Hong Kong Palace Museum | Ancient Egypt Unveiled: Treasures from Egyptian Museums

Ancient Egyptian civilisation originated along the reaches of the Nile River in the northeastern part of the African continent more than 7,000 years ago. From unification around 3000 BCE through the Old Kingdom period (about 2686–2160 BCE), the systems of pharaonic rule and deities were established. The culture and arts, through the development and perfection in the Middle Kingdom period (about 2034–1650 BCE) and then the fusion and transformations of the New Kingdom period (about 1550–1069 BCE), gradually reached their peak. From the 12th century BCE to the Graeco-Roman period (332 BCE–395 CE), ancient Egyptian civilisation continued to engage in deeper interactions and integration with surrounding civilisations, including those in the Mediterranean.

This exhibition features 250 spectacular treasures from seven major Egyptian museums and the Saqqara archaeological site, including statues, stelae, gold ornaments, mummy coffins, and animal mummies. Organised into four thematic sections, “The Land of Pharaohs”, “The World of Tutankhamun”, “The Secrets of Saqqara”, and “Ancient Egypt and the World”, the exhibition traces the development of ancient Egyptian civilization spanning nearly 5,000 years and explores the politics, arts, everyday life, and religious beliefs when this ancient civilisation flourished. The exhibition also unveils the latest archaeological discoveries from Saqqara and the vibrant exchanges between ancient Egypt and other world civilisations.

The exhibition is jointly organised by the Hong Kong Palace Museum and the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt. It is proudly supported by Bank of China (Hong Kong), the Museum’s Strategic Partner; Cathay and UnionPay International are the Major Sponsors. Lenders include the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the Hurghada Museum, the Suez National Museum, the Luxor Museum of Ancient Egyptian Art, the Sohag National Museum, the Matrouh Museum, the Kafr El-Sheikh Museum, and the Saqqara archaeological site. It also features objects in the collections of the Hong Kong Palace Museum and the Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Ancient Egyptians believed the pharaohs were mediators between gods and humans, as well as the rulers of the living and protectors of the dead. The pharaohs governed the world and were responsible for upholding truth, justice, and cosmic order.

This colossal granite head is a part of an enormous statue of King Senwosret I that proclaims his divine kingship. Judging by the size of the surviving head, the original statue must have stood about 10 metres tall. Ancient Egyptian pharaohs often constructed massive statues of themselves, like this one, to project their authority.

Notice the long, dome-shaped crown worn by Senwosret I, known as the white crown. This crown symbolises kingship and Upper Egypt and has been an important emblem of the king since the time of Egypt’s unification around 3000 BCE.

The legendary pharaoh Tutankhamun ascended the throne at about the age of nine, amidst turmoil and died abruptly at around 18 or 19. He ruled during the New Kingdom period, which was a golden age for ancient Egyptian art and craftsmanship.

This exquisite colossal statue captures the boy king’s distinctive features in a naturalistic way, in contrast to traditional pharaonic statues, with rigid symmetry and stern expressions. At the same time, his posture, regalia and serene expression adhere to long-standing conventions, depicting him as a leader who restored traditional religion and stability to Egypt. The cartouche on his belt buckle was subsequently appropriated by the vizier Ay and the commander-in-chief Horemheb. They succeeded Tutankhamun upon his death and had probably already been exercising real power during his youth.

In 1922, archaeologists found Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings, which contained a wide range of astonishing treasures. Despite its relatively simple structure, the tomb yielded over 5,000 burial artefacts, and is hailed as one of Egypt’s greatest archaeological discoveries.

Saqqara, located near the modern-day Egyptian capital Cairo, was an important necropolis for the royalty and nobility. It contains numerous tombs and exquisite coffins and is home to the largest cemetery of sacred animal mummies. It was also one of the major cult centres of Bastet, the goddess of cats, where hundreds of thousands of cats were mummified and buried as offerings to the goddess.

Bastet was regarded as the protector of the home, and her worship peaked during the Ptolemaic Period. To meet the huge demand for sacred offerings, temples maintain breeding facilities, with priests responsible for the mummification.

There were various burial methods for the cat mummies depending on the financial means of the devotees. While most of the cat mummies were simply wrapped in linen and buried in stacked layers, a small number of them were placed in coffins or statues.

Ancient Egyptian civilisation continually developed and enriched itself through interaction with the world, as shown in this stele from the Roman Period (30 BCE–395 CE). The stele is inscribed with the same text in three scripts: Egyptian hieroglyphs at the top, Egyptian demotic in the middle, and Ancient Greek at the bottom.

Egyptian hieroglyphs began to decline in the Late Period, when simpler scripts like demotic was adopted for everyday writing. Afterwards, Greek served as Egypt’s official language during the Graeco-Roman eras. Multilingual texts like those inscribed on this stele were once common.

This stele was discovered near the Temple of Dendera. It records a land donation made by the local military general Ptolemy to Isis-Thermuthis of Dendera—a syncretic variation of Isis—showing that he sought to use different scripts to tell his Egyptian countrymen and Greek visitors about his generosity.