A replica of the decoration of the sarcophagus chamber in Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings (KV 62) introduces the visitors to the Egyptian Gallery. The wall paintings reflect the most characteristic feature of the Egyptian civilisation – the hope of eternal life. They represent the most important motifs connected with the king’s rebirth: the Opening of the Mouth ceremony which revivified his mummy; his admission by the gods to the Western Land – the world of the dead ruled by Osiris; the barque of the sun god journeying in an eternal cycle through heavens and underworld, with a scarab symbolising the revivifying sun (and the hope for rebirth of the dead king).

This replica of the burial chamber of Tutankhamun was once made by Dr. Abdel Ghaffar Shedid and is a gift from the State Museum of Egyptian Art in Munich.