Director’s Foreword

The opening of Life and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection is an important moment in the history of the Michael C. Carlos Museum. As an exhibition, it not only presents new perspectives on life in ancient Egypt, but also celebrates the generosity of the Georges Ricard Foundation in selecting Emory University as the permanent home for the collection. This generous gift truly bolsters Emory’s position as one of the premiere universities in North America for the study of ancient Egypt. It also provides Atlanta and the Southeast with more than 1,500 objects from Egypt that will mesmerize, inspire, and delight audiences of all ages for generations to come.

I would like to acknowledge the remarkable work that has been undertaken by the curator of this exhibition, Dr. Melinda Hartwig. Through the years of the pandemic, Dr. Hartwig sensitively and perceptively selected from the Senusret Collection 165 objects to support a narrative that provides our visitors with a new way to look at the art and culture of ancient Egypt. She also organized and edited this catalog, which serves not only as a record of the exhibition, but the first of what we hope will be many scholarly works on the collection.

I would also like to thank the many individuals and foundations who have supported this exhibition and its related programming. The exhibition is made possible through generous support from the Forward Arts Foundation, the Morgens West Foundation, Linda and Ira Rampil, James B. Miller Jr., Sandra Still, and Emily Katt. Exhibition programming is made possible through generous support from Clara and John O’Shea, Linda and Ira Rampil, and donors to the Carlos Museum's successful 2021 Giving Tuesday initiative.

To our supporters and the Georges Ricard Foundation we are eternally grateful.

Henry S. Kim

Associate Vice-Provost and Museum Director