Exhibition

Opening with two monumental limestone sarcophagi, each weighing between 900 and 1,200 pounds, To Live Forever examines the ancient Egyptian process of mummification, funeral processions and rituals, contents of the tomb, final judgment of the deceased, and the idealized afterlife. Rather than focusing solely on riches discovered in the tombs of rulers and nobles, the exhibition reveals for the first time how members of the Egyptian middle classes and common citizens prepared for the afterlife. The economics of the funeral process are examined, and each section of the exhibition contains objects intended for the rich, the middle class, and common citizens — from elaborate and ornate gold jewelry to simple clay vessels. Every object in the tomb and each ritual in the funerary process was intended to insure safe passage into the next world and, over time, the specialized knowledge of the netherworld spread throughout the social ranks, from kings and members of the royal family to all ranks of society. Not everyone could afford a golden coffin, or statuary of granite, or rare imported woods, however, and people of lesser ranks learned to utilize less costly materials for the same purposes.

Finely painted wood and stone coffins made for wealthy patrons appear alongside clay coffins the poor made for themselves; artfully carved granite vessels are contrasted with clay vessels painted in imitation of more rare materials; and gold jewelry created for the nobles appears with faience amulets fashioned from a man-made turquoise substitute, revealing how the common citizens attempted to imitate the appearance of the grave goods of the rich in hope of ensuring a better place in the afterlife.

Highlights from the Brooklyn Museum’s world-renowned collection include:
•the haunting portrait and mummy of Demetrios, a wealthy citizen who lived during the Roman Empire’s rule of Egypt
•the Bird Lady—one of the oldest preserved statues from all Egyptian history and a signature Brooklyn Museum object
•an elaborately painted coffin inscribed with passages from The Book of the Dead
•a limestone relief of Queen Neferu
•the painted shroud of Neferhotep
•a gilded mummy mask of a man
•two mummies of dogs
•stone sculptures and statues meant to assist the deceased in the afterworld
•protective gold jewelry made for nobility
•canopic jars used to store the body's major organs during mummification
•ceramic vessels used during funerals

Scroll down from details about some of these and other artifacts included in the exhibition. Featuring more than one hundred objects, To Live Forever is organized by Edward Bleiberg, Ph.D., Curator of Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Near Eastern Art at the Brooklyn Museum.