Friday, March 23, 2007

Exhibition: More re Anubis, Upwawet and Other Deities

"The exhibition on the museum's ground floor falls within a series organised by the Egyptian Museum to highlight some of the treasures of its collection which has been hidden for decades in its overflowing vaults. The display changes every six months.
The current exhibition, Anubis, Upwawet and other Deities, displays 1,000 year's worth of offerings to the ancient Egyptian jackal deity Anubis, god of mummification, and Upwawet, who opened the passage allowing the soul of the deceased to cross to the afterlife. These two were the principle protective deities of the Upper Egyptian city of Assiut from the 18th to the 21st dynasties.
The 58 themed objects show new aspects of the social life, regular traditions and popular religion in Middle Egypt during the New Kingdom and later. It includes terracotta, sandstone and limestone statues featuring Anubis in various positions and processions. Stelae reveal the titles and professions of people who lived in Assiut, and show how they practised their religion with an enthusiasm and individuality far removed from the solemnity of official temples and chapels. It also illustrates the difference and elaborate relationship between both deities, which were held to be of great importance by the ancient Egyptians."
See the above page for details. The Al Ahram website is painfully slow this morning, but pages do load eventually.

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