Ancient Egypt at Liverpool World Museum

I’ve been to see the newly opened gallery on the Ancient Egypt at Liverpool World Museum. The museum is free and so is the new gallery, so don’t miss it, it’s really interesting. The restoration finished earlier this year and now it’s UK’s second largest Ancient Egypt gallery after the British Museum.

The Liverpool in hieroglyphs is hilarious, but quite accurate I would say.

There are a few videos that are really interesting. I enjoyed the most the one about what happened when an Egyptian died. The process was quite complex, there were 42 gods and the dead had to say to each one a bad thing he didn’t do. If they had money to pay for talismans, those would have protect them if they would say a lie. After talking with the 42 gods, their heart was weight in and if it was lighter than a feather, they would go into a sort of heaven, where they would meet their relatives and spend their time sowing cereals. If they had effigies of servants, those would do their work for them. If the heart was heavier, they would have been eaten by the Cerberus and they would be gone forever. It sounds like a very complicated afterlife and with a lot of work without the servants.

The mummy room is so interesting. The thing that I found the most interesting is that one of the mummies has a relative at British Museum. I think it’s amazing that both are in UK and it’s known that they were related by DNA testing. The mummy room has warnings on both entrances that there are human displays. I think that is respectful both towards the visitors and the mummies.

In the tombs all sort of things were put there for the mummies, as they might need them in the afterlife. This model boat with crew was excavated in early 1900s, dating from around 2000 BC. The boats were very useful as it could help them travel safely to the land of the dead.

Another model on display is of this granary. It’s from around 2000 BC. The granary would supply Antef, the man buried in the tomb, with an eternal supply of food. Even so, there was a scribe on the roof, to record the amounts of grain brought in and taken out.

The pieces of jewellery on display are beautiful. There are many pieces, it was hard to pick only a picture. All look beautiful, complex and colourful.

Even in afterlife, the Egyptian had banquets to organize for the dead family members. So, this limestone plate would be handy in those situation.

This is a rare piece of royal clothing. The girdle belonged to King Ramesses III and it dates from 1185BC. The colours are still vivid and beautiful. It’s amazing it was preserved so good. It’s the only surviving example. It has symbols that would magically protect him on the battlefield.

The whole girdle.

This is a game of Senet. I’m reading a book about games and a few days before visiting the exhibition, I learned about Senet. Imagine my delight to see one from that time. The rules for the game are unknown. This game is from about 1550 – 1186 BC.

The sarcophagus of Bak-en-khonsu, 1200 BC. He was an important man, with a career spanning over 70 years. That is impressive considering their lifespan was around 30 years. Bak-en-khonsu was a high priest and he overseen the works at the temple of Karnak, during the reign of King Ramesses II.

Cast of the Head of King Amenhotep III, New Kingdom, 1390 – 1352 BC. The whole statue would measure 8m tall and it was one of the statues inside the funerary temple of Thebes. King Amenhotep III ruled for 40 years and it was one of the most stable in their history. The original statue is at the British Museum.

Bes, a fun-loving god. He was protecting women in childbirth, so his image appears on objects like mirrors, cosmetic pots and wine jars.

Book of the Dead.

It is a very interesting exhibit. I would recommend visiting it. It’s worth the time. It took us a couple of hours to see it all, as we took the time to read many descriptions and we saw a couple of the videos.