Egypt of the Pharaohs
From Khufu to Ramses II
Born from chaos.
Write the time.
Become light.
In February 2024, the Atelier des Lumières opened a cycle spanning 3,300 years of history. Not through display cases. But through light.
Designed by Virginie Martin for Culturespaces, this creation included my contribution as a scientific advisor. Image selection. Timeline validation. Narrative coherence. Translating Egyptology into space.
Usually dedicated to setting great pictorial works in motion, the Atelier des Lumières welcomes an entire civilization here. History and science combine with artistic experience. The images of ancient Egypt are no longer just documents: they become living surfaces.
The journey spans more than three millennia. From the creation of the world to the great dynasties. From the founding gods to scenes of daily life.
In Pharaonic thought, time is not only linear. It is cyclical.
The story opens with the great pharaonic cosmogonies: the emergence of the world out of the primordial ocean, the Noun. The light emerges. The first deities appear. Cosmic order is established.
The Nile then runs through the route as a structuring presence. A nourishing river, a vital axis of civilization, it recalls that Egypt was described as the “gift of the Nile”. Agriculture, temples, cities and dynasties are organized around it.
Then come the men. A sequence shows the solar eye revealing human figures. It refers to the Pyramid Texts, attested from the end of the 5th dynasty under Ounas: the demiurge Atum-Re generates men through his tears. In the Egyptian language, the term designating tears and that designating men correspond to each other through homophony. A linguistic game that has become a cosmological principle.
The solar boat then crosses the night. The serpent Apophis tries to overturn it. Every night, Ra must fight, protected in particular by Seth. If the boat sinks, the light disappears. The survival of the world depends on repeated combat.
Isis and Nephthys appear as great divine mourners. Associated with the female kite – whose cry evokes that of the wailers – they accompany the deceased until the weighing of the soul. Their lamentation symbolically participates in his salvation.
Based on the decor of the temple of Hathor in Dendara, built under Ptolemy XII and Cleopatra VII, the exhibition evokes a rare astronomical phenomenon: a double lunar and solar eclipse around 50 BCE. A celestial event frozen in stone, invested with dynastic significance.
Gold runs through the route like earthly light. A major source of Egypt's wealth. But above all, a theological theme.
Funerary texts describe the flesh of the gods as gold and their bones as silver. The pharaoh is called the golden Horus. Wearing gold is not merely adorning the body. It is manifesting a divine nature. Jewelry does not decorate: it transforms.
Here, the image is not framed. It envelops. The visitor can remain still, receiving the projection like a film. It can also circulate. With each movement, the details change: subtle fragments, stylized flooding of the Nile, tears projected onto the ground, scenes emerging at different heights. Wherever you stand, the experience differs.
In the center, a column brings together chronological markers and structuring works: a fixed point in the flow. At the entrance, a QR code allows you to download a digital guide detailing each sequence. Immersion also calls for explanation. Science organizes the gaze.
The music participates fully in the dramaturgy. References as diverse as Verdi or Led Zeppelin accompany the sequences, mixing scholarly culture and popular culture.
The opening was held as part of a collaboration with Ubisoft. Two sequences from Assassin’s Creed: Origins punctuate the route: one devoted to the pyramids and the Sphinx of Giza, the other to the temple of Karnak.
One of the major artistic choices is built around perspective.
For a moment, the viewer adopts the point of view of the gods.
Be divine.
Before opening to the public, several recordings were made in the still empty space. On the day of the official launch, I presented the exhibition to the journalists present. The project, begun almost a year earlier, reached its conclusion there. As part of its media coverage, I also presented the exhibition's scientific and educational framework during a program dedicated to education and public outreach.
Special broadcast — Presentation video: watch
The exhibition was extended by a series of conferences and meetings.
February 15 and 16, 2024, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., signing sessions around Mysteries and secrets of the pharaohs (Editions Larousse). On May 1, 2024, a signing session at 4 p.m. followed by a lecture at 6 p.m. devoted to pharaonic cosmogonies and creations of the world in ancient Egypt. On March 2, 2024, from 2 p.m., another signing session. On March 9, 2024, at 10 a.m., a lecture on pharaonic jewelry considered as fragments of the body of the gods. On June 26, 2024, at 6 p.m., a lecture dedicated to Akhenaten and the cult of Aten, preceded by a signing session centered in particular on First steps in hieroglyphics (Editions Larousse).
This lecture revisited the religious reform of Amenhotep IV, who became Akhenaten, and the gradual establishment of a cult centered on the solar disk Aten, in rivalry with the powerful clergy of Amun-Re. Nefertiti also occupies a central place there.
Some encounters incorporated extracts from Assassin’s Creed: Origins as additional visual support. Several conferences were sold out, accompanied by numerous signings and discussions with a particularly attentive audience, particularly young visitors.
The route ends among the submerged remains of the delta, echoing the underwater explorations associated with Franck Goddio. Every civilization leaves traces. Sometimes underwater.
Observe creation.
Witness the cosmic battle.
Cross through dynasties.
A suspended moment.
Born from chaos.
Write time.
Become light.