Egypt's sunken treasures

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Egypt's sunken treasures in the Martin-Gropius-Bau

The exhibition Egypt's Sunken Treasures took place from May 13th to September 4th 2006 in the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin . It showed finds from the sunken ancient cities of Heraklion , Canopus and Alexandria . The excavation of the finds off the coast of Egypt and the exhibition were directed by Franck Goddio , a French underwater archaeologist . A total of 450,000 guests visited the exhibition in Berlin. It was then seen in Bonn, Paris, Madrid, Turin and Yokohama. Around 2.7 million visitors saw the exhibition.

exhibition

The exhibits include around 500 individual pieces from the 7th century BC to the 8th century AD . The exhibition thus presents a chronological arc from the last pharaohs to Alexander the Great and the Greek rulers to the Roman period and Christianization . The most important exhibits are the approximately five meter high colossal statues of a Ptolemaic queen and of Hapi , the god of the Nile flood , from the 4th to 3rd centuries BC, as well as the Naos of the Decades , a shrine whose inscriptions are considered the forerunners of today's astrology . The exhibits reflect the rank of several ancient cities that were among the most famous centers of science, trade and cultural exchange. Here the millennia-old culture of the pharaohs merged with influences from Mesopotamia , Greece and Rome.

The exhibition emphasizes an atmospheric atmosphere with darkened rooms and sounds from the underwater world. In addition to the exhibits, insights into the fascinating work of divers and marine archaeologists are offered, which are presented on numerous screens in the exhibition. Both the exhibitions and the ongoing excavations off the coast of Alexandria are supported by the Hilti Foundation. A large number of the exhibits in the exhibition can currently be seen in the exhibition Cleopatra - the last queen of Egypt, which is on a US tour.

literature

  • Franck Goddio, Manfred Clauss (ed.): Egypt's sunken treasures. Institut Européen d'Archéologie Sous-Marine <Paris> In: Catalog for the exhibition in Bonn. Prestel, Munich / Berlin / London / New York 2008, ISBN 978-3-7913-3828-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. Focus Magazin, March 2007: "The most visited German exhibition is (worldwide) in 14th place"
  2. "Hilti Foundation: Projects"
  3. ^ Franck Goddio, Manfred Clauss (ed.) Egypt's sunken treasures. P. 51.
  4. Die Tageszeitung, Aug 7, 2006: "... Franck Goddio's exhibition (...) is a perfectly staged sensation."
  5. ^ Cleopatra - the last queen of Egypt. at nationalgeographic.com ( Memento from January 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

Web links