treasure of ramses curse of the pharaohs

“We partnered with the Egyptian government and their antiquities council and made an arrangement to take the artefacts on a tour,” says Peter Hall, operations manager for World Heritage. “In our agreement, we share proceeds from the exhibition to fund current research and excavations and conservation efforts at archaeological sites in Egypt.” The exhibition itself is pricey enough ($35 for adults), and the ride costs a separate $20 fee. Hall says he cannot reveal how many visitors have taken the ride the museum projects a total of about 300,000 visitors to the exhibition by the time it closes, making it one of the de Young’s most popular exhibitions in the past decade.Īt the museum, the exhibition was shepherded by Renée Dreyfus, its longtime curator of ancient art. “I admit, he could be a little vain at times.” Then we zip to the magnificent tomb he built for her, with chambers upon chambers decorated with colourful hieroglyphs. The chair tilts and shakes just enough to give you a sense of moving through space with her, and certain smells are at times released.Ī still from 'Ramses & Nefertari: Journey to Osiris' Courtesy World Heritage Exhibitions and Neonīoth the exhibition and the VR experience have been put together by the Florida-based World Heritage Exhibitions, whose parent company is Singapore-based Neon. “Ramses built this temple as a monument to himself and his grand accomplishments,” she says. Your “guide” on this journey is an animated Nefertari, beloved queen of Ramses II, the king who reigned between 12 BCE and is known as the Pharaoh of Pharaohs for his military conquests and construction of cities and grand monuments. In this virtual afterlife, Nefertari can miraculously fly, transcend time and speak English (with a stilted accent). She takes us to Abu Simbel, the temple fronted by four colossal statues of Ramses II. It has been a popular sideshow of the museum’s blockbuster exhibition Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs (until 12 February), which boasts some 180 ancient Egyptian treasures.

Off the central court of the de Young Museum in San Francisco, a large room is filled with what look like mid-century egg chairs-they are actually Positron Voyager virtual reality (VR) pods. Here, after an attendant fits you with heavy VR goggles and headphones, you sit back and wait for the ride to start. “Ramses & Nefertari: Journey to Osiris” is a 10.5-minute VR experience that sweeps you through the desert and monuments of ancient Egypt.

Treasure of ramses curse of the pharaohs