Death Is Only the Beginning: Mummies, Amulets and Funerary Masks of Ancient Egypt

The Jacek Malczewski Museum in Radom invites you to the exhibition “Death Is Only the Beginning. Mummies, Amulets and Funerary Masks of Ancient Egypt”

For the ancient Egyptians, death did not mean the end of existence, but the beginning of a new stage of life and a journey to the world of the gods. To attain eternity, one had to prepare properly for this journey. Preserving the body, a proper burial, appropriate equipment for the tomb, and protection of the deceased during the journey through the afterlife were of key importance. The Egyptians believed that a person's fate after death was also determined by their deeds in life. During the judgment of Osiris, the heart of the deceased, regarded as the seat of memory, conscience and morality, was weighed against the feather of the goddess Maat, symbol of truth, justice and cosmic order. A favorable outcome of the judgment opened the way to eternal life and transformation into an akh, that is, a perfect, transfigured form of existence.

The Egyptian vision of the human being was extremely complex. A person was perceived as a whole, composed of the body and various aspects of their existence, among them the ka, ba, name (ren), shadow (shut) and heart (ib). A special place was held by the akh, that is, the transfigured and sacralized form of the deceased, attained through appropriate rituals and successful passage through the process of posthumous transformation. Reaching the state of akh meant the possibility of continued existence in the divine sphere and participation in the order of the world. To ensure the deceased's continued existence, it was extremely important to preserve the body and to perform the funerary rites properly. The body was not regarded merely as a temporary shell, but remained an essential element of the relationship between the deceased, their ka, the burial place and the tomb cult. That is why such great importance was attached to mummification, funerary rituals and the proper furnishing of the tomb.

The exhibition “Death Is Only the Beginning. Mummies, Amulets and Funerary Masks of Ancient Egypt” offers a view of Egyptian beliefs through objects and works of art that have survived to the present day. The displayed monuments show how ideas about death, gods and the afterlife permeated every sphere of life. Vessels, ornaments, everyday objects, elements of tomb equipment, depictions and texts formed a coherent system of beliefs whose aim was to secure the deceased's safety and a successful passage into eternity. Burial was not merely a farewell, but a carefully prepared ritual meant to enable the deceased to travel safely to the world of the gods and to continue existing in the afterlife. Objects placed in tombs, such as vessels, food, ornaments and everyday items, were meant to provide the deceased with everything they might need after death, while texts, prayers, spells and depictions served a protective and magical function, supporting them on the way to eternal life.

The exhibition will include monuments from the collections of Muzeum Narodowego w Warszawie, Muzeum Narodowego w Krakowie, Muzeum Książąt Czartoryskich, Muzeum Archeologicznego w Krakowie, Instytutu Archeologii Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, Centrum Edukacji Przyrodniczej UJ, Muzeum Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego and Muzeum Ziemi Kujawskiej i Dobrzyńskiej we Włocławku. Each of the objects on display is part of a larger story about a human being, their beliefs, everyday life and desire to cross the boundary of death.

One of the key points of the exhibition is Tell el-Murra, an archaeological site located in the north-eastern part of the Nile Delta, about 100 kilometres north-east of Cairo. Since 2008, research has been carried out there by the Polska Misja Archeologiczna w Północno-Wschodniej Delcie Nilu, operating within the Instytutu Archeologii Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego. The expedition leaders are dr hab. Mariusz Jucha and Grzegorz Bąk-Pryc.

Tell el-Murra is an exceptional site because it has been preserved in very good condition. The site still stands out clearly in the landscape of the Nile Delta, rising…