{"id":18,"date":"2021-04-09T21:56:05","date_gmt":"2021-04-10T01:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/?p=18"},"modified":"2021-05-16T18:39:18","modified_gmt":"2021-05-16T22:39:18","slug":"the-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/2021\/04\/09\/the-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"The Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>The Museum<\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">On Saturday, April 3rd, 2021, the city of Cairo held a parade on its central streets, closing off traffic and attracting numerous onlookers. In the procession, hundreds of volunteers dressed in reproduction ancient Egyptian attire marched ahead, carrying drums and prop ritualistic offerings. The \u201cPharaohs&#8217; Golden Parade\u201d garnered international attention for its wild spectacles, but not simply for the strange dress of its participants. It was the guests of honor, rather, which attracted attention, guests who had been dead for over three thousand years. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Egyptian mummies transported in lavish parade\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fd5jIzcRUoo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>A New Kind of Museum<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This grand display, while certainly a spectacle in itself, also served a rather mundane purpose for the Egyptian government. The procession\u2019s main purpose was to transport the mummified remains of twenty two ancient Egyptian pharaohs, including those of Ramses II, Hatshepsut, and Amenhotep III, to Giza\u2019s new museum of ancient Egyptian history, titled the Grand Egyptian Museum. Set to open in 2021, the museum offers a much-needed shift from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo\u2019s Tahrir Square, which lacked the necessary facilities and technology to care for the mummified remains of pharaohs and their belongings.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_138\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-138\" style=\"width: 452px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-138\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2021\/04\/GrandEgyptianMuseum.jpeg\" alt=\"An image of the main hall of the Grand Egyptian Museum, housing a massive monument to Ramesses II.\" width=\"452\" height=\"301\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2021\/04\/GrandEgyptianMuseum.jpeg 2000w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2021\/04\/GrandEgyptianMuseum-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2021\/04\/GrandEgyptianMuseum-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2021\/04\/GrandEgyptianMuseum-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2021\/04\/GrandEgyptianMuseum-980x654.jpeg 980w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2021\/04\/GrandEgyptianMuseum-144x96.jpeg 144w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 452px) 100vw, 452px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-138\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An image of the main hall of the Grand Egyptian Museum, housing a massive monument to Ramesses II.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Along with the mummified remains, the museum will also exhibit all of the known burial items of Tutankhamun together for the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">first time since their removal from the Valley of Kings in 1922. Equipped with the largest conservation lab in the Middle East, conservators at the museum have had the momentous task of preparing these items for display, a difficult deed considering the massive number of artifacts and their individual intricacy. According to CNN, the Grand Egyptian Museum has set aside 7,000 square meters of exhibit space for the Tutankhamun collection alone.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>A Public Tomb<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_142\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-142\" style=\"width: 393px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-142\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2021\/04\/egyptian-museum.jpeg\" alt=\"An image of the main hall of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo's Tahrir Square.\" width=\"393\" height=\"221\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2021\/04\/egyptian-museum.jpeg 1600w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2021\/04\/egyptian-museum-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2021\/04\/egyptian-museum-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2021\/04\/egyptian-museum-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2021\/04\/egyptian-museum-980x551.jpeg 980w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2021\/04\/egyptian-museum-171x96.jpeg 171w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 393px) 100vw, 393px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-142\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The main hall of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo&#8217;s Tahrir Square.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The real stars of the museum, however, are the mummies themselves. Transported to their new resting place in custom-made, shockproof hearses, the remains of these pharaohs will be displayed in a new style of exhibition space, according to a spokesperson of the museum. &#8220;The new showroom is more like a one-way circle maze. All the walls are black, with spotlights on the mummies,&#8221; Sayed Abu-El Fadal stated in an interview with CBS News. &#8220;It is designed like the tombs in the Valley of the Kings.&#8221; This exhibition style is a strong pivot from the display choices of the mummified remains&#8217; former resting places at Cairo\u2019s Egyptian Museum. Far more traditional in its layout and composition, the display cases and exhibition rooms of the Egyptian Museum offered a no-frills venue in which to examine the country\u2019s former rulers, whom they exhibited on the floor of the main hall of the museum.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Grand Egyptian Museum\u2019s decision to display the mummified remains in a dark, maze-like exhibit space, inspired by the private tombs in which the rulers originally rested in the Valley of the Kings, demonstrates a shift in philosophy in the exhibition of mummified remains. Where the Egyptian government was once content in displaying the bodies of their former rulers in a standard museum hall, as nondescript in their glass cases as any other artifact, the exhibition style of the Grand Egyptian Museum marks a cultural shift in the treatment of mummified human remains in the museum space, one in favor of the humanization of remains. The evocation of a tomb, or a private, contemplative funerary space, restores a sense of humanity to the mummies that was lacking in their former exhibit housing. Instead of simply being an object of study, the mummified remains become real people again, connected to the history of their lives through their more obvious association with death. As prominent Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawas states, &#8220;every mummy has a story, every mummy is magic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Controversy<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yet while the new exhibition space provides a new level of humanity to the remains of the rulers, some critics object to the display of the mummies at all. Sheikh Ahmed Karima, a professor at Egypt\u2019s Al-Azhar University, decried the decision to continue the display of mummified remains at the Grand Egyptian Museum, stating, \u201cthese are our accentors, we shouldn&#8217;t have them displayed for some dollars and euros.&#8221; Islam prohibits the exhumation of human remains for non-scientific reasons, a doctrine Karima cites in his rebuke of the museum. Archaeologist Zahi Hawass rebutted Karima\u2019s assertions, stating that the display of ancient Egyptian mummies is admissible in Islamic tradition, as the pharaohs displayed were not Muslim, Christian, or Jewish.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_145\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-145\" style=\"width: 311px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-145\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2021\/04\/mummy-king-seti-i-egypt.jpeg\" alt=\"Image of the mummy of Seti I.\" width=\"311\" height=\"188\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2021\/04\/mummy-king-seti-i-egypt.jpeg 620w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2021\/04\/mummy-king-seti-i-egypt-300x181.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2021\/04\/mummy-king-seti-i-egypt-159x96.jpeg 159w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 311px) 100vw, 311px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-145\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The mummy of Seti I, who is now housed at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThe opinion of Sheikh Karima can be applied to thieves who tamper with graves and destroy mummies, but archaeologists work to immortalise these people, as they restore their coffins, graves and mummies, because the presence of these coffins inside the wells exposes them to decomposition and fragmentation.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">&#8211; Archaeologist and Egyptologist Zahi Hawass.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yet Karima\u2019s beliefs represent a common discomfort among many scholars surrounding the display of mummified remains. The debate over human remains and their role in the museum space is nothing new, having been waged over the past several decades amidst institutional overhauls in pursuit of a more ethical philosophy of archaeological display. Scholars of the museum world have repeatedly asked: is it ethical to display the remains of those who have died? What benefit is there to the display of human remains? And, importantly, whose remains deserve to remain private?<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Exploring a Modern Mummy Parade<\/h2>\n<p>The Egyptian government&#8217;s recent parade of ancient Egyptian pharaohs captivated the minds and fascination of viewers from around the world. Click below to explore this event and find out more about its utility for both cultural heritage preservation and cultural production.<\/p>\n<div class=\"h5p-iframe-wrapper\"><iframe id=\"h5p-iframe-3\" class=\"h5p-iframe\" data-content-id=\"3\" style=\"height:1px\" src=\"about:blank\" frameBorder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"Mummy Parade\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Museum On Saturday, April 3rd, 2021, the city of Cairo held a parade on its central streets, closing off traffic and attracting numerous onlookers. In the procession, hundreds of volunteers dressed in reproduction ancient Egyptian attire marched ahead, carrying drums and prop ritualistic offerings. The \u201cPharaohs&#8217; Golden Parade\u201d garnered international attention for its wild [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2944,"featured_media":46,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2944"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18\/revisions\/148"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/lyric-test-site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}