Divine Egypt
These are my notes about “Divine Egypt,” the catalog volume from the recent exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Divine Egypt, edited by Diana Craig Patch and Brendan Hainline and published in 2025 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is the catalog publication accompanying the exhibit by the same name at the Met from October 12, 2025 through January 19, 2026.
Because I was not able to attend the exhibit in person, I bought the book to read. The volume is beautifully written and printed, with monochrome and color images and extensive notes and references. The quality of the writing is outstanding.
I’m not very interested in the bewilderingly complex religious beliefs or practices of the ancient Egyptians, but I find the images and objects fascinating, alien, and beautiful. I got much more out of reading the book than I would have by attending the exhibit.
In the past I would have kept this volume as part of my collection, but I plan to give it away now that I’m finished reading it because I’m trying to reduce the volume of my possessions.
Holland Cotter of the New York Times wrote an excellent review of the exhibit, At the Met’s ‘Divine Egypt,’ the Gods Are Eternally Fabulous, with photographs by Thomas Prior.
Rating: Five stars, excellent.