Sacred Temples, Beauty, and Funerals and the Afterlife. There was even a chance to learn how to interpret their hieroglyphics with the help of a museum volunteer.

Hands on practice with hieroglyphics thanks to a volunteer

    We particularly liked the funerals and afterlife and had no idea the pharaohs reined for such a long period of time-close to 3000 years. Over that time apparently 170 pharaohs ruled Egypt and the surrounding lands!  And although everyone has heard of Egyptian mummies, we had no idea they were so elaborate. Likely no society before or since took so much time (up to 70 days) to deal body of a deceased person, cleaning and storing various organs in special containers. 

Elaborate coffins showed how much care they took with their dead

    This exhibit will appeal to a broad range of people and you can even see an IMAX presentation about Egypt at the same time. For more information see: https://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/ about this exhibit and other currently displays at the museum.