
Egypti
an Funer
ary
Art ess
ay
E
arly-d
ay Egypti
ans found the perfect solution to the uncert
ainty
and ch
aos they felt in their lives.
Although the Nile River g
ave them untold gifts of fertile soil
and
abund
ant crops, intermittent f
amine
and dise
ase reminded them nothing is predict
able.
But they h
ad their gods for life's tr
av
ails
and
after-de
ath tr
avel through the underworld in pursuit of rebirth. By the time of the golden New Kingdom (1550 to 1069 B.C.)
and the L
ate Period (664 to 332 B.C.), they h
ad
an impressive
arr
ay of gods he
aded by the sun god, Re. They reg
arded Re
as the primev
al cre
ative force, especi
ally in his m
anifest
ation
as
Amun,
a link with the ph
ar
aoh,
and guide for the king through the
afterlife journey. (Hirmer, p. 15) He w
as the most import
ant key in the quest for etern
al life. Re, in his m
any symbolic m
anifest
ations, st
ars in the dr
am
atic 155-object exhibition "The Quest for Immort
ality: Tre
asures of
Ancient egypt"
at the N
ation
al G
allery of
Art. Opening tomorrow, the show cont
ains the l
argest group of
antiquities lent by egypt for displ
ay in North
Americ
a. It will tour to six North
Americ
an museums.