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 The airline’s new routes to Egypt are a perfect excuse to brush up on your ancient history. But you don’t have to go that far to feel the effect of the Pharaohs… Europe is brimming with Egyptian relics. Walk like an Eygptian around the streets of Rome and alleyways of Nice
WORDS BY CATHERINE RICHARDS GOLINI
IT MIGHT NOT BE THE KIND OF IMMORTALITY THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS HAD IN MIND, BUT IN EUROPE THERE’S NO CHANCE OF THEM BEING FORGOTTEN ANY TIME SOON. In addition to the books and blogs, and the huge touring exhibitions that do the rounds of Europe’s capitals—500,000 people bought tickets for King Tut in London in just 16 weeks—there are countless obelisks, sphinxes and temples that grace the riverbanks, parks and piazzas across the continent.
For a genuine Egyptian temple, head to Madrid, to the attractive Parque de la Montana. The Temple of Debod is one of the few examples of its kind in Europe, and highly unusual in the world of antiquities in that it was freely given, not taken: the Egyptian government donated the temple to Spain in 1968 when the construction of the Aswan dam threatened its existence. The oldest part dates to the reign of King Adikhalamani, in the second century BC, who built a small chapel dedicated to the Egyptian gods Isis and Amon. Successive Ptolomaic kings who ruled Egypt for 300 years, between 305 BC and 35 BC, enlarged the temple, while the conquering Romans under Emperors Augustus and Tiberius tinkered further.
 Still in Spain, Barcelona’s Museu Egipci (www.fundclos.com) goes a step further in bringing the world of the Ancient Egyptians to life. In addition to the impressive collection (one of the largest in the country) and state-of-the-art technology, the private foundation organises nocturnal visits, themed shows and, for a taste of Tut, gastronomic evenings with typical Egyptian dishes of beef, lamb, cereals and that favourite Egyptian tipple, beer—from June to October reservations are essential. You’ve eaten like an Egyptian, now sleep like one at the nearby Hotel Claris (Calle Pau Claris www.derbyhotels.es) which contains over 400 works of art and sculpture, from the Egyptian era through to the 20th century. Both the museum and the hotel are owned by Jordi Clos, an archaeologist and collector.
Thanks in part to the Romans, Italy is also awash with artefacts. Following the defeat under Augustus Caesar of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra VII, at the Battle of Actium, Egypt became a Roman province in 31BC.
They also helped themselves to a vast quantity of treasures, and size was no object. Thirteen Egyptian obelisks can be seen in Rome—an incredible number given that only seven remain in Egypt today. One of these is the so-called Lateran obelisk, in Piazza San Giovanni, which, at around 32m, is the tallest standing obelisk in the world. It’s no doubt one of the heaviest too, weighing in at least 230 tons. It originally stood at the Karnak Temple, in Luxor, and was quarried in the reign of Tuthmosis III (1504-1450 BC). Fast forward more than a thousand years to the late 16th century, and the ancient Egyptians are back in fashion. Unfortunately, the Lateran obelisk disappeared.
 It did turn up, though, after an exhaustive search; it was found smashed into three pieces and dumped some 8m down near Circo Massimo, in Rome, where it had stood in AD 357.
No records have ever come to light to explain just when or how it toppled—or who was underneath it when it fell. It was finally salvaged and fully erected in 1588.
Turin is increasingly making a name for itself as the home of contemporary art and design in Italy, (it holds the title of World Design Capital 2008), and it also happens to have one of the world’s greatest museums of Egyptology, the Museo Egizio (www.museoegizio.it). A whopping 5,268 objects originally collected by one Bernardino Drovetti formed the basis of the original museum, which was founded in 1824. It always helps to have friends in high places: Drovetti became French Consul in Egypt after his service under Napoleon Bonaparte, and was freinds with Egypt’s pro-Western Viceroy, Mehmet Ali. The Turin collection has steadily grown and now comprises more than 30,000 objects. It includes the black statue of Ramses II, and the Temple of Ellesiya—one of the four temples donated by Egypt in the mid-60s.
 A glut of Tut, perhaps, but there’s no denying the public fascination with the boy king, Tutankhamun. Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum für Völkekunde, www.ethno-museum.ac.at) is hosting Tutankhamun and the World of the Pharoahs until 28th September. Seventy of the 150 objects on display were excavated from Tut’s tomb, including a pair of golden sandals found on his mummified feet and a bejewelled coffin that contained his internal organs. The fascination is given further zeal over in Zurich at the Toni-Areal museum (www.tutausstellung.com) where a life-size recreation of his tomb and all the treasures that it contained is drawing the crowds.
For one of the few pyramid structures in Europe, head to the village of Falicon, which is north of Nice. At only 3m, its diminutive size might not measure up to the great Egyptian structures, but the Ratapignata Pyramid, in France, makes up for this by being shrouded in mystery. Discovered in 1804 by Domenico Rossetti, the locals were soon renting out ladders for the more intrepid tourist to ascend and descend—the pyramid sits on top of a 50m deep cave. The seven steps that lead from the structure to the cave might correspond to the seven ranks of the Mithraic Mysteries, a late-Roman religious practice. Other theories suggest the pyramid was constructed by Roman Legionnaires involved in an Egyptian cult, or that it is the burial tomb of an Egyptian dignitary. Whatever its origins, you’d be advised not to let curiosity get the better of you—getting in is relatively easy.
Getting out, without the emergency services is practically impossible! You have been warned.
The Egyptians were experimenting with mummification as early as 3000 BC, but it was Herodotus who first wrote a detailed account of the process (by then perfected) some 2500 years later.
The embalmers removed the internal organs (except the heart) of a cleansed body via an incision in the left of the abdomen or near the groin. The brain was drained, liquified with the aid of an iron hook, and it usually came out through a hole punched above the nostrils.
The mummy-to-be was packed inside and out with natron—a naturally occurring salt—and left for 40 days to dry. Once dessicated, and before being wrapped in linen, the body entered the House of Beauty where it was stuffed, perfumed and coloured: yellow for women, red for men. You got what you paid for in Ancient Egypt: the wealthy had the full service; the poor, in contrast, were purged of their .
BERLIN: Ägyptisches Museum Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (in Leiden, 30-minute from central Amsterdam)
LONDON: The British Museum
PARIS: The Louvre
MUNICH: Ägyptisches Museum
BOLOGNA: Museo Civico Archeologico (1 hour from Rimini)
FLORENCE: Musei Archeologici (fly to Pisa)
ROME: Gregorian Egyptian Museum, Vatican
WARSAW: Muzeum Narodowe
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