PAC 2018: Queens of Egypt

Majestic Queens of Egypt
North American premiere

April 10 - November 4, 2018

This exhibition, produced by the Montreal’s Pointe-à-Callière museum of Archaeology and History (PAC) in partnership with Turin's Museo Egizio, unveils the splendour and mystery of Ancient Egypt and illustrates the importance of queens in Egypt's New Kingdom period. It gives visitors a rare opportunity to fully comprehend the grandeur of Egyptian civilization and especially power its women exercised during the New Kingdom period. The exhibition portrays the world of the Great Royal wives, sisters, and daughters of the pharaohs. It presents the Queens and illustrates the diverse and important roles they played in Egyptian society. Their lives are revealed in an immersive exhibits tour that features over 350 rare, precious, and symbolic objects.

Francine Lelièvre, the Pointe-à-Callière museum's executive director stated:

"Throughout history, women's stories have so often been obscured, but these Egyptian women of power played an important role in society. I hope that the tribute we pay to the queens of Egypt in this exhibition, and the exceptional quality of the objects presented, will remind visitors of how instrumental this society's contributions were. Ancient Egypt gave us ingenious irrigation canals; master artisans; incredible architecture in their temples, palaces, and villages; elegance in body care; and strong, intelligent women of power who had a great appreciation for beauty and meaning. We have so much to learn from their immense legacy."

Nile’s Right (east) Bank – The World of the Living

The first part of the exhibition shows settings frequented or inhabited by pharaoh and his queens during the New Kingdom period, some 3,500 years ago. According to the ancient Egyptian’s myth, the right bank of the Nile was the world of the living, with such landmarks as the city of Thebes, the imposing temples of Karnak, and Luxor. PAC presents the temple of the mythological war goddess Sekhmet, reveals the rules of life in the pharaoh and queen palace, and reveals the elegance and splendour of a harem.

The harem: for women only

The exhibition also portrays an Egyptian harem, a royal institution reserved exclusively for women and children, where the queen, noblewomen, and the pharaoh's concubines ruled and men entered only to serve them. One of the displays also ofers a chance to experience perfumes and beauty objects in Nefertiti's harem. The harem was a place of beauty, culture and education, but also a place to hatch a plot. The harem conspiracy papyrus, dating back 3,200 years, reveals secrets of a harem’s captivating world and tells the story of an elaborate plan by one of Ramesses III's wives, Tiye, to murder him.

Nile’s Left (west) Bank – The World of the Dead

In the exhibition’s second section, visitors travel to the world of the dead - the Theban necropolises on the Nile's west bank. They visit the village of Deir el-Medina, where artisans spent their lives building the royal tombs and objects to accompany the deceased in the afterlife. There are tools, everyday objects, and vases, along with other objects that reveal the reverence this village held for Queen Ahmose-Nefertari. There are also writing tools of scribes, papyruses, and a video explains about the Egyptian letters and how to read those ancient texts.

Voyage to the Valley of the Queens

The exhibition's final section is set deep in the Valley of the Queens. It featurs items from the royal tomb of Ramesses II's favourite wife Nefertari, and recreats the ambiance of the actual tomb discovered in 1904 by Ernesto Schiaparelli, former director of Turin's Museo Egizio.

The display reveals Ancient Egypt's burial rituals: tools and materials needed to transform the body, a hook, flint knife, and resin, funerary jars, and a papyrus excerpt of The Book of the Dead that illustrate the ritual of mummification. A mummy, resting on a transparent surface, forms the heart of this installation with magical amulets woven into the linen strips to protect the deceased. This section also features objects that accompany the deceased in the afterlife: amulets, canopic jars, and shabtis. There are also a dozen painted coffins that additionally demonstrate the ritual funerary practices and their role in achieving eternal life.

The final part of the exhibition presents the funerary chamber of Queen Nefertari and her granite coffin, shattered by looters. Yet looters left behind many lesser valued objects (but highly valued by archaeologists), and some of these items are among the exhibition's most rare artefacts.

Ubisoft: using technology to teach history

To give visitors a complete immersive experience, Pointe-à-Callière partnered with Ubisoft Montréal and the team of Assassin's Creed Origins, the most recent edition of this video game franchise, which takes place in Ancient Egypt. Exclusive and custom-tailored videos and soundtracks from the game's Discovery Tour enhance the exhibition: scenes from the sumptuous palace, seat of the pharaoh's power, the western desert, the houses, streets, artisans, village life, or the daily lives of women of power, these carefully crafted visual portrayals of ancient life in Egypt are also highly informative about the themes developed in Queens of Egypt exhibition, such as the mummification ritual, the work of scribes, and the writing of hieroglyphs.

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For more information on the current exhibitions, activities and programs, visit the PAC Museum's website.