Where are there mummies in the Pushkin Museum? Egyptian Hall of the Museum. Pushkin: sphinxes, scarabs, pyramids. Art of Ancient Greece

Excursions to Moscow museums, including the museum fine arts them. A.S. Pushkin can be held in two formats.

The first format of the excursion is, of course, individual. On such an excursion there are usually from 1 to 5 people present.

The goal of tourists is to get as much useful and useful information as possible as part of a small group. interesting information from communicating with a professional tour guide.

After all, you need to understand that an individual excursion takes place in dialogue mode.

Each guest can ask any question to the guide or guide-translator, change the focus of the program, shorten or increase the duration of the tour as a whole.

Group excursion to the Pushkin Museum. A.S. Pushkin

The 2nd format of the excursion is an excursion for previously independently formed groups of 1 to 20 tourists.

Group excursions are usually more suitable for adult groups or schoolchildren.

In any case, City Voyage specialists use a completely individual approach to organizing and conducting excursions to the Pushkin Museum.

Cost of excursions and entrance tickets to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts for Russian citizens

The main building of the Pushkin Museum of Art. Gallery of art from Europe and America of the 19th and 20th centuries. Department of personal collections of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts.

This price is valid when ordering an excursion 3 weeks or more before the planned date of its implementation..

up to 5 people: 7000 rubles.

from 6 to 15 people: 6000 rubles.

This cost is preliminary and is valid when ordering an excursion 2 weeks or less before the planned date of its conduct.

Excursion services, excursion packages and guide services in Russian for adult tourists.

up to 5 people: 8000 rubles.

from 6 to 15 people: 7000 rubles.

Excursion services, excursion packages and guide services in Russian for schoolchildren and students.

Up to 15 children and 2 accompanying persons: 5000 rubles.

Entrance fees to the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts are paid additionally.

Adults – 400 rubles / 1 ticket. Children under 18 years old – 100 rubles per ticket.

Duration of the excursion: 1.5 hours.

Excursions to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts for foreigners

Excursions to the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts are conducted for Russian and foreign tourists.

Guides-interpreters can work in almost any language: English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, Greek, Hungarian, Czech, Croatian, Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Arabic, Persian and others.

The cost of an excursion to the Pushkin Museum named after A.S. Pushkin for foreign citizens

The information is relevant if you plan to order an excursion 3 weeks or more before its date..

7000 rubles excursion service and excursion voucher for a group of up to 15 people, services of a professional guide-translator for foreign language(all our guides have licenses giving the right to conduct excursions). More than 10 years of experience.

The information is valid when ordering an excursion 2 weeks or less before the planned date of its implementation.

Group: adults or schoolchildren, students up to 15 people.

8000 rubles excursion service and excursion voucher for a group of up to 15 people, services of a professional guide-translator in a foreign language (all our guides have licenses giving the right to conduct excursions). More than 10 years of experience.

Excursion programs in the Main building of the Pushkin Museum in Moscow for groups and individual tourists

The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts hosts thematic and sightseeing excursion programs for adults and children.

Important! Children on excursions are accepted only from 9 years old, 3rd grade of school. School groups at the Pushkin Museum of Art must be accompanied by adults.

Please note that when choosing an excursion topic for children at the Museum of Fine Arts. A.S. Pushkin needs to be taken very seriously.

Museum Gallery named after. Pushkin is very popular among both Russians and foreigners. Professional guides and translators are always ready to conduct excursions in the Pushkin Museum for foreign citizens in almost any language in the world.

Sightseeing tour of the Museum of Fine Arts

The main story is dedicated to the history of the creation of the art museum, architectural features museum complex, its main exhibits, monuments ancient art and the cultures of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, Ancient Egypt and the Middle East.

This excursion gives all tourists the opportunity to see and appreciate with their own eyes the works of art of the Art Gallery named after. A.S. Pushkin.

During the excursion program, the guide focuses on the features of the emergence and development of national schools of fine arts, development European painting in general: Holland, Italy, France, Spain of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Particular attention is paid to icon painting, such styles as classicism, rococo, academicism and neoclassicism.

Introductory tour for children with the Pushkin Museum of Art

Excursion for younger schoolchildren.

Professional tour guides will tell you the basics ancient architecture and art, the emergence of sculpture, graphics, painting and its genres.

Excursion program: Art of the Ancient World

The excursion is dedicated to the peculiarities of the development of art and culture of the Ancient World, such countries as Egypt, Rome, Troy, the Middle East and Greece.

Excursion: The ancient world and its art (Rome and Greece)

The main focus of this excursion is on the origins of the ancient ancient civilizations, the stages of their development, formation and influence on the surrounding world and history as a whole.

An important and interesting thing on this excursion is to consider the features, similarities and differences of the culture and art of the Ancient states of Rome and Greece.

Excursion program: Ancient Egypt, its art and culture

This program is one of the most popular among tourists at the Pushkin Museum of Art.

The excursion examines the stages of development of the art and culture of Ancient Egypt, one of the first Ancient civilizations.

Art of Ancient Greece

In the Greek Hall, tourists will be introduced to the cultural and artistic monuments of Ancient Greece, Mycenae and Crete. During the excursion you will be able to see authentic architectural monuments, which corresponded different stages development of culture in Ancient Greece.

Excursion program Ancient Rome. Culture and art

The subject of the excursion in the Roman Hall will be ancient casts characterizing the development of culture in Ancient Rome, a statue of the Capitoline She-wolf, portraits of Roman emperors.

Based on the study of art monuments Ancient Rome tourists will be able to get acquainted with the features of Roman decorative arts and architecture.

Excursion Art of the Middle Ages

The excursion is dedicated to a very important stage in the development of society, the era of one thousand years. This era extended between all famous eras Antiquity and Renaissance.

Of course, the excursion reveals the features of medieval art of Byzantium and European countries, especially France, Italy and Germany.

They will tell you in very detail and interestingly about the Romanesque and gothic styles, the influence of church and religion on the culture and art of the Middle Ages.

Renaissance Art Program

Professional guides during this excursion program reveal new artistic techniques, a new worldview that appeared in the art of the Renaissance.

During the first part of the excursion, icons and altar images, paintings will be examined famous masters Renaissance in Italy.

The second part is devoted to a review of casts famous monuments sculptures of Italy, such masters as Michelangelo, Donatello and others.

Art of Holland and Flanders 17th century

Holland and Flanders existed independently in the 17th century, as two different states. It should be noted that these were two characteristically different schools of art.

During this excursion, our guides will talk about the main features and characteristics of two great art schools.

The works of such masters as Resdahl, Rembrandt, Rubens and others will be considered.

Development of art in Spain and Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries

As part of the excursion program, our specialists will discuss new styles in their stories. artistic arts, which originated in Spain and Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries. These are the styles of Caravaggism, Baroque, Academicism.

In Spain, these trends are represented by the works of Zurbaran, Murillo and others.

The 18th century is characterized by the works of such masters as Canaletto, Guardi, Crespi and others.

Excursion program “Art of France of the 17th century”

During the program, the activities of such masters are discussed French classicism like Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin. Particular attention during the excursion is paid to French Caravaggism and academicism.

Excursion about art in France of the 18th century and the first third of the 19th century

This program is dedicated to the Rococo style, which clearly and fully reflected court culture the ruling court of France, an era when the art of France had great importance and influence on pan-European tastes and styles.

Excursion to the gallery of art from Europe and America of the 19th and 20th centuries

Sightseeing tour of the gallery of art of the 19th-20th centuries.

The program reveals in detail the features of the development of art of the 19th and 20th centuries, focusing on its main directions: academicism, realism, romanticism, abstractionism, post-impressionism, cubism, fauvism and many others.

Expositions and buildings of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts

• The main building of the State Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin,
• Gallery of European and American art of the 19th-20th centuries. Center aesthetic education"Museion"
• Department of personal collections,
• Memorial apartment Svyatoslav Richter,
• Training Art Museum named after I.V. Tsvetaeva.

Time and work schedule of the Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin

The main building of the Pushkin Museum named after. Pushkin. Gallery of art from America and Europe of the 19th–20th centuries.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday: from 11.00 to 20.00.

Thursday, Friday: from 11.00 to 21.00.

Closed on Monday.

About the State Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin

Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin is one of the most major museums artistic art in Russia.

The exhibitions of the Pushkin Museum of Art are richly represented by plaster casts of antiquity, casts of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

The authentic works of great foreign masters of painting, graphics, sculpture and decorative arts amaze the imagination and fill the soul with real awe.

Pushkin Museum Fine Arts was founded in August 1898, back in the 19th century.

In May 1912, the first viewer was able to visit the museum.

In 1937, the Museum of Fine Arts was named after A.S. Pushkin.

The founder of the Museum of Art named after A.S. Pushkin is Ivan Vladimirovich Tsvetaev, he was also the first director of the museum.

State Museum of Fine Arts named after. A. S. Pushkin or, as it is more often called, the Pushkin Museum is one of the most significant museums in Moscow, which has collected within its walls a large collection of works of foreign art from ancient world to the present day.

The Pushkin Museum opened its doors for the first time on May 31, 1912. The inspirer and first director was Moscow University professor Ivan Vladimirovich Tsvetaev. The initial collection was formed from copies of ancient sculptures and mosaics from the University Cabinet fine arts and genuine antiquities purchased from the famous Egyptologist V.S. Golenishcheva. Later, the halls were replenished with paintings transferred from other museums and works of art from private collections donated or confiscated after the revolution. Today, the Pushkin Museum’s collection includes more than 670,000 exhibits, of which only 1.5% are available for inspection.

Under the jurisdiction of the Pushkin Museum. Pushkin is a whole museum town located in the historical center of Moscow near the Kropotkinskaya metro station. It includes several buildings, including:

• Main building
• Gallery of art from Europe and America of the 19th-20th centuries.
• Department of Personal Collections
• Museum-apartment of Svyatoslav Richter
• Center for Aesthetic Education "Museion"
• Educational Art Museum named after. I.V. Tsvetaeva
• House of graphics

The main building is an architectural monument with a powerful colonnade and a glass roof, built 100 years ago specifically for the museum.

The exhibition here is located on two floors. The first contains genuine rarities of Ancient Egypt, ancient times, golden treasures of Ancient Troy from the excavations of archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, paintings by European masters of the 8th-18th centuries, there are Greek and Italian courtyards - large spaces with cast sculptures. On the second floor, many rooms are devoted to copies of art objects from Ancient Greece, Rome, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. In addition, original paintings by European artists are exhibited here.

Egyptian Hall- one of the world's best collections of authentic objects from the times of Ancient Egypt: mummies, sarcophagi, masks, figurines, jewelry and vessels.

Wooden sarcophagus of the nobleman Mahu, holder of a plot of land of the Temple of Amun:

Amenhotep and Rannai - priest and priestess of the god Amun:

Sarcophagus and mummy of Khor-Kha. On foreground– cat mummy:

The next room is dedicated to the art of the Ancient Near East.

Figurine of an adorant from Northern Mesopotamia. Adorant is a figurine made of stone or clay that was placed in a temple so that it would pray for the person who placed it.

Halls of ancient art with a collection of Greek vases and amphorae, mosaics, sculptures and reliefs of Ancient Italy, Cyprus and Rome.

Antefix – ceramic tile with the Gorgon Medusa mask:

Items from the excavations of Panticapaeum - the capital of the Chimerian Bosporus:

The theme of antiquity continues in the Greek Courtyard, a large hall filled with casts of famous ancient Greek statues, reliefs and architectural fragments.

Sleeping Ariadne. The marble original is kept in the Vatican.

Another courtyard is Italian, with casts of Renaissance masterpieces.

Equestrian statue – copy bronze monument to the commander-in-chief Bartolomeo Colleoni of Venice.

Michelangelo's famous David. The height of the sculpture is 5.5 meters.

One of the main pearls of the Museum of Fine Arts. Pushkin - a collection of works by Rembrandt and artists of his school is located in room No. 10.

Rembrandt "Portrait of an Old Lady" and "Portrait of an Elderly Woman".

Exhibition of paintings Flemish painters 17th century - Rubens, Jordaens, Van Dyck, Bruegel.

Anthony Van Dyck "Portrait of Adrian Stevens". Flemish master of the early 17th century "Portrait of a Lady with a Fan".

"Ice Skating" by Hendrik Averkamp from the 17th century Dutch Art Hall.

Also on the ground floor, the permanent exhibition presents art from Byzantium, Italy from the 13th to 16th centuries, and Germany and the Netherlands from the 15th to 16th centuries.

Let's go up to the second floor.

The hall, called "Olympic", with casts from classical ancient Greek sculptures.

A copy of the sculpture “Lamentation of Christ” from the hall of Michelangelo Buonarotti. “Great fame and glory,” according to his contemporary, the great master acquired for himself with this work.

Italian sculpture from the 15th century. The decoration of the hall uses decorative elements in the style of the Early Renaissance.

Magnificent Tombstone of the Cardinal of Portugal by Rosselino Antonio. The original is in Florence in the church of San Miniato al Monte.

European art of the Middle Ages.

The cultural heritage of Ancient Italy and Ancient Rome in casts. The masterpieces of this room are the Capitoline She-Wolf, the bust of Marcus Aurelius, and the sculpture “Victoria”.

Greek art of the late classics and Hellenism. The colossal group “Farnese Bull” - the original is kept in the Archaeological Museum of Naples.

Winged Nike of Samothrace and Aphrodite of Knidos by the famous sculptor Praxiteles.

Of course, it is difficult to show all the halls and works - there are a lot of them, you can spend more than one hour exploring the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts.

Photography is free, but there are a few rules: you cannot use a tripod or flash, and you are prohibited from taking photographs at temporary exhibitions.

On days of particularly significant exhibitions, when masterpieces from collections are brought best museums world, queues are forming at the cash register.

Art Talks on 29 topics are held on Tuesday and Friday afternoons and Thursday evenings in the Main Building, Gallery and Personal Collections Department.

Since 1980 in the museum. Pushkin passes annual festival music “December Evenings of Svyatoslav Richter”, concerts are held in the halls throughout the year.

There are sightseeing and thematic tours of the permanent exhibition; you can take an audio guide, its cost is 250 rubles.

More detailed information see on the official website of the Pushkin Museum: arts-museum.ru

How to get to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts

By public transport: metro station Kropotkinskaya, then 2 minutes on foot.

Address: Volkhonka street, building 12.

Opening hours

• Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday - from 11-00 to 20-00
• Thursday, Friday - from 11-00 to 21-00

Monday - closed

Ticket prices for the Main Building

• Adults – 400 rubles
• Preferential categories- 200 rubles
• Children under 16 years old – free

A. VENEDIKTOV: It’s already 10:17 in Moscow, and literally in 2 minutes we have the “Museum Chambers”. And our guest will be Olga Vasilyeva, head of the department of ancient Egypt at the Pushkin Museum. We will talk about mummies, scarabs, and pyramids, and what actually is in this room. For now, I would like to play books with you, too, as before, but now based on ancient Egypt. And my question will be this. What sacred and beloved animal was widespread in Egypt. It was not only sacred, because crocodiles, as you know, were also sacred. But speaking of a sacred and beloved animal that was widespread in Egypt, you can tell me about it by sending me an SMS to +7-985-970-45-45. And we are playing books by Dmitry Meeks and Christine Favar-Meeks " Everyday life Egyptian gods." It turns out that the Egyptian gods also had a daily life. 10 copies, publishing house "Young Guard", 2008. So, “The Daily Life of the Egyptian Gods.” What sacred and beloved animal was widespread in Egypt. +7-985-970-45-45. And I remind you that today is still the day of memory of Vladimir Vysotsky.

A. VENEDIKTOV: You are listening to “Museum Chambers”. Olga Vasilyeva, head of the department of ancient Egypt at the Pushkin Museum, is visiting us. Good morning.

O. VASILYEVA: Good morning, hello.

A. VENEDIKTOV: First question right away, is your favorite exhibit in the Museum of Ancient Egypt?

O. VASILYEVA: You know, my favorite exhibit is those figurines that greet us at the entrance to the hall, unique wooden figurines of the priest Amenhotep and his wife Rannai. Amazing things, and truly unique, because there are very few of them in the world. And I am very glad that our museum also has such things.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Where did you get them from?

O. VASILYEVA: They were found in a cache in the Karnak Temple - this is a huge cache where all sorts of figurines and other things were literally dumped, fragments of limestone, written documents were found, including these paired figurines.

A. VENEDIKTOV: What do you mean dumped? Are they dumped in hiding places?

O. VASILYEVA: Yes, because for safety purposes. The fact is that these figurines are vative offerings, that is, offerings as a gift to the gods so that these people are present before God. This was the god Amun, the main god in the Karnak temple. But when there were a lot of such figurines, the priests tried to preserve them from some kind of encroachment, and such did happen, and they arranged such hiding places. But the safety of these caches was also compromised; unfortunately, they were rummaged through, and therefore, when archaeologists discovered them, such a mess reigned there. Golenishchev managed to acquire these figures. This is Vladimir Semyonovich Golenishchev, this is the man who created our Egyptian collection. And thanks to his skill, he knew Arabic perfectly, he knew how to find the right people, who sold him these valuable things. Therefore, he contacted such “Black” archaeologists, so to speak. modern language who are engaged in illegal excavations. But the fact is that in Egypt at that time, that is, the end of the 19th century, there were a lot of black excavations. And some Arab, we don’t know his name, sold just these figurines to Golenishchev.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Are they now in the museum?

O. VASILYEVA: Yes, now they stand in our hall, as soon as you enter it, right in the display case under a glass cover you see these people standing.

A. VENEDIKTOV: You said that they are rare, and why are they rare, if all the Egyptians had to appear before the gods like this, then there should have been a lot of these figurines.

O. VASILYEVA: Firstly, not everyone, only high-ranking Egyptians had such a privilege. IN in this case this is a priest, one of the main priests of the temple of Amun, his wife, who was a singer of the god Amun. She sang hymns and played the harp.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Is this all in churches?

O. VASILYEVA: Yes, in the temple. And only very rich people could afford to make such figurines. And preservation, you know, unfortunately, few things have been preserved in Egypt. This is especially true for wooden things.

A. VENEDIKTOV: I just wanted to ask, where did the tree come from?

O. VASILYEVA: I will say this later. There was, of course, a lot of wood there, acacia and fig trees, but these things were made of a very rare type of wood. This is ebony, but there are a lot of ebony species in Africa. And this tree was brought from Nubia, the country of Kush. That is, its price was enormous, it was even higher than gold.

A. VENEDIKTOV: There was more gold than wood, at least we know that.

O. VASILYEVA: Yes, so these are really rare things, and they are made with amazing craftsmanship. These are truly masterpieces. If you look at them, they look like they are alive. This amazing property Egyptian portrait. On the one hand, a frozen mask-like face, on the other hand, living eyes that look at you in surprise, and as if through you.

A. VENEDIKTOV: How old are these figurines?

O. VASILYEVA: You know, this is the 15th century before new era. This is the era of Queen Hatshipsud.

A. VENEDIKTOV: That is, only 3.5 thousand years?

O. VASILYEVA: Yes, by Egyptian standards everything, but by ours there is a lot.

A. VENEDIKTOV: I remind our listeners that we are playing the books “The Daily Life of the Egyptian Gods.” And the question was: what is a sacred and beloved animal, but it is unlikely, as they answer me here, the skorobey was a favorite animal, and it is unlikely that the skorobey can be called an animal, but it is also doubtful that it was a beloved one, sacred yes, but they treated him carefully. You’ve seen enough of the movie “The Mummy,” you know. Our listener who asks you a question via the Internet. He asks: “In the Egyptian hall to the left of the entrance hangs a very strange image of the god Anubis. There's a dog's head there, but human body drawn in a completely different way from the traditional Egyptian manner. Tell me."

O. VASILYEVA: As I understand it, this is the first hall at the entrance to the museum. Because if you enter the Egyptian hall, then there is nothing hanging there to the left of the entrance, but the first hall that greets us is the hall of Greco-Roman Egypt, which is already late. This is Hellenistic Egypt, where the Fayum portraits are.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Yes. By the way, he asks about the Fayum portraits.

O. VASILYEVA: Probably this room is meant. There is a wonderful thing hanging there, it is a funeral shroud, or shroud, in which the deceased was wrapped, and it is framed like a painting, that is, inserted into a frame under glass. By the way, this is a Golenishchev frame from those times. It depicts a deceased Roman, he is in such a white toga, and indeed he is accompanied to the kingdom of the dead by two deities, Siris in the form of a mummy, and this same Anubis.

A. VENEDIKTOV: According to the idea, Anubis with the head of a jackal. As watchers of the movie The Mummy, we should know.

O. VASILYEVA: That’s right, this is the head of a jackal. This is the absolute jackal Anubis, and he has a solar disk on his head. As for the clothing, the human body there is also completely in the Egyptian traditions, because it is all turned inside out, there is both a profile and a full face, these images, traditional for Egypt, are combined. But in general this veil is already too late, it Roman time, 2nd century AD, and of course there are already some mixed elements there, they are observed.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Olga, please tell me, I have a feeling that nowhere, not even in Greece, not even in Rome, have gods been so present in the everyday life of people. There were an insane amount of them there. But among the Greeks, you will say that there was an insane amount, but I remember that at school we studied a whole paragraph. There was a paragraph about greek gods, and about the Egyptian gods. Indeed, was it such an ordinary and everyday thing, or was it something so mysterious, mystical and monstrous?

O. VASILYEVA: You know, they are right, and I must say, the Greeks themselves admired the piety of the Egyptians, their devotion to the gods. And Herodotus wrote in the second book of his history that the Egyptians are the most religious people on earth. And I think he's right. I think the Greeks too everyday life worshiped the gods. But the Egyptians tried to sanctify every moment of their lives, and why they had such small home sanctuaries. Because unlike the Greeks, who could freely go to the temple and make sacrifices, this is known. The Egyptian could not come to the temple just like that; he could only come to the first hall, open to common people, but he could not enter the sanctuary itself; only the priest could enter there. Accordingly, he could not make a sacrifice. Strictly speaking, even the priest could not make a sacrifice, but the king made the sacrifice.

A. VENEDIKTOV: The priests didn’t make sacrifices?

O. VASILYEVA: The priests only made sacrifices on behalf of the king. So, an Egyptian must somehow pray to God, so sometimes such prayer houses were built at home, or near temples, and there pilgrims could honor the deity and bring their gifts. That's why it's probably fair, but I think it shouldn't be exaggerated either. There was some kind of folk religion.

A. VENEDIKTOV: About folk religion. Our listeners answered the question mostly correctly: there were some kind of scourges. Let me remind you that I asked the question: what sacred and beloved animal was widespread in Egypt. We gave away 10 copies of the books “The Daily Life of the Egyptian Gods.” These are translated books by Dmitry Meeks and Christine Favard-Meeks from the Young Guard publishing house. Our winners, Lika 567 phone number begins, Lera 465, Vladimir 492, Polina 312, Timofey 068, Lisa 951, Valentina 162, Natalya 910, Taisiya 345, Vera 564. Mostly women, I draw your attention, who correctly answered that they were cats.

O. VASILYEVA: By the way, it is characteristic that women are because the cat is the embodiment of the goddess Bastat, the patroness of women.

A. VENEDIKTOV: I found that about 300 thousand cat mummies were discovered near Memphis.

O. VASILYEVA: Near Memphis?

A. VENEDIKTOV: Near Memphis.

O. VASILYEVA: In general, the center of the cult of this goddess Bubastis.

A. VENEDIKTOV: There is also some city of Benihasan, there are 180 thousand people there. And I found one like this wonderful story that the export of cats from Egypt was prohibited then. It is a myth?

O. VASILYEVA: Nevertheless, the Greeks took them to Greece.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Is this when the Greeks arrived?

O. VASILYEVA: Then yes, a cat appeared in Greece, but the Greeks appeared from the 6th century BC.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Cats, that was the correct answer, we will pause for news, and then we will continue the conversation with Olga Vasilyeva, and you prepare your questions, send them, and I will turn on the phone.

There's news coming.

A. VENEDIKTOV: 10:35 in Moscow, Ksenia Larina is on vacation. Let me remind you that now at this place from 10 to 11 am “Museum Chambers” opens together with the Tsvetaevsky Museum, or the Alexander Pushkin Museum. We will have such a mini-series. Today we are talking about ancient Egypt, a week later we are talking about the Greek hall, and another week about the Roman hall. Naturally, museum staff will come. Our guest now is Olga Vasilyeva, head of the department of ancient Egypt at the Pushkin Museum. By calling 363-36-59 you can ask Olga questions regarding ancient Egypt and the hall of the Pushkin Museum. You can ask, Vadim has already asked us here, there are also questions on SMS. “Is it true that the pharaohs consumed hashish?”

O. VASILYEVA: Hashish? No, you know, this is unknown.

A. VENEDIKTOV: We’ll say this, is it true that they got stoned and brought themselves into a trance, or were they priests?

O. VASILYEVA: No, you know, this is unknown, tobacco was unknown. As for the trance of priests, you know, this is a difficult question.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Why?

O. VASILYEVA: I’ll explain now. The fact is that the Egyptian priests have rituals that resemble those of shamans. The priest falls asleep, has some visions, then wakes up. But these are really very important rituals and ceremonies. But what the priests used is unknown.

A. VENEDIKTOV: That is, were there any hallucinogens?

O. VASILYEVA: Yes, did he take something to fall asleep or not. It's a difficult question.

O. VASILYEVA: You know, Prus’s novel “Pharaoh” is good, although there are some inaccuracies, but really this is in any novel. You know, Christian Jacques, here is his series about Ramses.

A. VENEDIKTOV: It is published in Russian.

O. VASILYEVA: Yes. Although, perhaps, he is also a little drawn out, but, in any case, he is a popularizer and an Egyptologist, so it is possible to read.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Remember, Christian Jacques. Before we go any further, I want to play another one, this time computer game“Anthology of Civilization 6”, there is about ancient Egypt. Let me remind you that this is a computer game, and only those who are interested in computer games play them. The 1C company presented us with 10 copies. And the question is very simple, on SMS +7-985-970-45-45, which commander said: “Soldiers of 40 centuries are looking at you from the tops of these pyramids.” Who said, you send me the answer to +7-985-970-45-45. Who said: “Soldiers, 40 centuries are looking at you from the tops of these pyramids.” Was this commander, unnamed for centuries, mistaken, or was this phrase written to him?

O. VASILYEVA: Why, he said this without a piece of paper.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Did you know?

O. VASILYEVA: Yes.

A. VENEDIKTOV: So, who said the phrase: “Soldiers, 40 centuries are looking at you from the tops of these pyramids,” +7-985-970-45-45.

News broadcast in progress.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Our guest is Olga Vasilyeva, head of the department of ancient Egypt at the Pushkin Museum. Our correspondent Timur Olevsky went to the Egyptian Hall and talked with the visitors, why they came there, and what struck them, surprised them, and perhaps made them laugh. Timur Olevsky.

T. OLEVSKY: In the museum it is customary to talk in a low voice, but this did not stop visitors to the hall from remembering the civilization that arose in the Nile Valley and talking about what from the life of the Egyptians has survived to this day. So the decorative artist Elena from Stavropol specially came to Moscow to visit the Pushkin Museum to exchange experiences with ancient creators.

ELENA: We use a lot of ornamental elements, tableware paintings, in iron and plastic. I know the meaning, but there is no name. They deified animals, and believed that there was a great relationship between people and animals.

T. OLEVSKY: The cold-blooded schoolboy Vladik knows about the mysterious methods of human remains.

VLADISLAV: Vessels where human organs were placed. They did this so that it would be preserved, and they were protected by the figurine of an eagle, the head of an eagle.

T. OLEVSKY: Fincollege student Elena has her own feminine look. She found elements of modern subcultures in ancient Egypt. “By the way, men were different then than they are now,” she believes.

Student ELENA: A lot of jewelry, gold, piercings, it seems to me, come from here, because all these temple jewelry are very popular now. Embalming has also come in our time, all kinds of ladles, dishes. It was difficult for man to explain many natural phenomena, and he came up with these unknown enemies, Basset, the sun god Ra. Naturally, people were stronger then than they are now. This is also related to the environment.

T. OLEVSKY: Ksenia, a student at the Chita Faculty of Journalism, believes that the writing of Egypt is not suitable for today.

KSENIYA: Egyptian gods and, of course, burial rites. I like their writing, but I have never seen such hieroglyphs anywhere, this is such a writing system, but it seems to me that for modern world It's not entirely convenient.

T. OLEVSKY: But schoolgirl Tatyana knows exactly where the principle of Egyptian literacy is used with great success.

TATYANA: They also drew on their walls, it all looks like comics.

T. OLEVSKY: By the way, about the pyramids, sensible Ksenia, a student at a Moscow school, knows something about the contacts of the Egyptians with aliens.

Schoolgirl KSENIA: There is, of course, a version that aliens helped them, and even on the temples there were drawings similar to the image spaceship. In general, everything is possible in life.

T. ALEVSKY: And music teacher Evgenia Mikhailovna just wants to believe in UFOs. “By the way, mummies,” she said, “even in our time they lie nearby.”

EVGENIYA MIKHAILOVNA: What about our Vladimir Ilyich, he’s nearby. There are so many theories, and I really want to believe in something extraterrestrial. I even want, we understand, there were complex mechanisms, but I think without heavenly powers It didn’t work out, someone helped create an extraordinary mechanism, the essence of which we still don’t know.

T. ALEVSKY: But 2nd grade student Ira is not afraid of mummies at all, and has no doubt that very smart people lived in ancient Egypt.

IRINA: The most interesting thing is the mummies, how they were made there, they are not alive, but in general they could do a lot of things. All these colors have been preserved; they were there many centuries ago, very surprisingly. All these squiggles, writing it all out like this so that it all remains in the brain, it’s very difficult. I think they did it themselves because they were very smart, but it was very difficult.

T. OLEVSKY: I’ll add that, according to visitors to the Egyptian hall of the Pushkin Museum with fruits ancient civilization we meet in our time more often than it might seem at first glance.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Olga Vasilyeva, you are the head of the department of ancient Egypt at the Pushkin Museum. Here are your visitors, what do you say? Completely random, as you understand.

O. VASILYEVA: Very interesting. But I very often came across the fact that when you ask: “What did you like most,” especially with children, they immediately answer that it’s a mummy. I immediately ask again: “And from artistic monuments, maybe some figurines.”

A. VENEDIKTOV: Why don’t you like mummies?

O. VASILYEVA: You know, a mummy is also a work of art, of course, but a little different, then mummies were not only in Egypt, other mummies are also known. But Lenin’s example is completely unsuitable here, because a mummy is still a dried body, and here the technology for preserving the body is different. Very typical such interests, and what we really associate with Egypt are mummies, pyramids, hieroglyphs, and sacred animals.

A. VENEDIKTOV: This is a school course.

O. VASILYEVA: I think that this is absolutely correct, because these are indeed elements of Egyptian civilization.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Olya, what do people miss?

O. VASILYEVA: I just started my conversation with my favorite monument, but it’s favorite not because it’s the only one, and I don’t love anything else. It seems to me that it is worth paying attention not only to the world of the dead, not only do we come and see mummies, we also have the head of a female mummy, very scary, but also to meet the world of the living. This world is also represented. He also depicts people on the reliefs. Here we look into the eyes of Amenhotep, Rannai. These are the people who were very famous in their time. Although many thousands of years have passed. It seems to me that we need to switch to an Egyptian portrait, to the faces of Ancient Egypt, and this can give us a lot. Because these are faces that remain in eternity. Egyptian artists were able to preserve for us forever the appearance of these people, these images, it is amazing. Not to mention the Fayum portraits, this is a different Greek tradition. But they took from Egypt this desire to immortalize man in the literal sense of the word, this is not a metaphor. Because the Egyptians believed that by creating a statue, they preserved the double of a person, this is his immortal essence. This is very important, it is very often overlooked, but it is very important.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Is this a portrait thing, or is this an average Egypt?

O. VASILYEVA: In our sense of the word, of course, this is not a portrait, it’s easy to notice, it’s a stylized image, an idealization, reminiscent of a mask, I’ve already talked about this. We also have a portrait mask of Pharaoh Pepi II, an amazing and unique thing too, there is no other like it in the world. There's a strange feeling there. On the one hand, he has a kind of motionless, frozen face, and on the other hand, his features an ordinary person, we seem to recognize him.

A. VENEDIKTOV: They differ anyway.

O. VASILYEVA: Yes, we recognize them, this person, that other one. But the Egyptians still always signed the statue, they tried to be sure, because the name is a very important element. Of course, if the statue is not signed, then of course it could be some person while he is remembered, but as soon as he is forgotten, it is already difficult to identify him. And when he has a name, you immediately read that this is such and such a priest, and we, as it were, revive him.

A. VENEDIKTOV: I paid attention to what the student girl said about cosmetics and piercings. It's really like that, it was special art? Why did she pay attention to this?

O. VASILYEVA: Girls find it interesting.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Wait, it’s not that simple. If it weren't outstanding, I would have passed it by.

O. VASILYEVA: You know, yes, cosmetics, they were used in ancient times, especially eyeliner, and on sarcophagi we see an imitation of eyeliner.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Why?

O. VASILYEVA: This is a special paint, it is fat, a mixture of crushed malachite, soot, and not only for beauty, by the way, but to protect the eyes from the wind, from the heat. Arabs still paint their eyes.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Is this precisely to cover the tender part?

O. VASILYEVA: For hygienic reasons, among other things. Both men and women used it. As for piercings, you know that pierced ears, these earrings, they came from Asian countries. This is the era of the middle kingdom, when there were already contacts with Palestine, with Syria, this is the time. IN ancient kingdom did not have. There were such temple rings on wigs, they were attached like clips.

A. VENEDIKTOV: A few words about wigs. At one time, and I think that many of our listeners do not know, this black hair of the Egyptians is, in general, wigs.

O. VASILYEVA: Wigs, but they also had their own hair, but the men shaved, of course. As for the women, they didn’t shave their heads, they cut their hair.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Is it because of the heat?

O. VASILYEVA: Yes, firstly, the head is ventilated, and I apologize, they somehow get rid of insects at the same time. Plus, of course, ceremonial wigs, this is rather an element of such status. Because simple people When they worked in the fields, they simply tied some kind of scarves, like turbans, and did something. And noble ladies and nobles wore wigs, just like we did in the 18th century, at receptions, or where they went out solemnly, they always wore wigs. And on some statues you can clearly see your hair like this, looking out from under the wig.

A. VENEDIKTOV: That is, they even depicted this on statues?

O. VASILYEVA: Yes, this was noted.

A. VENEDIKTOV: They just showed that it was a wig.

O. VASILYEVA: Yes, that she is not shaved.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Please tell me, but Egyptian collection Pushkin Museum, is it being replenished, or is it not being replenished, is it already sufficient, or is there simply nothing to replenish from now?

O. VASILYEVA: You know, it was replenished the last time, unfortunately, in the mid-90s. Literally several things were bought, Ushepti, figurines of Ushapti's servants, from a private collector.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Russian?

O. VASILYEVA: Yes, Russian. I must admit that, alas, the collection is not currently being replenished for financial reasons.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Is there anything that you would like to add to the collection?

O. VASILYEVA: I think so.

A. VENEDIKTOV: I understand that you want Tutankhamun.

O. VASILYEVA: Why, let him stay in Cairo.

A. VENEDIKTOV: What is missing from the system, what does not make the collection complete?

O. VASILYEVA: Firstly, our collection is complete in some sense.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Which one?

O. VASILYEVA: It represents all periods, starting from the archaic period, the 4th millennium, all sorts of clay vessels, palettes, and so on, until the very latest, to the Faima portraits. This is really very valuable, but our things are small, not very large, like in museums around the world, and we practically do not have the Amarna era, this mysterious period, the period of Pharaoh Eritikai Akhenaten.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Does anyone have it, I wanted to ask?

O. VASILYEVA: There are very few such things, but there is the largest collection in Berlin Museum, in Cairo, in the Louvre, and in the British Museum there are also several. But Berlin and Cairo are the largest museums.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Olya, what do you have in your storerooms that they don’t see, that isn’t on display right now?

O. VASILYEVA: About 900 items are currently on display. Golenishchev's collection is more than 6 thousand. You can imagine how much we have in stock, that is, enough for about three more halls. But we tried to exhibit the most significant things and monuments; that’s what I call unique. But, of course, some things, unique and unique in the world, are not exhibited for some reason. For example, the Golenishchev papyrus with a record of the priest’s travels to Byblos. The Unu-Amun papyrus is so-called, it is known to all historians, because it is literally the only one in the world, and there is no other. But you see, if you put it in the hall, it won’t be entirely clear. It will be necessary to explain, it will be necessary to provide some kind of explication.

A. VENEDIKTOV: What does he look like?

O. VASILYEVA: It is under glass, in such a frame.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Isn’t this a package?

O. VASILYEVA: Of course, this is not a scroll, all the papyri are unrolled, otherwise they are poorly preserved in our climate.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Are they poorly preserved in scrolls?

O. VASILYEVA: Yes, they break, mold, and so on. They were preserved in Egypt, but not here, we have a different climate. We have colossal humidity, unfortunately, everything rots. That’s why they are under special glass, and we have a lot of such papyri in our storage room; only two papyri are displayed in the hall. I remind you that our guest in the “Museum Chambers” program is Olga Vasilyeva, head of the department of Ancient Egypt at the Pushkin Museum. If you have questions, you can also ask them by phone. Now I’ll turn on the phone 363-36-59. I remind you that this is ancient Egypt with us today. In general, there is no need to talk about everything, if possible.

O. VASILYEVA: Better about the hall that interests you.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Let’s ask now. Olya, put on your headphones. Live phone number 363-36-59, hello, hello.

Listener: Good afternoon. My name is Sergey, and I have a question for the guest of your program. Regarding women's jewelry, specifically earrings. You said it's more late period, and it is unusual for Ancient Egypt. You have a mummy in the hall, the head of a woman, and she is wearing an earring.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Ay, well done Sergei, I caught it, thank you very much.

O. VASILYEVA: It’s always nice when you get caught.

A. VENEDIKTOV: We must remember this, as he remembers it. And she with an earring?

O. VASILYEVA: Yes, she has an earring, and there is still a lock of hair there. A wonderful question, but the mummy dates back to the New Kingdom era. I said that pierced ears are from the Middle Kingdom era. The entire history of Egypt is divided into periods.

A. VENEDIKTOV: So this is later?

O. VASILYEVA: Of course later.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Nevertheless, thank you Sergei for saying such subtlety, noticing it, but I can’t even remember. Next question. Hello, hello, are you in live, what is your name?

Listener2: Hello, my name is Roman, I’m from Moscow. I would like to ask Olga a question. Question. I remembered the movie "Pharaoh". There, the intrigue of the film was that... In my opinion, it was a Polish film.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Yes, absolutely, a Polish film. Speak.

Listener2: And the intrigue of the film was in the confrontation between the pharaoh, or rather the son of the pharaoh, and the clergy. And he eventually lost the confrontation. At the same time, in other sources, in particular in popular science films from the BBC, they expressed completely different versions. How real was the balance of power between the secular authorities and the clergy?

O. VASILYEVA: The fact is that this period, indeed according to Roman Prusso, is the end of the era of the new kingdom. Between these eras that I spoke about, there were eras of the collapse of the country, such transitional periods, and then conflicts occurred. This is absolutely true, but there is a little bit there, the death of the pharaoh is not historical, after all, this murder, conspiracy, and so on is not recorded. As for the balance of power, difficulties could arise here, because the Theban priesthood was very strong. And the example of Akhenaten tells us that the conflicts were very serious. But in general, according to the Egyptian worldview and ideas about power, there should be no conflicts, because the high priest is the king, I repeat again.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Pharaoh is the high priest?

O. VASILYEVA: Yes, only he regulates, only he can pray to the gods, no one else. Therefore, this is a central figure everywhere, both in administration and in spiritual life.

A. VENEDIKTOV: You should ask Olga about the museum, otherwise we’ll start leaving now. If you have a question about the museum, here are those who have been to the museum, those who have not been to the museum, it is clear that you need to go. Ask questions. 363-36-59. Hello, hello. What is your name?

Listener3: Hello. Please, a few words about the Fayum portraits. My name is Yulia, I am from Moscow.

O. VASILYEVA: You know, the Fayum portrait, the name comes from the oasis in northern Egypt Fayum, but in general such things are found in other areas of Egypt, not only in Fayum. Their purpose was different. It's on thin boards unique technique, Encaustic wax paints. There is a tamper technique, that is, there is not wax, but egg white as a connecting link. It is believed that these portraits were painted during life, they really look like they are alive, they look at us. Some portraits were exhibited as mummies, that is, instead of a mask, just like a face in order to preserve the incorruptible image of a person. But some portraits, it’s noticeable, they were inserted into frames and hung on the walls. This is analogous to our photographs, our portraits.

A. VENEDIKTOV: I would say posters.

O. VASILYEVA: Maybe a poster, but there was also such a use. There were also some kind of paintings, or icons, as they can be called, images of gods. It’s just not displayed in our hall.

A. VENEDIKTOV: But does it exist?

O. VASILYEVA: It is in the storage room, it is in very poor condition, so it cannot be displayed, but it is there.

A. VENEDIKTOV: But this is not in the hall of ancient Egypt?

O. VASILYEVA: Yes, this is in the Greco-Roman hall, where there is this veil with Anubis.

A. VENEDIKTOV: We are just paying attention to this. Before you accept last call, and, if possible, a short question, say right away that “Soldiers of 40 centuries”, this phrase was said by Napoleon. And our winners, who receive the computer game “Civilization-6” from 1C, Vladimir, whose phone number begins with 506, Dmitry 367, Pavel 543, Boris 673, Svetlana 209, Katya 779, are lucky to go to Katya today, Alexander 659, Oksana 270, Yura 246, and Natalya 221. Let's listen to one more call, if you don't mind. Hello, hello, you are live, what is your name?

Listener4: Hello, Lyudmila. I’m wondering if there are such passes with excursions, how can I buy them, because I’m already 2 years late to buy them.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Subscriptions with excursions in their entirety, as I understand it.

O. VASILYEVA: You know, firstly, there is children's subscription, As far as I understand.

A. VENEDIKTOV: This is very important.

O. VASILYEVA: Unfortunately, we have big queue, they accept applications twice a year, try calling now, but I won’t tell you the phone number to the administration, I don’t remember. The excursion bureau will indicate this phone number to you and explain how to do it. It’s better to know the whole procedure in advance, and there are also subscriptions for conversations in the halls. This is for a mixed audience, not only for children but also for adults. We take you through different halls, including the hall of Ancient Egypt. This usually happens in the fall, in October.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Lyudmila, let’s say in a week, when they come to us in the Greek hall, I’ll tell you all the phone numbers and show them. Let's make one more call, but very quickly. Hello, hello, you are live, what is your name?

Listener 5: Vladimir, Moscow region. Question to specialist Olga about the Fayum portraits. Why are there young faces there, why are there no very old people?

A. VENEDIKTOV: Thank you, Vladimir.

O. VASILYEVA: They exist, we just don’t have such old people in our meetings. In general, there are images of gray-haired, old people, but in principle, this could be an Egyptian tradition, because it was important to preserve a person forever young, youthful, in his prime, this is possible. But I repeat again, such images are known.

A. VENEDIKTOV: Thank you very much, Olga Vasilyeva, head of the department of ancient Egypt at the Pushkin Museum. Our Museum Chambers will continue next week at 10am. We will talk about your favorite Greek Hall. Olga, thank you very much.

O. VASILYEVA: Thank you.

A. VENEDIKTOV: And of course I advise everyone, and how former teacher, come to the Egyptian Hall. Of course, you won’t find there what the pharaohs used, as Vadim asked with tenacity worthy of better use, but will you find a lot of unexpected things there?

O. VASILYEVA: Of course.

A. VENEDIKTOV: These were the “Museum Chambers”. Goodbye.

A year and a half ago, all the impressionists and works of the 20th century were removed from the Pushkin Museum. Now they live in a separate building on the left (formerly the Museum of Personal Collections, now the Gallery of European and American Art of the 19th–20th centuries). As a result, on upper floors A lot of space was freed up in the main building - they decided to update the exhibition. All the keepers had something to take out from under the covers - and, of course, everyone wanted it. Although only two collections could increase significantly - the Dutch one, due to the endless and infinitely prolific little Dutchmen (the great ones have been on display for a long time), and the Italian one, where there is something to add to each century (although names not previously presented are mostly familiar only to art historians, and Italianists at that) . As a result, both were added, but in different proportions. But first things first.

Of course, you can’t change the exposure overnight; the process is long. The halls were closed one by one, repaired and replaced, paintings were restored and taken out of storage. They carried the French upstairs and gathered Rembrandt and his school in one hall. To regular visitors of the museum this is unlikely to seem like an amazing metamorphosis - well, the walls were painted, the labels were changed, new shields were made. But if you remember how everything looked last year, it turns out that everything is the same, but not the same. On the ground floor, only the Greek and Italian courtyards remained unchanged (in the first there was a project for the reconstruction of the museum, and in the second there was a Christmas tree, but this is probably not forever). Everything else was mixed up. The left enfilade is now completely occupied by antiquities and antiquity, which have replaced Italian icons and Early Renaissance. True, the way there still lies through the Fayum portraits, and the “Treasures of Troy,” now included in the permanent exhibition, have long been in the museum under the guise of an exhibition. In the center there is now an entrance to the Italian halls, in the vestibule of which works of Byzantium are displayed. In the hall with Italian Renaissance Cranach and the early Germans are no longer shown. Then, passing the Italian courtyard and passing through the French portico, you find yourself in the northern school (the French used to be here): Cranach, brought from Italy, now has his own separate nook. Further along the enfilade follow separate Flemish and Dutch rooms with corners of Rubens and Rembrandt. Pieter de Hooch appeared in Holland, whose existence no one except the guardians had any idea about. On the second floor, most of the halls are still occupied by copies and casts (unfortunately, they were not touched). But Italians settled in the left wing - academicians, mannerists and Venetian school. A new wonderful Tiepolo, Magnasco and several Veronese (with a school) appeared. Right wing, as mentioned above, was given to the French, who enriched themselves with Le Brun and Lorrain. Overall, the exposure has increased by a third, which is nice. Now Pushkinsky gives me the feeling, like after the Capodimonte Museum in Naples, - as if the history of art consists mainly of antiquity and the mass of Italians, and everything else was just that, little things.

The most amazing thing is that all this beauty will not last long: the museum will soon be closed altogether. TO centenary anniversary(that is, by 2012) Pushkinsky must be reconstructed. The reconstruction project is being carried out by Norman Foster; according to preliminary plans, a huge underground museum quarter will appear on Volkhonka. The ending of this story is unpredictable: until the project passes all approvals, the underground museum can turn into a thirty-story one shopping mall- but we hope this will not happen with Pushkinsky. In the meantime, one unnoticeable reform has already been carried out in the museum’s halls. The fact is that in our museums the principle of inspection is compulsory - thanks to the enfilade system of halls. That is, the visitor cannot see only Rembrandt or only small Dutchmen - to get to them, willy-nilly he has to pass through many different styles, names and eras. Previously, to get into the halls of ancient Assyria, you had to go through the Italian icons, and the entrance to Italy of the 17th–18th centuries lay through the French hall. Now you can separately go to the halls of antiquity or early Italy, or Holland, or late France. Although, to be honest, the museum is so small that if you look at the entire exhibition in one sitting, even enlarged by a third, you will never get tired.

The collection of Egyptian originals came to the museum from St. Petersburg academician Vladimir Semenovich Golenishchev. V.S. Golenishchev was a scientist, archaeologist, he traveled to Egypt with an expedition from State Hermitage and acted as a work supervisor. At the same time, he was collecting a collection for himself. The St. Petersburg collection was collected during excavations, so its objects are precisely dated, attributed and tied to a particular tomb. And for himself, V.S. Golenishchev bought items on the “black market”. Therefore they were neither attributed nor dated. Later, scientists determined the age of the monuments and their belonging to a particular tomb based on parallels with other similar artifacts.

In 1909, Golenishchev went bankrupt and was forced to sell his collection. But, despite the favorable offers from different countries, the scientist wanted his collection to remain in Russia, so he sold it to the imperial treasury for a smaller amount. Moreover, the first half of the amount was paid to him immediately, the second was promised to be paid later, but the scientist was never paid, as is usual in Russia.

They decided to send the collection to Moscow because the Hermitage already had a collection of Egyptian art. As a result, the Moscow collection turned out to be even better than the one exhibited in the Hermitage. It is smaller in the number of items, but their quality is much higher. After all, V.S. Golenishchev tried to ensure that every era, every phenomenon in Egyptian culture, were represented by some object. That is why the collection of Egyptian antiquities in the Pushkin Museum, although more compact, is better than the Hermitage collection. Currently, this is the best collection of Egyptian art in Russia. And it became the first collection of originals in the museum.

Hall No. 1, where the monuments of Ancient Egypt are now exhibited, was specially rebuilt for the collection of V.S. Golenishchev. His collection ended up in the museum while it was still under construction.

The ceiling is supported by columns in the ancient Egyptian style, imitating bundles of papyrus. The entire architecture of the hall goes back to one of the halls of the ancient Egyptian temple. To imagine the setting of the ancient sanctuary, Roman Ivanovich Klein traveled to Egypt, visited and inspected the temples. In particular, he paid attention to the temple of Amun in Luxor and was primarily guided by it. The windows were curtained because the hall of the Egyptian temple did not allow for natural light. At the top, on the ceiling, there is a repeatedly repeated image of a bird with outstretched wings, this is the image of the sky goddess Nut.


The ceiling is also painted to resemble a starry sky.

One of the halls of the Egyptian temple actually reproduced nature on the banks of the Nile, mountains of royal papyrus.
I.V. Tsvetaev specifically asked R.I. Klein to make the hall in this style so that the visitor would not just look at individual objects, but also be imbued with the atmosphere of Ancient Egypt. In addition, the museum was initially planned as an educational museum and its goal was to give students an idea not only of painting, sculpture and small plastic arts, but also of architecture.

About the collection. The re-exposition in the hall took place several years ago, in 2012. Some monuments ended up in the collections, while others, on the contrary, were put on display. Currently, approximately a third of the available collection is represented, that is most of Egyptian antiquities are in storage.

MONUMENTS
Sarcophagus and mummy of Khor-Kha. It is curious that this mummy cannot be photographed in any way; X-rays are never taken. The mummy “does not want” to reveal its secrets. This is the mummy of the priest Khor-Kha, he died in the 2nd millennium BC.

The mummy is in a horizontal display case to the right of the entrance to the hall

How did the Egyptians embalm a mummy? There are many recipes and they all essentially boil down to the same technology: an incision was made in the side of a dead body. This was done by a specially trained person, who was called a “paraschist” (ripper). The body of a deceased person was considered sacred and therefore, the paraschist, on the one hand, was hired by the relatives of the deceased and paid him money for making an incision on the side. On the other hand, as soon as the paraschist made an incision, he ran away as fast as he could. The people who had hired him were now running after him and throwing stones at him for committing such a sacrilege.

Then, through the incision, the insides were taken out, washed, and placed in special vessels filled with embalming substances. Such vessels are in the museum’s collection; they are located in a vertical display case behind the mummy of Khor-Kha, in the corner, almost opposite the entrance to the hall).


All cavities in the body were also filled with embalming substances. The body was placed in “natron” - a kind of soda. Natron pulled out all the moisture from the body and the process of mummification began. The body was dried up, so it could no longer decay. He was wrapped in linen bandages and placed in a sarcophagus.

The sarcophagus of the priest of Hor-Ha is not the best or most beautiful in the collection. The best is the sarcophagus of Mahu.

Sarcophagus of Mahu.

It follows the shape of the mummy, with the tomb tapering towards the feet. A mask was always placed on the sarcophagus, which was supposed to represent the face of the deceased. It is to designate, not to depict. Because regardless of who was buried - an old man, a girl, a woman, a young or old person - the mask was always the same. The face of the mask was painted with wide open eyes, emphasized with black or dark blue paint.

The Egyptians believed that when the soul reunited with the body, it should enter the sarcophagus through the eyes. For this purpose, the body was preserved and mummified.

The Sarcophagus of Mahu is a brilliant example of ancient Egyptian art. It is made of wood, this material was very highly valued in Ancient Egypt, there was not much wood. The black color of the sarcophagus emphasizes the shine of the gilding. The gilding and fine detailing indicate that this is the sarcophagus of a very rich man, made by the best craftsmen.

Undoubtedly, the best Egyptian craftsmen also made wooden statues of Amenhotep and his wife Rannai. These figures, on the one hand, connect the traditions of Egyptian art.

Amenhotep and his wife, the “singer of Amon,” Rannai are priests of the temple of the Sun god.

The Egyptians always depicted people in a frozen pose with wide strides and straight legs. It's not exactly life-like because the knees bend when you walk. Here the legs are straight, the arms are extended along the body and pressed against it. Left hand Rannai is bent at the elbow and also pressed to the body. The rule here is combined with very subtle psychologism. The man's figure is tall and broad-shouldered. He strides confidently, his head held high and open. He is a priest, so he does not wear a wig and his hair does not darken his face, it is brightly lit. He turns his head slightly to the left. He seems to be resisting the rule that the person depicted had to look straight ahead. The figure of his wife is thin, fragile, she minces her feet in her narrow dress, in contrast to the wide step of her husband. Her face is slightly lowered, the shadow of her hair falls on her face. WITH right side the hair was not preserved, but it was there too. A dreamy, mysterious expression appears on the woman’s face. This is exactly how the Egyptians imagined it ideal man And the ideal woman. The man is strong and decisive, the woman is fragile, delicate, mysterious. And this is the beauty of Egyptian art. On the one hand, it has strict rules, on the other hand, within these rules there can be a very subtle and sophisticated psychological characteristic.

In addition to wood, the Egyptians were very fond of ivory, and even more - stone.
Cosmetic spoon. The masterpiece of the museum is a small bone spoon, it is known throughout the world. This is the finest work Ivory. The spoon is intended for cosmetics.

It is a box for storing cosmetics, it can be opened. The box is made in the form of a floating girl with a lotus flower in her hands. In addition to painted and unpainted ivory, beech wood is used here; the girl’s wig is made from this material. Such a thin, elegant thing may have been used in the everyday life of rich people, and perhaps it was ritual. It comes, of course, from the tomb.

A feature of ancient Egyptian culture in the form in which it has come down to us is that objects come not from houses or palaces, but from tombs. This is the best thing that the Egyptians wanted to take with them to the afterlife.

The Middle Kingdom era is also represented here. Egyptian art. The name suggests that this is the middle of the existence of the ancient Egyptian kingdom - the 2nd millennium BC. At this time, special attention in Egyptian art was paid to portrait images.

The sculptures of Amenemhat III are interesting because quite a lot of them have survived.

The pharaoh ruled long enough that he founded the Fayum oasis in Egypt. He was depicted several times, in at different ages, his image can be found in different museums - in Berlin, in the Hermitage. From his portraits one can observe how the pharaoh's appearance changed with age. In the Pushkin Museum, Amenemhet III is presented not as an old man, but also not as a young man. If you look closely, you can see bags under the eyes, heavy, drooping eyelids, wrinkled lips, that is, the pharaoh is far from young. But his head is attached to the body of a young and strong youth, since the pharaoh in Ancient Egypt was considered a god and the personification of Egypt and should always be depicted as strong and young. Therefore, here, on the one hand, there is portrait image, and on the other, the deification of the pharaoh, represented in the body of a young and strong youth, who is no different from the gods.

This is where we can end the conversation about Egyptian art; we saw the masterpieces of the hall. If you have time, you can show relief of the chief of the treasury Isi. ( Relief. Limestone. Mid-3rd millennium BC e.)

There are several relief images of Pharaoh Isi's treasurer. It should be emphasized that when depicting a person, the Egyptians used strict rules. The person’s shoulders are turned to the front, the head has a complex turn. In reality, it is completely impossible to roll the eye the way it is depicted. The person is looking directly at us, that is, the eye is depicted from the front, while the head is turned in profile. Such an image showed that the person depicted was alive, that he was capable of movement.

When the Egyptians depicted a mummy, not a living body, then in compositions dedicated to burial, the mummy was depicted either strictly from the front or strictly in profile. The complex image of Treasurer Ishi emphasized that the person was alive, which is why different points of view were collected. What is considered unrealistic for us, from their point of view was perfect realism, an indication that this is a living person.