The exhibition "Hygiene and Beauty in Ancient Egypt. The Other Dimension of Knowledge" is organised by Aboca Museum in partnership with the Egyptian Section of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Firenze.
Displaying more than seventy objects from pharaonic Egypt, including the sarcophagus of the priest Khonsumes (Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence) and the cast of the famous bust of Nefertiti (housed in the National Archaeological Museum of Berlin), the exhibition offers a visit of archaeological and botanical interest that is unique of its kind. Not only can visitors view superb objects from ancient Egypt but they can also appreciate an intimate and daily aspect of this extraordinary civilisation in the care its people devoted to hygiene and beauty. The colours, freshness and perfumes of the plants and drugs that were used then and which are still known today can be appreciated and studied.
The exhibition is divided into four sections – perfumes, skincare, haircare and make-up – that provide visitors with a description of the civilisation from a historic, scientific and socio-anthropological viewpoint. The aim of the exhibition is to highlight the other dimension of knowledge of the Egyptian people, and unusual aspects of their everyday life which they experienced in a context that blended science, religion and magic, where even hygiene and beauty treatments, knowledge of which increased with every generation, contributed to the aesthetic perfection to which the Egyptian people aspired.
"This exhibition, organised in close partnership with the Egyptian Section of the Museo Archeologico di Firenze and staff members at the universities of Pisa and Perugia, attempts to raise appreciation of the ancient customs practised by the Egyptians, in which the notion of body-care was already well understood from health, hygienic and aesthetic standpoints." (Valentino Mercati, Chairman of Aboca s.p.a.)
He continues, "It was and still is fascinating to enter into the spirit of a civilisation that belongs to us and of which we are to some extent its descendants. How can we not be amazed at the absolute certainty of this people of the immortality of the spirit that continued to exist next to the mortal body in a sort of marvellous, but also mysterious, vital harmony? How can we not remain astounded by rites that have travelled such a distance through time and for this reason still offer the intrinsic significance and splendour of an immanent reality that transcends us and that man, since his origins, has linked to the Sun, the source of life but also a shining disk comprehensible to all?".
Of particular interest are the reproductions of several oils and ointments used by the ancient Egyptians that were made in the Aboca laboratory. These were based on ancient recipes recorded in the Ebers Papyrus, which details the ingredients and methods of preparation. The products were made especially for the exhibition and are on sale at the Aboca Museum bookshop.
The exhibition, which will remain open until 31 October, has also received the support of the Egyptian Museum of Agriculture and the Museum of Ancient Egyptian Agriculture in Cairo, and the cultural association Arte-mide.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE EXHIBITION
I REPERTI
