Dig Days:
Immortal in Texas
I recently visited Fort Worth, Texas for the opening of an exhibit of Egyptian antiquities entitled, "The Quest for Immortality". While I was en route, I couldn't stop thinking of the horrible destruction of the Mesopotamian monuments. My mind was far from the exhibit owing to my preoccupation and despair over the loss of so much of Iraq's cultural heritage.
When I arrived at the Fort Worth airport there were no signs of the exhibit -- a situation that contrasted dramatically with my visit to Dallas many years ago for the opening of the exhibit, "Ramses the Great". Back then the Ramses artefacts accompanied me to Dallas on a cargo plane and we were welcomed by the wife of the president. Ramses received a royal reception. Dallas was swimming in Ramses paraphernalia; everywhere you looked there were photos, TV programmes and newspaper articles on the Pharaoh. The people of Dallas knew the great king and were eagerly awaiting the opening of the exhibit. A week before the opening, Bob Townsend, the head of the exhibit, and I stopped a young girl on the street. She was about nine years old. We asked her, "What's big in town?" and she replied, "Ramses!"
When I arrived in Fort Worth, a customs agent asked me why I was visiting the US. I said, "Tomorrow there is a big opening of an Egyptian exhibit called, the 'Quest for Immortality'. It tells the story of the great king Thuthmosis III. He is known as the Napoleon of ancient Egypt for expanding the empire as far as the Euphrates and Asia Minor." The customs agent hadn't even heard of the show.
The exhibit was being shown at the Kimbel Art Museum, located about five miles from the airport. When I arrived at the hotel, just two blocks from the museum, the bellhop who carried my luggage recognised me, but he had never heard of the exhibit. Can you imagine? I was extremely disappointed to see the lack of enthusiasm and knowledge about the show. After all, it was the third largest exhibit of Egyptian antiquities to visit the US following those dedicated to King Tut and Ramses. The publicity ahead of the exhibit was insufficient for a show of its size and importance, which must be the reason only 300,000 people saw the exhibit when it was shown in Boston.
The morning after I arrived, I viewed the exhibit and attended a press conference. I met Tim Potts, the director of the museum, who has excavated in Jordan among other countries. After viewing the exhibit, I came to the conclusion that the lighting and display of the artefacts was wonderful -- even better than it was at the National Gallery in Washington DC and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
I could sense the spirit of the artefacts as I walked through the exhibit, stopping in front of my favourite: the statue of the goddess Maat, the goddess of truth and justice. A mere three-centimetres-tall, the statue is important to people all over the world, reminding us about justice.
Although there were many journalists who attended the press conference, I felt that there were not nearly enough for such a historic event. Tim Potts gave a nice introduction to the exhibit and I told the press all about Egypt's future plans, including building museums throughout the country. I also discussed how we need to modify our museums to convey a stronger message about our cultural heritage in a way that would be engaging for Egyptians as well as tourists. I told those assembled about the recent discoveries in Egypt and about the great king, Thuthmosis III. I explained how he extended the borders of his empire without spilling blood. He did it through education -- by teaching children about other cultures and leaders. Once the children had completed their education, he sent them abroad where they remained loyal to him and Egypt. I told them about the arsenal he established in Memphis called Peru-nefer, which means "good going-forth". It was a depot and launching place for his campaigns to the north. The arsenal was part of a general re-emergence of Memphis as a military and administrative centre as well as a residence for kings and princes.
The evening of the opening was magical. Everyone was dressed in black tie and people came from all over Texas. I was pleased to see so many familiar faces. That night, in my speech I took the opportunity to talk about the atrocious destruction of the Iraqi monuments. I discussed our responsibility to protect Iraq's cultural heritage and keeping its monuments in situ. I presented a reproduction of the statue of Maat to the woman in charge of the museum's board of trustees and told her it was to remind everyone about the "Quest for Immortality" and expressed my hope that we would all learn from the ancient Egyptians about justice so as to enable us to have a better future.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 24 - 30 July 2003 (Issue No. 648)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/648/he3.htm