Museo Egizio

As young padawan learners at Ascension Catholic Grade School, the Franciscan nuns in charge would have us read the Old Testament from time to time. Some students paid attention. Most did not. I was one who did; for me, it was the storytelling, the dialogue and the characters, with few more interesting characters than ancient Egyptians, like Pharaoh Ramesses II (right) flanked on either side by Egyptian deities Amun and Hathor.

Watching “The Ten Commandments” on television in the early 60s, I was mesmerized by the Egyptians, one of the six peoples to emerge independently in the so-called “cradle of civilization.”

In the 80s, movies filmed in, and about, Egypt -- particularly "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and the early 20th century search for antiquities -- fascinated me.

So it was an easy call to visit the Museo Egizio -- one of the most spectacular Egyptian museums outside of Cairo itself -- housing one of the largest collections of Egyptian antiquities, with more than 30,000 artifacts. In the film “The Italian Job,” the museum is where the robbers tow the security van to transfer the bullion to three getaway cars.

The exhibits follow a path from Egypt to Greece to Rome and features objects and images that traveled from the banks of the Nile River to new lands. The exhibition follows seven thematic areas such as the “Temple of Isis.”

Isis is the primary character -- devoted wife, protective mother and magician -- of the Osirian period. 

As the principal female goddess of the period in Egyptian history, her popularity spread throughout the known world, and prompted the “Cult of Isis” in Pompeii.

The museum features many statues of Egyptian deities retrieved from the sacred temple of Isis.

The exhibition showcases the encounter of different, but ultimately related cultures of Egypt, Greece and Rome, highlighting the relations between these three cultures connected by the Mediterranean Sea. In addition to statues, the collection features sarcophagi, mummies and books of the dead.

The museum was fairly crowded for a Friday morning, though it is the holiday season in Italy, and many were out and about. As long as we were able to avoid the guided tour groups, we were good.

My Canon Rebel, a lightweight digital 35 millimeter, proved to be too much camera with all the lighting and glass in the museum. Consequently, I went exclusively with my iPhone, which turned out to more versatile and maneuverable in this house of glass,
mirrors and lights.