Flower Gardens, Egyptian Art Lure Visitors

By Lynn Rosen and Steve Giordano:

Now is the time for a trip to Victoria, British Columbia, if you want to see best of The British Museum’s Egyptian collection and also visit the famous Butchart Gardens on its 100th anniversary.

The British Museum’s exhibit, “Eternal Egypt: Masterworks of Ancient Art,” is on display at the Royal British Columbia Museum until October 31. This is the first and most likely the last time these treasures will be seen in North America. Following the exhibit’s next and final stop in Montreal, the 144 pieces will return to a permanent and newly renovated venue at The British Museum.

The artifacts span 3,000 years from the great pyramids to the era of Cleopatra. Arranged chronologically, the exhibit guides you along the evolving cultural, social and artistic history of ancient Egypt.

Just outside the entrance to the exhibit, the museum has replicated an ancient Egyptian marketplace with four stands with displays representing food and housing, cosmetics, jewelry, hieroglyphics and the weaving of linen. Each station has a costumed docent who explains how the displays reflect the daily lives of Egyptians thousands of years ago. Look for the young scribe at the first table who will write your name on papyrus in hieroglyphics.

At the entrance, a guide hangs an audio tour player around your neck with simple instructions on its use. These devices are often complicated and hardly worth the fuss, but this system is a straightforward and extremely enriching addition to the experience. Here are just a few highlights of the exhibit:

• The standing granite statue of Sesostris III, 56 inches tall, is one of the most famous Egyptian statues in The British Museum's collection. It shows the king in prayer with an unusually distinctive somber expression, signifying that kingship was a heavy and difficult burden. Many such sculptures in the exhibit have that 1,000-yard stare.

• The quartzite head of Amenhotep III was part of a colossal statue that stood more than 26 feet tall. It was one of a set commissioned by this king, who outdid all other kings in the size and number of statues of himself. His large eyes seem to look directly through you, wherever you move. He was worshipped as a god in his lifetime.

• The magnificent red granite Lion of Amenhotep III, one of a pair that guarded a Nubian temple in 14th century B.C. Its larger-than-life, relaxed pose is exquisitely sculpted and weighs 5,000 pounds. Its companion is also in The British Museum.

• A glass perfume bottle in the form of a fish. Just 6 inches long, it has bright colors of turquoise, lapis lazuli and yellow jasper. In ancient Egypt, the fish symbolized rebirth and regeneration.

• The splendid golden Mummy Mask of Satdjehuty with a lapis lazuli-colored wig that covered the mummified face of a high-ranking woman. These papier-mache-like masks were made of linen stiffened with plaster and placed over the heads of mummies. This one is in near-perfect condition and stunning. It is one of the exhibit's signature pieces, and appears on many brochures and posters.

• The Book of the Dead Papyrus of Ani's Judgment is one of the most frequently published images from the Books of the Dead in The British Museum. It shows an ancient scribe being judged by the jackal-headed god, Anubis. On the left is the heart, on the right, a feather. If they balance, the dead man will safely enter the Afterworld.

A major bonus at the end of the exhibit (especially if you're visiting with children) can be found in the separate Mummy Chamber, showcasing human and animal mummies. The exhibits include 2,000-year-old mummies of a brightly decorated woman and her sarcophagus (on loan from Seattle's Burke Museum), a 10-year old boy whose body is wrapped but with his head exposed and remarkably preserved, and four 3,000 year-old animals (on loan from the Vancouver Museum).

A costumed member of the museum's interpretive staff presides over a linen-wrapped corpse (not real—it was constructed by the museum's staff, but looks darned human) and explains the rituals and science of mummification. Also on view is a collection of tools and other artifacts such as brain hooks, embalmer's knives and canopic jars used in this mysterious aspect of the Egyptian culture so important for their afterlives.

The museum's IMAX Theatre is showing the 40-minute award-winning movie “Mysteries of Egypt,” which gives an entertaining and broad historical background for better understanding the exhibit.

For many people, a trip to Victoria is incomplete without a stop at Butchart Gardens near Victoria, and that’s especially true this year when the gardens are celebrating 100 years in bloom with a full roster of festivities throughout the summer and into the fall and winter.

The gardens began after Robert Pim Butchart, who headed a company that manufactured Portland cement, and his wife, Jennie, established their home near a limestone quarry on Vancouver Island in 1904. As limestone from the quarry was exhausted, Jennie conceived a plan to refurbish the property, and the result became a sunken garden.

A new “Jennie Butchart” tulip was unveiled in April. It’s a bright lipstick-red, spiky, feathery flower, developed especially for this centennial in honor of the woman who made this happen. Whimsical topiary creatures have been created, and totem poles are being carved on site to celebrate the close relationship between Butchart Gardens and First Nations tribes.

The Butchart Gardens are spectacular in any season. There is a huge gift shop with endless surprises, and the restaurants offer elegant afternoon tea, lunch, dinner and snacks. For information, see www.butchartgardens.com