The inauguration of the ‘Queens of Egypt’ exhibition at the National Geographic Museum in Washington was the occasion for a conference by the Director of the Egyptian Museum of Turin, Christian Greco, organized by the Italian Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute.
The exhibition, which opened its doors to the public on March 1st, only a few days before the International Women’s Day, focuses on the numerous roles played by women in ancient Egypt, from legendary queens like Nefertari, Nefertiti to ordinary women in the everyday life of the ancient civilization that prospered along the Nile Valley.
Organized by the National Geographic Museum, in collaboration with the Egyptian Museum of Turin and the Pointe-a-Calliere, Montreal Archeology and History Complex, the exhibition includes about 350 items, more than 200 of which are on loan from the Egyptian Museum.
Before Washington, the exhibition had been on display in Montreal, where it was a great success. It will be open to visitors until September 2nd before moving to the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City in November.
During the conference at the Embassy, the Greek Director, introduced by the Director of the National Geographic Museum, Kathryn Keane, illustrated the significant contribution of the Italian archaeological missions in the Valley of the Queens and of the Egyptologist, Ernesto Schiaparelli, between 1903 and 1908. Those campaigns brought to light the burials of members of royal families, including the tomb of Nefertari, wife of Ramses II and one of the most influential queens of ancient Egypt. The conference also focused on the small Theban necropolis in Deir el-Medina, discovered by Italian archaeologists in 1906, in which the tomb of the architect Kha and his wife Merit was found intact and with a rich set of funerary equipment, now splendidly preserved at the Egyptian Museum of Turin. Ambassador Armando Varricchio recalled the collaboration that links “prestigious institutions on both sides of the Atlantic showing how rich is the longstanding common cultural heritage that connects the Mediterranean and North Africa to Europe and North America, and also the indelible mark left by women in the history of humanity and in today’s world “.
The ambassador also delivered a speech at the inauguration of the exhibition together with the top executives of the National Geographic Society and the ambassador of Egypt to the United States, Yasser Reda.
