The Fascination of Egypt

Ancient Egyptian culture continues to exert an unbroken fascination to this day. The appeal of these artefacts lies, among other things, in their great antiquity and good state of preservation, in their vibrant colours, the formal clarity and distinctiveness of their iconography, as well as the monumental impact of even the smallest objects. Egyptian works have been collected in Dresden ever since the early eighteenth century, when the foundations were laid for what is now a remarkable collection including, for example, the Dresden Book of the Dead papyrus, the famous mummies from Saqqara, and the remarkable temple reliefs with representations of the Sed Festival. This book explores the history of the collection and of Egyptomania in Saxony during the Baroque Period, as well as elucidating the Ancient Egyptian pantheon and the concept of the afterlife as reflected in the Dresden Egyptian collection. The informative and lavishly illustrated catalogue section presents around 170 selected works. It not only offers a scholarly overview of the collection, but also sheds light on the royal cult of the gods, private religious practice, Pharaonic ideology, as well as the Ancient Egyptian cult of the dead and the afterlife.