I TELL YOU THE EGYPTIAN MUSEUM IN TURIN
| To go past the threshold of the Egyptian Museum is
like going past the threshold of time. Leaving behind the great heat and frenetic life, you enter the first hall of the Statuesque. Immersed in darkness, stripes of light come down from the ceiling, with the background of the music of the wind, one is welcomed from two sphinxes at the sides of the hall. At the end of the room there is Seth’s II impressive statue, the respect which it arouses gives the feeling that you must lower your eyes and pay him the proper recognition, besides two statues of the goddess Sekmet watches you, while you walk skimming the priest Anen, while at the sides the gods Hathor, Phat, Sekmet protect the statues of the Pharaoh Ramses II and Horemheb. In the second hall Thutmosi III is besides two statues of the goddess Sekmet, that we find along the whole room, some sarcophaguses and a part of the Aton temple. At the end of the room there is god Amon with the pharaoh, armaniano period or the period following Tuthankhamon, the inscription that refers to Horemheb seems to be an usurpation. Exiting the hall you enter light and the Ellesija Temple, going down two flights of stairs, we find ourselves in a vast hall, where we can admire some of the most beautiful finds from the Italian archaeologists’ excavations. Furnishings belonging to Henib’s funeral chamber, from Uahka’s I and II tombs, some outfits from private tmbs in the Asiut area. Then boats, crockery, models about the bread preparation, fragments of sarcophaguses, headrests, various cases and vases for ointments. Beautiful pieces of the finds from Gebelein, vases, copper utensils, a votive basin, some fragments of papyrus and various little statues from Asiut. Going back up Seth II welcomes you again, exiting the statuesque halls the goddess Sekhmet is ready to accompany you to the upper floor. In the first hall there are various fragments of steles, a group of statues of consorts, various showcases with scarabss, amulets and jewels created with such skill that they are envied by the best goldsmiths. The ornaments for the mummies and the sarcophaguses are of an intense azure. In the showcases there are fragments of jambs and architraves, many little statues, on all the canopy vases of Horus’s four children. In the central hall there are various mummy funeral statues, many canopy vases and every kind of pectoral pieces to adorn the mummies. Along a wall there are some papyruses with the funeral texts from the Book of the Dead, we can see “Osiride’s Tribunal” and “The cultivation of Osiride’s fields”. On the other wall there are Texts from the “Amduat Book” and some funeral papyruses, in the center the sarcophaguses. The perfection of the details, of the decorations, and the bright colors are marked on the group of the three sarcophaguses with the mummies of the three sisters Tapeni, Tama and Neferrenepet. Some mummies are displayed without the bandages, so well kept, that in some of them even the teeth can be seen. Going ahead to the following room, we find the reconstruction in scale of Nefertari’s tomb. Perfect, with the sarcophagus between four decorated columns. Two copies of paintings from Nefertari’s and Amonherkhepshet’s tombs complete it. On the walls of the room, there are fragments of the funeral sheets. In a small niche we find the “Tomb of the Unknown”, the sarcophagus, the mummy and everything necessary in afterlife. Further, there are the Chapel of Maia’s tomb and Maia’s stele and his wife Tamit’s one, painted with bright colors that represents the couple praying Osiride and Hathor. Following there is the architect Kha’s tomb and his wife Merit’s one, discovered intact in 1906 by Ernesto Schiapparelli. It’s a dive into ancientness, the black and gold sarcophagus, linen sheets perfectly folded, chests with linen, the senet, mummified salted vegetables and meat, the clothing. All that’s necessary to write, smoothers for papyrus, palette with brushes, the cubito and also objects wanted by women to make themselves beautiful: make-up, combs and wigs. A house for afterlife, ready to welcome for eternal life. In another hall we find various tunics, the tools and the instructions for the working of linen. In the room of the papyruses, we can admire The Magic Papyrus with some formulas for the recoveries. The Juridical Papyrus reports the plan to kill Ramses III and put on the throne one of his sons. The very famous Erotic and Satiric Papyrus. The room of “Daily Life” has scenes of everyday life, of the saitic age, Tolomeic and various funeral portraits from the Roman Age. We reach the “Room of the Gods”, a showcase with various small statues of Bastet, Sekhmet and Mahes with some mummified cats, obviously a part dedicated to Iside’s and Osiride’s cult couldn’t miss. But these are only some of the wonders that the past has given us. Pages and pages wouldn’t be enough to describe them all. As a few hours aren’t enough to admire the finds and the glory of this civilization.
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