Johannesburg - I’m staring at a golden war chariot on a dais. There’s no charioteer nearby, no beating sun, just the faint hum of air conditioning as I stand within the Globe exhibition space, looking at these artifacts from ancient Egypt.
Yet for a moment you can almost imagine it – the sun, the crowds, perhaps, the sweat-stained body of the man commandeering this machine, the paraphernalia that is the engine of war and power.
I walk over to a signboard and read that the ancient Egyptians believed that vanquishing their enemies and hunting was a way of keeping chaos at bay.
This small information opens a square of light on the world of these vanished people, in a sense humanising all that I’m seeing.
I look at everyday objects from that time – a writing instrument, a papyrus smoother and a writing palette. Thousands of years later I’m writing by notes in a book with an ink pen – and the connection is there, and isn’t lost on me.
I read that there were no cupboards in Egyptian homes, and stare at a beautiful ivory chest: the items look almost contemporary. Then I look at a firelighter: spinning a querl meant flying sparks kindled the pre-positioned tinder.
Once more a world opens for me in fragments. I’m at the media opening of Tutankhamun – His Tomb and His Treasures exhibition, at the Silverstar Casino in western Joburg. It’s been seen by more than five million people worldwide. The original artifacts are too precious to travel – yet the replicas are intricately detailed and faithfully rendered.
The exhibition presents the three chambers of Tutankhamun’s burial chamber, as well as the passages leading to it, and the treasures assembled to serve the young pharaoh on his magical journey to the underworld.
Present at the opening is archaeologist Tarek El Awady, from Cairo. He’s brimming with pride as he says the Tutankhamun exhibition now shines in the City of Gold, and it’s the first time it’s been presented in an African country: “The magic and beautiful history of the ancient Egyptians is now here,” he smiles.
He says it’s impossible to describe and harks back to the words excavator Howard Carter first used when he opened the sealed tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922: “Wonderful things,” he said as he looked within. That was all. That seemed enough.
Visitors are given audio guides to the exhibition (this is included in the price) and they lead you through roughly 90 minutes of the space. Unfortunately these weren’t activated for the media call. There’s also a short film which details Carter’s discovery of the tomb, which also wasn’t playing on this day, so I contented myself with reading the visual boards as well as the comprehensive exhibition catalogue which is chockfull of photos and articles about the time of Tutankhamun, including a short biography of him.
He ascended the throne at nine and died at 18. He was married to his either full or half-sister, eight years older than him, and they had two stillborn daughters. There’s information about the discovery of his tomb, as well as the scanning of the body in 2005 that revealed so much more about his health – an X-ray of his mouth shows unerupted wisdom teeth and a knee disease.
Looking at all this within the catalogue and then on the boards brings this ancient “boy king” alive in a very real sense.
The burial chambers are impressive – the jumble of treasures after being looted by robbers, the chariot in disarray, chests, chairs, statues and so on. But the full wonder of the exhibition is also to be found in the replica of the passages leading to the tomb – decorated with Egyptian mythology and belief.
I touch the strokes of hieroglyphic writing, trying to touch the past, run my fingers over the bird-like symbols, the sharp triangular cuts in the gold replica walls, and try to gain a small understanding of a world I’ll never know that has yet permeated my education and consciousness in a way other epochs haven’t.
Ticket prices range from R80 to R160 per person and there is a special discounted family package of four tickets for just R440. Children of five years and younger are admitted free of charge.
There’s also a special children’s programme for them to listen to on the audio guide. The exhibition is open seven days a week, except for Christmas Day, and runs to March 1, 2015. Tickets on sale at www.tut-exhibition. co.za and www.silverstarcasino.co.za. Opening times: Sundays – Thursdays: 9am-7pm, Fridays and Saturdays: 9am-9pm. Estimated time to view the entire exhibition is about two hours.
Ticket prices (including audio guide): Adults: R160, seniors (60+ years) and students: R120, children (6 to 18 years): R100, children under 6 years: free. The exhibition has been brought to South Africa by SC Exhibitions (www.sc-exhibitions.com) who also brought BODY WORLDS & The Cycle of Life and Da Vinci – The Genius to this country.
Sunday Independent