Vezető a Déri Múzeum kiállításaihoz (Debrecen, 1978)

English Summary

Next day was formed the Temporary National Goverment and with one of its first order — repartition of land — it performed the long-felt want of the landless peasantry. The last part of the exhibition shows the heavy way, as a result of which Debrecen became a socialist town and important centre of East-Hungary at present. THE EGYPTIAN, GREEK AND ROMAN COLLECTIONS Egypt is one of the first great river-cultures of mankind. The yearly flood of the river Nile brought Fertility to the fields. The regulation of the flood and the irrigation needed a central directing all over the valley of the Nile. At the beginning of the 3rd millennium B. C. two independent monarchies had been formed, Upper-Egypt at the inner reaches and Lower-Egypt at the delta of the Nile. They were united in 2900 B. C. In the Ancient Empire the Pharaoh was the first man of the state having absolute control over everything. The outstanding examples of the organization of the country and the power of the Pharaohs are the pyramids. After the first transitional period the strengthening of the central power in the Middle-Empire brought about the flourishing of arts. Excellent works of literature and of fine arts were born. The third flourishing of Egyptian arts took place in the New-Empire. The major part of the displayed objects come from the most oustanding period of the late epoch, from the sais period: Head of a Pharaoh, Scrivener, the god Bes. The latter was the god of muhsic and dance and was honoured as a preventive as well. The two mummy-cases, the most characteristic objects of the Egyptian funeral cult, are placed in the middle of the hall. According to their faith the body had to remain in a good condition of preservation to live on the other world, therefore they tried to secure them from destruction by embalming them. In the course of this procedure the soft parts were taken out from the corpse, which was steeped in a natron bath, then they twisted it into a bandage air-conditioned by tar and resin, and then they generally put it in a wood-coffin having the form of a man. The most valuable part of the Egyiptian material is a collection of hitting, cutting and thrusting weapons from the days of the Middle and New Empires, (vitriné 1.) The other parts of the collection are connected with the funeral cult almost without exception: rags of mumy-bandage, tops of Kanopus pots, a dsed column symbolizing the spine of Osiris, a votive statuette, a death bird with the head of a man, an Apis bull, an African cobra, a Horus falcon and Osiris and Isis wirth Horus. In the bottom of the vitriné three burialstones (stele) made of limestone, can be seen. Their form is a standing rectangle chamfered arched on the top of them. Their depictings are the usual scenes: the dead man is sitting with the sacrificial table in front of him, on which the heaped pots and foods are placed above each other demonstrating 407