The ancient Egyptian concept of the afterlife is dramatically illustrated by The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt. Considered the largest group of antiquities ever on loan from Egypt for exhibit in North America, the exhibition includes approximately 107 magnificent works, ranging from monumental stone sculptures of Egyptian royalty and deities to such luxurious tomb furnishings as gold jewelry, ornate coffins, a model of the river ship of the pharaoh Amenhotep II, and a sarcophagus painted with scenes of the afterlife. Ranging in date from the New Kingdom (1550–1069 B.C.) through the Late Period (664–332 B.C.), the works in the exhibition are divided into four sections: the King and Society in the New Kingdom, Tombs of Nobles, the Royal Tomb, and the Realm of the Gods. Also on view will be a full-scale reconstruction of the tomb of Thutmose III, as well as an educational exhibition on the ancient practice of mummification, which will include both human and animal mummies.

On loan from the Egyptian government, objects in the Quest for Immortality are in the collections of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the Luxor Museum of Ancient Art, and the sites of Tanis and Deir el-Bahari.

The exhibition is organized by United Exhibits Group, Copenhagen, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in association with the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Cairo.

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Contributing Family Program Sponsors:
Caremark Rx
CBRL Group Foundation
Cracker Barrell Old Country Store
First Tennessee Foundation
Ingram Charitable Fund
Logan's Roadhouse
Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission
Richards Family Fund
Tennessee Arts Commission
The Tennessean
Union Station—A Wyndham Historic Hotel

Image left: Osiris resurrecting; Twenty-sixth Dynasty, 664 - 525 B. C.; Gneiss, with a headdress in electrum and gold; 11 5/8 x 7 1/16 x 21 7/8; The Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Image on calendar listing: Sphinx of Thutmose III, Eighteenth Dynasty, reign of Thutmose III, 1479-1425 B. C. Granodiorite; 13 x 8 ½ x 24 5/8 in. The Egyptian Museum, Cairo