Amarna, Ancient Egypt's Place in the Sun Exhibition in Philadelphia

Next weekend, the buzz in Philadelphia will be around the opening of the blockbuster exhibit touring the US: Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia (February 3 to September 30, 2007). (This is the continuation of the event I reviewed during its first stop in LA).  But if you planning to attend Tut, you might also plan your day to take in a complementary exhibition across town at the University of Pennsylvania Museum where the crowds, lines and ticket prices will be considerably smaller.

Tutankhamun, ancient Egypt's most famous pharaoh (ca. 1332 to 1322 BCE), grew up in the royal court at Akhetaten (modern Tell el-Amarna). This royal city, located in a previously uninhabited stretch of desert, existed only a short time. It hardly survived the death of its founder, Akhenaten, Tutankhamun's probable father, who introduced the belief in a single deity, the disk of the sun, called the Aten. The Egyptians abandoned both the new religion and the new city, and Tutankhamun led his people back to the traditional beliefs.

The University of Pennsylvania Museum has a considerable collection of artifacts from this significant period, including many from 1920s excavations of Amarna. And the museum has arranged a complementary exhibition timed to coincide with Tut. The exhibition features more than 100 artifacts, including elegant statues of Tutankhamun and Egyptian gods; a monumental wall relief proclaiming the universal power of the Aten; jewelry and other personal items owned by the royal family; materials from Amarna craft workshops—even amulets of censored gods and goddesses, undoubtedly still secretly revered by their owners. These items serve to tell the story of the rise, and fall, of this unique royal city, the role of Pharaoh Akhenaten in a generation of religious change, and the part that young Tutankhamun played in its rapid reversal.

Comments

[Jalal]

Andy Roberts, that is a great post. I would like to add however that the offer is avalbaile for Monday Friday evening performances (on selected shows) and for weekday matinees Monday Friday. Blood Brothers is avalbaile for a Saturday matinee performance.