If today’s world is bumming you out, take heart: from later this year, you’ll be able to travel 3,200 years into the distant past at a spectacular exhibition of ancient Egyptian treasures. If, that is, you’re within striking distance of one of the five cities lucky enough to be visited by a new blockbuster exhibition named ‘Ramses and the Pharaohs’ Gold’.
The touring show has been announced by Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, which has the final sign-off on ancient Egyptian artifacts leaving the country of their origin, and will tour the world from November 2021 until January 2025.
According to Al-Monitor, the exhibition will start in the US, arriving at the Houston Museum of Natural Science in Houston. It’ll land on the west coast at the De Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco, and the east at The Saunders Castle at Park Plaza, Boston.
The show will then journey across the Atlantic to an as-yet-unnamed exhibition centre in London, before finishing at the Grande Halle de La Villette in Paris. Each city will host the exhibition for around six months.
‘Ramses and the Pharaohs’ Gold’ will focus on the ancient Egyptian royal dynasties and their relationship with the shiny yellow stuff. A similar show previously appeared for almost a year at the Völklinger Ironworks cultural centre in Völklingen, Germany. It included a solid-gold statue of the pyramid-building pharaoh Khafre, golden necklaces, coins and even an ancient perfume bottle among the 170 artifacts on show, making it even larger than the last major international Egyptian exhibition, ‘Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh’.
Exact dates and ticket information for the exhibition tour are still under wraps, but watch this space for more news. This is likely the biggest Egyptian exhibition you’ll see outside the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum, due to finally open in Giza this year.
Missing museums? Check out these genuinely great virtual museum tours for a dose of art and culture.