"For what it's worth, I am glad you were the one to find me".
"I think I was looking for you before I knew what to look for".
Ahkmanrah x Male oc.
Night at the museum.
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The Egyptian exhibit is in the second floor of the museum, situated in the right wing. The pharaoh has a whole corridor to himself. The exhibit entrance is guarded by two towering jackal headed statues. They hold golden spears and glare down on all those who enter, as if to warn you away. Their job of protecting their Pharaoh still lingering from the tomb.
Once inside the walls are covered in many precious artefacts found in the tomb. From jewellery of gold and lapis lazuli, to everyday belongings. Combs hand carved from stained wood. Fans of ostrich feathers, images etched into the gold handles. Aged chests with hieroglyphs encircling the edges. Around these artefacts was dark wallpaper of black and gold designs, the whole area holding a ancient and regal aura. Visitors are encouraged to examine each piece and read the detailed notes. Quotes taken from the journals of the founding archaeologists are emblazoned on plaques by each piece. Bringing together years worth of discoveries and learning.
Ahkmanrah himself lies in the room at the very end of the corridor. His body entombed in his sarcophagus protected a glass case. The casket a beautiful golden artwork designed to recreate the Pharaoh's visage in his true glory. Visitors are able to walk around the sarcophagus to the wall behind it where Ahkmanrah's famous tablet hangs. It gleams a polished gold, as if time has never touched it. No one knows the mysteries surrounding the tablet. It had myths of magic around it. Wether this is true or nor, the tablet accompanies the pharaoh wherever he goes. The two artefacts never parted.
What is new to the exhibit is the photograph of Damien Jean. The famous student archaeologist who first discovered the pharaoh in 1930. Donated by his great nephew, the portrait photograph now hangs in the corner of the Pharaoh's room. It is in full colour, unfaded by time. The image has been enlarged, the space almost like a doorway to the famous scholar's life. Jean is illustrated in his tent at the tomb's excavation site. He is beaming at the camera, leaning back against his desk with the thrill of his discovery. Blonde hair windswept and his shirt half unbuttoned. One suspender hangs down his arm, having slipped off his shoulder. The desk behind him is a mess of books and papers, a blazer hanging off of the chair and a blanket covered cot half hidden in the background. The colours are bright in a mixture of golds and browns. The viewer is able to face the archaeologist as if they are looking through a window. The photograph a rare and humbling addition to the exhibit, humanising the struggle and joys of the hunt for the pharaoh's tomb.
Damien Jean was born in 1907. He was twenty three when he discovered the famous Pharaoh when accompanying a tour round the valley of kings during his last year of university. Young Jean was reported to have been waking down a dune when he distance into the sand. He had fallen through the ceiling into the antechamber of Ahkmanrah's tomb. For the next ten years he researched and preserved the Tomb and the Pharaoh. He died in 1940, killed in action during world war 2, aged just thirty three. His death known as a tragedy that robbed the scholars world of a brilliant mind. Now, with the blessings of his family, his photograph overlooks the pharaoh's sarcophagus. The discoverer able to see the effect of his discovery.
- A viewer's perspective of the Pharaoh's exhibit. New York Times.
