The Colossus of Akhenaten and the painted human-shaped coffin reveal their true appearance, [Unboxing and Revealing] 788 pieces of ancient Egyptian artifacts arrived in Shanghai on a chartered flight
On the afternoon of June 17, two boxes of cultural relics, the Colossus of Akhenaten and the painted human-shaped coffin, were first unpacked at the People's Square Museum of the Shanghai Museum.
The day before, 788 cultural relics from Egypt arrived in Shanghai by charter flight. They are the "protagonists" of the overseas exhibition of ancient Egyptian cultural relics "Top of the Pyramid: Ancient Egyptian Civilization Exhibition".
Photos of the artifacts are posted on the outside of the packaging box of the Colossus of Akhenaten.
Egyptian cultural relics experts cut the wire of the cultural relics box.
Experts from the Shanghai Museum removed the seal on the cultural relics box.
The outer packaging of the Colossus of Akhenaten was opened, revealing the true appearance of the artifact.
The front of the Colossus of Akhenaten. This colossus is one of a group of similar statues, originally about 4 meters high, arranged on the south wall and the south end of the west wall of the open-air courtyard of the Temple of Aten in Karnak. The statue is completely different from the traditional heroic and muscular shape of the pharaoh, and all the lines are elongated.
Staff are making preparations before unpacking the painted human-shaped coffin artifact.
The green color of the coffin's face symbolizes the legendary resurrection of Osiris from the dead, and also represents the flooding Nile River.
In addition to the exposed green skin and the false beard commonly seen on mummies, the deceased Nehshutbiti also wore a Nemes turban, which indicated his ascension to the gods, and a wide collar, which also symbolized the deceased. Unlike ordinary chest ornaments, the wide collar on this coffin is finely painted and complexly decorated. It is divided into twelve layers, and there is a circle of pendants on the outermost layer. Below the wide collar, the goddess Nut is kneeling with her wings spread out, her upper body naked, and a sun disk with a golden outline painted on her head.
It is reported that the exhibition, which will be unveiled in July, will bring together 492 groups of 788 precious cultural relics from different periods of ancient Egyptian civilization, including statues of pharaohs such as Tutankhamun, Amenemhat III and Ramses II, complete sets of mummy coffins, queen gold ornaments, and precious cultural relics such as painted wooden coffins, animal mummies and statues discovered in the Saqqara area. These cultural relics are selected from seven major Egyptian museums such as the Egyptian National Museum, Luxor Museum, Suez Museum and the latest archaeological discoveries in the Saqqara area, and more than 95% of the cultural relics are on display in Asia for the first time.
