The majesty of ancient Egypt returns to San Francisco with Treasures of the Pharaohs. The exhibition includes an extensive array of over 130 important artifacts, some never before seen in the Bay Area, such as dazzling royal treasures and antiquities offering new insights to the daily life of Egyptian society.
Gods on Earth
The exhibition is divided into six sections that describe the background and beliefs of Egyptian society, their government and gods. The first section is dedicated to kingship, social hierarchies and rites of the pharaoh’s immortality designed to assist in the next realm. Next, the exhibition explores social hierarchies. The pharaohs, considered to be deities and leaders, required groups of individuals around them including high-ranking officials, artisans, and servants to maintain their divine kingship and help the pharaoh rule and maintain the state.
“For over three thousand years, the pharaohs of ancient Egypt sat at the center of a highly sophisticated society in which kingship, religion, and visual culture were inseparable.”
— Thomas P. Campbell, director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Religion, the afterlife and the everyday
Egyptian life centered on the role of deities in daily life and the idea of the afterlife. The pharaohs existed as a direct link to the gods. In the limestone relief of Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and two princesses worshipping the Aten, New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty Akhenaten, we see generations of pharaohs paying tribute to Aten. Indeed, Akhenaten believed himself to be the son of Aten, who watched over the kingdom from his placement in the sky. The connection between life and death is also echoed through everyday objects such as jewelry, cosmetics, tools, and furnishings demonstrating how beauty and refinement also shaped the world outside the pharaoh’s circle. Even the humblest objects possessed an elegance that was also functional.
The golden city
The next section focuses on Amenhotep III’s workers’ community on Luxor’s west bank, known as Aten, the golden city. Objects from this city, known as the Dazzling Aten in antiquity, are on view for the first time in North America. This was the largest known city in ancient Egypt and dates from ca. 1390 to 1352 BC; it was later abandoned by Amenhotep III’s son, Akhenaten, when he rejected Egypt’s gods in favor of the sun god Aten, moving the royal seat to Amarna. The city was only rediscovered in 2021, giving a rare glimpse into a new archaeological phenomenon. The site includes homes with kitchens, a bakery, and an intricate street network. Offering unique insights into daily life, the golden city is referred to as “The Egyptian Pompeii” due to its sudden abandonment and the sense of a place found frozen in time.
The next world
Treasures of the Pharaohs ends with an exploration of Egyptian conceptions of mortality. Death in ancient Egypt was never considered an ending. Instead, it was a time that required preparation and concentration in this world, including mummification rituals. The objects included in the pharaoh’s tombs projected an idealized continuation of earthly existence. Pieces from burial sites will give visitors a sense of what the burials of royalty and the elite may have been like, and what objects Egyptians of that era thought were essential for the afterlife.
Ancient Egypt is often described as a “cradle of civilization” and produced some of the greatest accomplishments of art and architecture in all of human history. “For over three thousand years, the pharaohs of ancient Egypt sat at the center of a highly sophisticated society in which kingship, religion, and visual culture were inseparable,” said Thomas P. Campbell, director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. “Uniting 1,360 remarkable works of art, ranging from monumental granite statues to delicately crafted gold jewelry, Treasures of the Pharaohs invites American audiences to explore the breadth of this civilization, from the apex of royal power to the objects of everyday life.”
Treasures of the Pharaohs was curated by Dr. Tarek El Awady, former director of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The San Francisco presentation is curated by Renée Dreyfus, Distinguished Curator and George and Judy Marcus Curator in Charge of Ancient Art. The exhibition is organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Kimbell Art Museum, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the Supreme Council of Antiquities in collaboration with ALES SpA, an in-house company of the Italian Ministry of Culture, and MondoMostre.
Treasures of the Pharaohs opens Aug. 1 at the de Young Museum and will be on display through Jan. 31, 2027. An opening day talk with acclaimed Egyptologist Dr. Tarek El Awady is scheduled for 1 p.m.
A previous version of this article contained incorrect information, which has been deleted and updated on July 31, 2026.
