Noel Halford presents more information about the pharaohs, in preparation to our visit to The National Gallery of Victoria.
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The very first pharaoh is believed to be Narmer. He united Upper and Lower Egypt as one country and founded the first capital city, Memphis. He reigned for a massive 62 years and is said to have been killed by a hippopotamus!
The crown of a pharaoh had the image of the cobra goddess, Wadjit. Only the pharaoh was allowed to wear anything with her image as she was meant to protect them from their enemies by spitting flames at them.
Symbolism was very important to Ancient Egyptians, and they carved well-wishes onto their pharaoh’s tombs. These were called ‘cartouche’ and were in the shape of an oval ring said to symbolise a rope around the universe. Inside the cartouche would be the name of their pharaoh in hieroglyphs - the form of writing created by Ancient Egyptians that is still studied today.
Tutankhamun is often called King Tut. He became pharaoh when he was only nine years old. He is very well-known today because most of his tomb stayed intact. In 1922, British archaeologists Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon discovered fabulous treasures inside his tomb including his golden death mask. This discovery renewed people’s interest in Ancient Egypt, and the treasures have travelled all over the world to places like France, Japan and Canada for people to see.
As an interesting footnote Lord Carnarvon’s U.K. residence was plunged into darkness the very time the archaeologists opened the tomb and there is a suggestion bad luck for the family followed.
When a pharaoh died, before they were put to rest in their tomb, their body was mummified. They believed this preserved the body ready for the afterlife and the whole process took up to 70 days. Their pharaoh’s body was cleaned, and some of their organs were removed. They were placed in special jars believed to be protected by the four sons of the Egyptian God Horus. After this, the body was wrapped in linen (creating the familiar Halloween costume we know today) and they were ready for their journey into the afterlife.
Photos from https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/pharaoh/