To Live Forever:
Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum

October 18, 2008 - January 11, 2009 

Belief in the afterlife, and that death was an enemy that could be vanquished, was fundamental to the ancient Egyptians. As part of their quest to defeat death, Egyptians mummified their dead and performed a variety of elaborate rituals in the tomb before, during, and after burial to assist the deceased in their journey through the netherworld. The Egyptians also developed a rich and complex vision of what they would find in this next world. Both the wealthy and the poor participated in these beliefs and practices, and the poor strove to imitate the rich in their own more humble rituals, offerings, and grave goods in hopes of ensuring themselves a better place and fate in the afterlife. Presenting over a hundred objects from the Brooklyn Museum’s world-renowned collections of ancient Egyptian art – including mummies, coffins, stone sculpture, gold jewelry, precious amulets, and sacred vessels – To Live Forever is a special and rare opportunity to view precious treasures from one of history’s most intriguing civilizations, inviting all to explore the ways in which the Egyptians approached the most momentous and mysterious of events, death.

Images:
Courtesy of The Brooklyn Museum