CaixaForum Zaragoza discovers the hidden history behind the pharaohs of Egypt

The director of CaixaForum Zaragoza, Ricardo Alfós, and the curator of the Department of Egypt and Sudan of the British Museum and chief curator of the exhibition, Marie Vandenbeusch, inaugurated via streaming 'Pharaoh. King of Egypt'.

As part of its cultural programme, the "la Caixa" Foundation pays special attention to the great cultures of the past. The mission of these exhibitions is to show the public the different ways in which men and women from different places and periods have confronted the great universal questions, as well as to broaden perspectives on the world based on the most recent historical and archaeological research.

On this occasion, this exhibition, co-organised by the "la Caixa" Foundation and the British Museum as part of their strategic agreement, offers a unique opportunity to approach this millenary culture through the figure of the pharaohs.

'Pharaoh. King of Egypt' explores the symbolism and ideology of the Egyptian monarchy, while attempting to reveal the stories behind the objects and images left behind by this ancient civilisation.

Hundreds of gods were worshipped in ancient Egypt, and all were believed to be linked to the pharaoh. Ancient myths explain that, before the first pharaoh, Egypt had been ruled by the gods. As high priests, the pharaohs oversaw the construction of grandiose temples for the celebration of rituals. Royal burials, under the pyramids or in the Valley of the Kings, were intended to ensure the pharaoh's rebirth as Osiris, lord of the underworld or world of the dead.

Alongside this divine nature, the pharaoh was also often depicted as a bold warrior or a genius of military strategy, ruthless against his enemies. He commanded armies with the mission of maintaining internal peace and expanding the frontiers. However, Egypt suffered numerous painful defeats, including against the Roman and Nubian armies. Despite its role as lord of the Two Lands, the link between the north and south of Egypt, the Pharaohs were unable to avoid serious internal tensions. Egypt experienced several civil wars and was conquered by foreign powers or ruled by different rulers vying for power.

Through statues and monuments, the pharaohs carefully constructed their identities, projecting an idealised image of themselves either as mighty warriors, protectors of Egypt against its enemies, or as fervent worshippers of the gods, intermediaries between themselves and the rest of humanity. Behind these representations of kingship, however, the reality was much more complex. Not all the country's rulers were male, nor were they all Egyptians, such as the Macedonian king and ruler Alexander the Great. There are also records of regicide conspiracies and even coups d'état.

Regardless of their origin, or whether they were male or female, Egyptian monarchs defined themselves by adopting royal symbols. For example, they inscribed their names on cartouches, or wore on their foreheads the ureo, a figure of an upright cobra. While some pharaohs were venerated - such as Thutmose III, who brought about the maximum extension of the Egyptian empire, or Amenhotep I, who was worshipped as a god after his death - others were condemned to oblivion. This was the case with Akhenaten, who caused a profound religious upheaval by introducing the cult of the solar disc of the Aten as the sole national god.

Divided into nine areas, the exhibition examines the figure of the Egyptian monarch from all points of view: as a divine being, situated at the centre of the social structure, around whom symbols and beliefs are articulated that go beyond earthly existence; in his palace life, surrounded by his family; as a ruler and as a warrior, and even highlights the fact that the origin of the pharaohs was not always Egyptian.

The exhibition presents 137 highlights from the British Museum's Egyptian collection, which holds one of the most important Egyptian collections in the world and provides the most comprehensive global picture of ancient Egypt.

The objects on display provide an insight into the multiple skills of ancient Egyptian artists, and are a testament to the image that the pharaoh wanted to be conveyed of himself.

The exhibition shows the faces of the pharaohs, which are striking in their seriousness, scenes of coronations in which they are surrounded by gods in an explosion of joy, and stelae in which they are seen with their arms crossed - a posture associated with Osiris - and in turn transformed into gods. Alongside the fascinating presence of the works of art, the texts allow us to reconstruct the context in which they were created, and introduce us to the scenes of the life of the pharaohs: the temple, the palace, festivals, memory, ways of legitimising and transmitting power, the afterlife...

Visitors can discover a selection of monumental statues, stone reliefs from ancient temples, papyri, jewellery and ritual objects. Several unique pieces stand out: the figure of the falcon god Re-Haractes, an impressive head of Pharaoh Thutmose III in green limolite, slabs from the palace of Ramses III and a marble bust of Alexander the Great.

The exhibition also presents less common objects: the coloured inlays used to decorate the palace of a pharaoh; the missives engraved in cuneiform script on clay tablets that attest to the intense diplomatic activity between Egypt and Babylon during the 18th dynasty; the wooden bow of one of the pharaoh's military commanders; a papyrus that records a trial for stealing from a temple, or the images of Nubian, Greek and Roman rulers who acted as pharaohs.

Accompanying the works, the exhibition includes three audiovisual pieces: two videos and an interactive. The first of the videos presents the geography of ancient Egyptian civilisation, while the second explores in depth the evolution of royal tombs in ancient Egypt. The interactive 'King's List' represents an Egyptian carved stone - with an actual length of 5 metres - incised and incomplete. This piece aims to show visitors how the pharaohs built their legitimacy by linking themselves to some of their predecessors and choosing to leave others aside.

The exhibition will be followed by a programme of activities to complement the visit to the exhibition, such as a series of lectures entitled 'Stories of the Nile', given by the Egyptologist David Rull. Within this framework, there will also be guided tours, family visits and a conference designed for the whole family, with the archaeologist Núria Roselló.

As usual, the exhibition will be complemented by a publication by "la Caixa" and the British Museum, coordinated by the curator, Marie Vandenbeusch.

'Pharaoh. King of Egypt' was shown between 2011 and 2013 in an initial version in several cities in the United Kingdom. Subsequently, the list of objects included in the exhibition and the themes it covered were extended for its international exhibition. The exhibition arrives at CaixaForum Zaragoza after visiting cultural centres in Barcelona, Madrid, Girona, Seville, Tarragona and Santiago de Compostela.

This collaboration is the result of the desire of both institutions to promote knowledge through the organisation of major exhibition projects, presented jointly from the British collections.

In September 2015, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the British Museum, Sir Richard Lambert, and the Deputy Director General of the "la Caixa" Foundation, Elisa Durán, signed a collaboration agreement between the two institutions for the coming years. The commitment intensified a historic relationship of entente between these two institutions, which have been working together for decades. The British Museum has always been one of the leading lenders in the exhibitions that the "la Caixa" Foundation has dedicated to the great cultures of the world.

This ambitious agreement is part of the line of action promoted by the "la Caixa" Foundation in recent years to establish strategic alliances with major cultural institutions around the world in order to intensify its cultural action and promote synergies between different leading international institutions.