The Louisiana Art and Science Museum is well beloved in Baton Rouge for many things, but especially for its Ancient Egypt Gallery, which has housed a mummy since 1964.
For the 60th Anniversary of the mummy’s arrival, the museum has had a new exhibit called Discoveries on the Nile: Exploring King Tut’s Tomb and the Amin Egyptian Collection. The exhibit explores the famed King Tutankhamun specifically.
A plethora of artifacts directly from King Tut’s tomb have been on display at the museum. Representing and telling a deep rich history, there are only a few weeks left till the exhibit is gone.
LASM worked with private collector Giovanni Amin, who has authentic Egyptian funeral masks and certified reproductions of artifacts from Tutankhamen’s tomb.
Savanna Wilson works at the LASM as a museum docent and said the new exhibit is bringing in and engaging people.
What Wilson believes stands out the most about King Tut is his “short lifespan.”
“Everyone is very shocked and surprised at him becoming king at nine years old, but also his death,” Wilson said.
Something else of interest to Wilson is Tut’s history with the British, who were the first to find him back in 1922. Howard Carter, an archaeologist and Egyptologist, found King Tut and over 5,000 artifacts buried with him. These pieces allowed researchers and the public to understand more about Ancient Egypt and especially the New Kingdom that existed between 1570 and 1059 BCE.
Europe, especially Britain, has been very active in the process of uncovering artifacts of Egypt and ancient kingdoms, from having mummy unwrapping parties to taking and transporting thousands of artifacts. At one point, Wilson said, the British set King Tut’s remains on fire.
Wilson’s favorite piece in the collection is the sarcophagus: King Tut’s beautiful golden resting place detailed in red and blue with hieroglyphics all around. The wall paintings also are some of her favorites.
Another part of the exhibit is the Valley of Queens. holding replications of artifacts of Cleopatra, Hatshepsut and Nefrititi. The pieces of history celebrate thousands of years of queens that ruled over Egypt.
The exhibit examines not only Egyptian history, but the modern world’s love and enchantment with it. There is a section of the exhibit called Egyptomania, focusing on how the world engages with Ancient Egypt, its ruler and culture. The films “The Mummy,” “Cleopatra” with Elizabeth Taylor, and the Lumineers “Cleopatra” album all made an appearance. Even a piece of memorabilia from the Krewe of Thoth was there.
Upstairs on the second floor, there’s a room dedicated to the Egyptian funeral masks, all authentic from different dynasties in Egypt’s long history. Funeral masks were seen as incredibly important to help the deceased move to the next life.
This special exhibit has called the LASM home since October, but soon its time will come to an end. August 1 will be the final day to view the exhibit.
For anyone wishing to learn more about the exhibit or LASM as a whole, its website has information on what’s going on now and what’s next up.
