Egypt bans the Museum of Dutch Antiquity from further digging in its necropolises for showing Beyoncé and Rihanna as Queen Nefertiti

Egyptian authorities have accused the Leiden-based National Museum of Dutch Antiquity of falsifying history by illustrating the influence of ancient Egypt on the music of the African diaspora with black artists embodying their past rulers. The exhibition is not based on own creations, but on album covers and other cultural artifacts previously created by artists such as Beyoncé and Rihanna who have been inspired by Queen Nefertiti for several of their creations, a music video in which actor Eddie Murphy represents Pharaoh Ramses, and rapper Nas represents Tutankhamun. According to the Egyptian Antiquities Service, it is an Afrocentric approach and a case of cultural appropriation. As a result, it has banned the museum from further excavating at the Saqqara necropolis near Cairo.

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Titled Kemet, Egypt in Hip-Hop, Jazz, Soul & Funk, the exhibition came under fire on social media in April — in some cases of a racist nature — shortly after it opened. Now, they have received a message from the Egyptian Antiquities Service prohibiting them from further excavation at Saqqara, considered one of the largest royal necropolises in the world. The Dutch experts operate there together with other international colleagues and, faced with this situation, have asked their partners at the Egyptian Museum in Turin to take over their concession.

The controversy is similar to that which arose in April over the choice of a black actress, Adele James, to play Queen Cleopatra in a Netflix docudrama. The idea of the legendary sovereign's alleged African roots triggered a campaign to collect signatures, as well as the filing of a complaint with the Prosecutor's Office and discussions in the Egyptian Parliament. In 2018, Beyoncé was criticized by Egyptian authorities for dressing up as Nefertiti at the Coachella festival in the United States.

The live album that accompanies Beyoncé's documentary 'Homecoming'. Rijksmuseum

The ban on returning to Saqqara seems regrettable to Wim Weijland, director of the Dutch museum, but his team has no plans to modify the exhibition. "We have received that letter and no one has come from Egypt to visit us. We have explained the content of our work in a letter, without getting a response, for now," he says. The aim of the exhibition, Weijland explains, is to show "the artists' fascination with Kemet, which refers to the fertile black earth left by the rises of the Nile and is used to name ancient Egypt." "It's a dialogue between decades of musical history and Egyptian antiquity," he says.

According to Weijland, they have tried to reflect the way black artists who grew up in the United States, Jamaica or the Netherlands interpret Kemet in their creations. "We use this term, but also Egypt or ancient Egypt. Kemet translates as black, although it ranges from dark red to deep black, and some musicians prefer it to the name of Egypt. It is a source of inspiration in the music of the African diaspora." Conservative Daniel Soliman told Dutch media that the Egyptian reaction may be due to two reasons: "Repressed nationalism and racism against blacks in that country, and that ancient Egypt is talked about without including contemporary Egyptians, especially in the West."

The exhibition includes Nubia, a region located south of Egypt that was an independent kingdom in ancient times and the cradle of the first civilizations of ancient Africa. It housed the kingdom of Kush, and museum documentation indicates that, in modern music, "Nubia is almost as legendary as Kemet." One of the examples presented is Prince's song titled Muse 2 the Pharaoh (Musa 2, the Pharaoh). At the beginning he says, "If she could be Pharaoh's muse / She could one day be queen." To avoid confusion, the museum explains in a note posted on its website that a sculpture by rapper Nas (stage name of American Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones) does not reproduce the mask of Tutankhamun. "This is a 2019 piece of art based on the cover of a musical album by the artist, from 1999."

A man looks at an Egyptian bust in the exhibition. Aad Hoogendoorn / Rijksmuseum

Weijland says that they have always sought the balance between history and music, "which is different from operas set in Egypt, or the image derived from Hollywood." Proof of this are the abundant explanations included on the scientific study of ancient Egypt, which emerged in the early nineteenth century. In his themes, Nas not only looks at slavery, but also addresses European domination in Africa. In his songI Can, one hears: "Alexander the Great went to Egypt / and was amazed at the mountains with black faces. / He took his nose off to impose what remains until today, do you realize?" Weijland notes that this story agrees with the theory that Europeans "damaged the noses of Egyptian statues in the nineteenth century to hide their African appearance, but there is no evidence that this was the case."

In the video for Michael Jackson's song Remember the Time, actor Eddie Murphy is dressed as Pharaoh Ramses, and Somali model Imam appears as Queen Nefertari. The director of the National Museum of Antiquity is willing to dialogue with the Egyptian authorities, but only if they visit the exhibition first.

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