Many of the objects in the Museum's Egyptian Gallery are organized around religious themes like Egyptian Gods, Egyptian Mythology, and Mummy Magic. In addition, miniaturized dioramas are used to bring the ancient beliefs to life. The dioramas, which illustrate Egyptian beliefs about the afterlife, are based on ones originally created for the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois.
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One diorama is called The Embalmer's Art: Mummy, Myth, Magic (see photos above). It shows a large embalmer's workshop at the end of the New Kingdom. As time went on more and more people were mummified, and the process must have become like an assembly line. But mummification involved more than just embalming; it was primarily a religious ritual that re-enacted the myth of Osiris, a legendary king who was murdered and dismembered by his evil brother Seth. Osiris was later re-assembled, wrapped with bandages, and magically revived to become the ruler of the dead. Similarly, each Egyptian man and woman hoped to become an "Osiris" in the next life through the process of mummification.
Another diorama is called The Judgment of the Dead (see photo above). It illustrates the process that the Egyptians believed everyone had to undergo in order to enter the Netherworld, a blissful afterlife located beneath the earth. In this scene Osiris, the lord of the Netherworld, is shown overseeing the Judgment from his throne beneath a canopy in the Hall of Judgment. He is attended by the goddesses Isis and Nephthys. The deceased woman has just passed the test, and will now be permitted to enter the world of the blessed dead.
The core of the Museum's Egyptian collection was formed in 1878 when Bishop William Henry Benade (1816-1905), Chancellor of the Academy of the New Church, was travelling abroad. Benade bought about 1,300 (mostly small) artifacts from an Italian Egyptologist named Rodolfo V. Lanzone, of the Egyptian Museum in Turin. At this time Benade wrote to a friend, "these things will make the beginning of a Museum for the Academy." Benade was interested in the objects because of their religious significance; the collection was comprised mainly of bronze statuettes of gods and goddesses and a wide variety of magical amulets.
Most of the Museum's larger objects were purchased in the 1920s and 30s by Raymond Pitcairn, and later donated to the Academy. These pieces include both reliefs and sculpture in the round. Some exceptional objects include an Old Kingdom "spirit" door from the tomb of a priest of King Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid; a collosal head of a Ptolemaic Period priest named Horemheb, who may have been an Egyptian saint; and an extremely well-preserved granite libation bowl of the New Kingdom. The libation bowl was used for pouring out liquid offerings to the gods in a religious ritual. It features a beautifully sculpted figure of a woman kneeling over a small offering table carved into the bowl's rim. The Egyptians believed that by presenting such offerings they were not only increasing the presence of gods with men, but also keeping their dangerous side at a distance.