Harvard Treasures Tour: Re-creating the Throne of Egyptian Queen Hetepheres, at the Harvard Semitic Museum

Members are invited to learn more about the Harvard Semitic Museum’s exhibit of the Throne of Egyptian Queen Hetepheres — a full-scale reproduction of an ancient Egyptian throne that dates to about 2550 BCE.

Staff and partners of the Giza Project, a nonprofit international initiative based at Harvard University, reconstructed the chair to document the ancient workflow that the Egyptians used to build such a masterpiece. Its materials are based on the ancient original: cedar, bright blue faience tiles, gold foil, gesso, cordage seating, and copper. This experiment in archaeological visualization is a triumph of reconstruction—the only guidance came from thousands of tiny, jumbled fragments and 90-year-old expedition records.

A staff member from the Harvard Semitic Museum will accompany us on the tour.

$5 for members. Registration required. There is a strict capacity of 15 participants for this tour. Due to the limited capacity, we cannot accommodate non-member guests.

Members can register here.

Email am_membership@harvard.edu or call 617-495-4544 with questions.