Mock mummies, remain under wraps, and pseudo-Cleopatras, stay on your barges. This year, adults who enjoy dressing up don't have to discard their costumes on All Hallows Eve. Instead, they can wear their favorite antediluvian disguises to "A Night on the Nile," a benefit fundraiser for the educational outreach programs of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 1, in the museum's Egyptian Hall.
The event coincides with the reopening of the museum's permanent exhibit "Ancient Egypt: Treasures of the Nile," which is on display in the newly renovated hall.
For "A Night on the Nile," the museum's three floors will be transformed into a facsimile of ancient Egypt, complete with palm trees, pyramids and exotic birds. Guests are invited to wear their favorite Egyptian garb, don archaeological dress or come in their favorite
20th-century finery.
The evening will feature food and spirits, live entertainment by musicians and belly dancers, free astrology readings and chances for guests to "dig" for buried treasure or to bid on items in a silent auction. Among the offerings up for bid will be paintings by Rudoph Zallinger, creator of the Peabody's renowned "Age of Reptiles" mural, a weekend in Las Vegas, a getaway at a ski condo in Vermont, an authentic Phoenician coin minted circa 31 B.C., tickets to a New York Giants football game, original "Doonesbury" artwork by Yale alumnus Gary Trudeau and more. Tickets are $45 for members of the Peabody Museum Associates and $55 for nonmembers; to purchase tickets, call 432-5426.
During "A Night on the Nile," there will also be a raffle drawing for an Egyptian bronze scarab that was designed and donated by New Haven artist Gar Waterman, whose works appear in public, private and corporate collections throughout the United States. The scarab is now on view in the lobby of the Peabody Museum. Only 400 raffle tickets will be issued. Tickets at $30 apiece are now on sale in the lobby of the Peabody Museum, and may be obtained by calling the museum at 432-5426 or "A Night on the Nile" volunteer Nora Fox at (203) 272-9532.
Funds raised by "A Night on the Nile" will be used to provide more ambitious programming and educational outreach strategies for children and families in New Haven and the region. The event is sponsored in part by New Haven Savings Bank, and many area merchants have also made donations for the event. Victoria Barri and Melanie Brigockas are cochairing the event, which features designs by Jack Terrace. Among the many volunteers who have worked on the benefit are Linda Singer, who has helped organize the auction, and Ms. Fox, who has helped with the raffle.
For years now, several pieces from the Peabody's collection of Egyptian artifacts have been on display at the Yale University Art Gallery. As part of the recent renovation of the Peabody's Egyptian Hall, however, those pieces will return to the natural history museum, where they will be reinstalled as part of "Ancient Egypt: Treasures of the Nile." These pieces include the "Head of Osiris" sculpture, the "Mentu-her-khepeshef worshipping Osiris" relief and the "Ptolemaic Bust of a King," which has been called the finest piece of Egyptian sculpture at Yale.
In addition, a votive piece titled "Kneeling Statue of an Official" from the Yale Art Gallery's collections is being lent to the Peabody for its refurbished exhibit.
One of the Peabody's most popular exhibits -- a painted wooden coffin containing a mummy wrapped in a burial shroud with its face covered by a gilded cartonnage mask -- is also being given a new setting. The coffin will now rest in a partial facsimile of a late Period tomb. The entrance to this tomb will be marked by a stone sarcophagus and a gilt cartonnage mask of a womean from the Ptolemaic Period -- both of which have been newly restored.
"Ancient Egypt: Treasures of the Nile" will reopen to the public on Sunday, Nov. 2. While the Peabody Museum will remain open to the public on Nov. 1, visitors should be aware that many of the exhibit halls may be closed to the public in preparation of "A Night on the Nile." All exhibits will reopen on Nov. 2.
The Peabody Museum of Natural History, located at 170 Whitney Ave., is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, and noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5 for adults; $3 for children ages 3-15 and for senior citizens above age 65; and free for members of the Yale community with a valid I.D. For news about the Peabody's programs and activities, call the InfoTape at 432-5050 or visit the museum's page on the World Wide Web at www.peabody.Yale.edu.