Quest for Immortality - Treasures of Ancient Egypt

The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt, on display at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville Tennessee, features the largest selection of antiquities ever loaned by Egypt for exhibition in North America. The exhibition includes over 100 magnificent works. This exhibit provides a great opportunity to learn about the many facets of Egyptian funerary rites, religious beliefs, and the quest for eternal life.

Visitors will experience a "Sense of Awe" while enjoying this exhibit and revel in amazement and wonder of these centuries old pieces.

The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt, an exhibition that comprises the largest collection of artifacts ever loaned by the Egyptian government for display in North America is on display at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts located at 919 Broadway in downtown Nashville.

Visitors to the Frist Center will have a rare opportunity to see over 100 priceless antiquities that relate to the Egyptians' belief in the afterlife. Included in the show are majestic sculptures, exquisitely crafted gold jewelry, intricately painted coffins and other funerary objects, and artwork from Egypt's golden age. Also on view will be Mummies, a small exhibition featuring a real human mummy, as well as animal mummies. The Quest for Immortality will remain at the Frist Center through October 8, 2006.

The Quest for Immortality features artifacts from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the Luxor Museum and the archaeological sites of Tanis and Deir el-Bahari, which provide a fascinating glimpse into Egyptian beliefs about the afterlife. These objects range in date from the New Kingdom (1550-1069 BCE) through the Late Period (664-332 BCE).

"The Quest for Immortality is our most ambitious undertaking to date," said Frist Center Executive Director Susan H. Edwards. "The exhibition is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see some of the most magnificent artifacts from a civilization that has captured and sustained our imagination for thousands of years. The sheer beauty of this art is truly breathtaking."

Quest for Immortality Exhibition
The exhibition is divided into six themes: the New Kingdom, the Reign of Thutmose III, Tombs of Nobles, Royal Tombs, the Realm of the Gods, and the Tomb of Thutmose III and the Amduat (a funerary text, reserved only for pharaohs or those favored by the noble class.) There also will be a companion exhibition featuring human and animal mummies as well as modern medical imaging showing the interior of the human mummy.

Highlights of the Quest for Immortality Exhibition
· An intricately adorned, life-size replica of the burial chamber of the New Kingdom pharaoh Thutmose III, ruler of Egypt in the 18th Dynasty
· An eight-foot-long ancient wooden model of the river boat that was believed to carry the pharaohs into the afterlife, painted with scenes of the Egyptian god Montu
· The sandstone head of Thutmose I (18th Dynasty), originally part of a standing colossal statue of the king
· Gold and jeweled artifacts from the royal tombs at Tanis from the 21st and 22nd Dynasties. The royal tombs at Tanis have been described as the most significant archaeological discovery since that of King Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922.· The canopic chest of Queen Nedjmet (20th Dynasty), made to hold her internal organs
· An illustrated timeline of ancient Egypt in the Conte Community Arts Gallery
· An exhibition film produced by the National Gallery of Art containing scenes of the temple of Karnak, tombs in the Valley of the Kings and other sites on the west bank of the Nile, as well as expert commentary by noted Egyptologists
· A special printed family guide written by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
· Adult- and child-friendly audio tours produced by Antenna Audio.
· A human mummy loaned to the Frist Center especially for this exhibition by the Carlos Museum in Atlanta, as well as a number of animal mummies obtained by the Frist from the University of Memphis's Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum.