A new Royal BC Museum exhibition is giving visitors an immersive, sensory look at how ancient Egyptians understood death as part of a continued journey into another existence. The feature exhibition, Ancient Egypt: Obsessed with Life, focuses on the classical pharaonic period known as the Age of the Pyramids, roughly 2686 to 1069 BCE, and includes material from the Late and Greco-Roman periods. It spans about 9,000 square feet and features approximately 250 ancient objects. The exhibition is structured around four themes—mummification, the underworld, the grave and the afterlife—guiding visitors through what ancient Egyptians believed was the journey from death to eternity. “It’s basically what an ancient Egyptian elite would have gone through once they died,” said Lisa Marie Wolff, a visitor experience designer at the Royal BC Museum and a University of Toronto PhD candidate in Egyptian and Nubian archaeology. “They really wanted to be alive. They wanted their life to come with them,” she said. One of the most distinctive elements of the exhibition is its sensory recreation of ancient Egyptian burial environments, including reconstructed scents associated with embalming and funerary practice. Drawing on archaeological research from sites such as Saqqara, scientists analysed residues preserved in embalming materials, linen and resin containers to identify ingredients used in mortuary rituals. Those findings were then used to recreate aromas believed to reflect the ancient environment. “We’re smelling just kind of the wider world that Egypt was exposed to,” Wolff said, noting materials were sourced from Lebanon and Sudan. The exhibition also explores the ancient belief in judgment after death, where a person’s heart was weighed against the feather of Ma’at, the goddess associated with truth, balance and justice. If the heart was found to be too heavy, Wolff said, it would be consumed by Ammit, a creature from Egyptian mythology. “You’d be cursed to oblivion,” she said. Another key feature is the false door—a carved architectural element placed in tombs that ancient Egyptians believed served as a point of contact between the living and the dead. “It’s where the living family members would come and do offerings for the deceased,” Wolff said. “They could write letters and ask them for help.” Wolff says those elements help illustrate a broader understanding of ancient Egyptian beliefs. Ancient Egypt: Obsessed with Life is on display at the Royal BC Museum until Jan. 3, 2027.
