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California Museum: Little Known Egyptian Jewel

Ever wonder where you would find the largest public display of Egyptian antiquities on the Pacific Coast? Many people might wrongly guess the Getty Museum or the LA County Museum. To find this impressive jewel of ancient Egyptian antiquities, one must look in a quiet, tree-lined residential section of San Jose and follow the signs to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum and Planetarium.

Located on the corner of Park and Naglee Avenues (just a few minutes from Routes 880, 101, 17, 280 and 680), the Museum is housed in the largest of a 15 building complex that also includes a peaceful park, meditation pond, fountains and the occasional reproduction of well-known monumental sculptures. The building housing the Museum is tastefully patterned on the religious architecture of the 5th Dynasty under King Neuserre with its massive pylon walls, dramatic peristyle court and massive bronze doors.

Inside, one finds four spacious and well designed galleries loosely arranged around four broad categories: Mummies; Funerary Practices; Akhenaten and Tel El Amarna; and Varia (includes Pottery, Jewelry and Coptic Textiles).

Walk-Through Rock Tomb

The Museum boasts the hemisphere's only full-sized reproduction of an Egyptian Rock Tomb. The Tomb is based on one of 15 discovered at Beni Hasan, 171 miles south of Cairo, and dates to 2000-1788 BC. Visitors are free to wander through the Museum's tomb. Walking through the various chambers and corridors, one is easily impressed with both the sincere regard that the Egyptians had for their dead as well as the ardent faith they had in an afterlife.

Also on display are several other replicas of masterworks of Egyptian art history, including Tut's gold-gilded sarcophagus (original in Egypt), Queen Nefertiti's beautifully preserved bust (Original in the Berlin Museum) and the Rosetta Stone (original in the British Museum) among others.

Beyond the replicas, however, the Museum is home to a wide variety of smartly displayed Egyptian antiquities. They range from delicately carved scarabs and amulets a few centimeters in length to several full-sized sarcophagi and a partially unwrapped priest mummy. Don't miss the fantastic pale-green Romano-Egyptian mosaic glass bracelet (Gallery D), the rare baboon mummy (Gallery A), and the display of Egyptian gods and goddesses (Gallery B).

Intimate Experience

The Rosicrucian Museum offers the visitor comfortable yet spacious galleries. It seems to resonate with a fresh energy that provides visitors with an intimate, unpretentious experience.

Beginning in the Spring of 1997 the Museum will begin reorganizing many of its items along more specific thematic lines. This will no doubt enhance an already highly enjoyable experience.

Hours

Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum
1342 Naglee Ave,
Entrance on Park Avenue between Naglee and Randol with ample free parking at Naglee and Chapman.
Tuesday-Friday, 10 AM - 4:30 PM
Saturday and Sunday, 11 AM- 5:30 PM
Closed Mondays
$9 adults;
$7 students and seniors;
$5 children 5 - 10;
children under 5 free.
($1.00 discount offered on general admission for members of AAA, KQED, and military with ID.)
(408) 947-3600
http://www.egyptianmuseum.org

Current events and schedules may always be found at
http://www.egyptianmuseum.org/calendar/.