Take a journey through the Egyptian underworld and discover whether you have earned eternal life, at the new University of Liverpool Garstang Museum of Archaeology exhibition.
Opening on LightNight – May 19 – the Book of the Dead: Passport through the Underworld show promises an otherworldly experience to visitors, as they are invited to shed 21st century pre-occupations and engage fully with Ancient Egyptian visions of the afterlife.
Featuring never before displayed objects, including magical amulets, coffins and papyri, the exhibition opens with a practical guide to navigating the ancient Egyptian underworld and the tools needed to find a way through the night, and into eternity.
Visitors are then taken on a journey through the Hours of the Night, where subconscious fears and dreamlike states come together in a dramatic funerary landscape, beautifully captured Liverpool Egyptologist and photographer, Julia Thorne.
From there, face the judgement of Osiris. If your heart is “lighter than the Feather of Truth”, you can emerge into the eternal paradise known as the Field of Reeds, where an army of magical servants await your bidding.
Garstang Museum Curator, Dr Gina Crescenzo-Laycock, said: “The Book of the Dead was fundamentally important to the Ancient Egyptians’ afterlife beliefs for over a thousand years.
“Its history attests to the enduring human desire for life beyond death, and our fascination with the unknown.”
The Book of the Dead is a collection of funerary texts compiled by the ancient Egyptians. The spells found inside allow a dead person’s soul to pass through the dangers and trials of the Underworld, and to reach the fields of the blessed dead. It was in use c. 1400 BC – c. 100 BC.
Book of the Dead: Passport through the Underworld opens on May 19 and runs until September 13. Entry is free. The Garstang Museum of Archaeology is located at 14 Abercromby Square, L69 7WZ, and is open to the public every Wednesday, 10am – 4pm. For more information, please visit www.liverpool.ac.uk/archaeology-classics-and-egyptology/garstang-museum/
