Message from the Nile - Egyptomania Hits (and Misses) at the Met

Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane, were there... McCoy Tyner, Pharaoh Sanders, Yusef Lateef and Ishmael Reed were not...

Feb 16, 2025

Now until February 17, 2025 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Gallery 899 you’ll find a fascinating exhibit titled Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876 - Now, which portrays how “Black artists and other cultural figures” (musicians and performers among them) reveal the exotic influence of Egyptomania - “ancient Egypt through visual art, sculpture, literature, music, scholarship, religion, politics, and performance. In a multisensory exploration of nearly 150 years of artistic and cultural production, from the 19th century to the Harlem Renaissance to the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s to the present day, the exhibition includes nearly 200 works of art in a wide range of media.*”

“Thematic sections featuring works from The Met collection and international loans from public and private collections trace subjects including how Black artists and other agents of culture (wow I like that – “agents of culture” does that come with some kind of hip outfit and a security clearance for all NYC art galleries? ) have employed ancient Egyptian imagery to craft a unifying identity, the contributions of Black scholars to the study of ancient Egypt, and the engagement of modern and contemporary Egyptian artists with ancient Egypt.

“In a first for The Met, performance will be an integral part of the exhibition itself in the form of a dedicated gallery. Organized in collaboration with MetLiveArts, the “Performance Pyramid” will both present a documentary history of Black performance art incorporating ancient Egyptian themes and host live performances on select days throughout the run of the exhibition.”

*These quotes are from the Met’s webpage description of the show – which was very good in some ways and oddly lacking in others… I have to add, that while I was a bit frustrated with some of the choices made… this exhibit wasn’t nearly as maddening as PUNK: Chaos to Couture, which ran from May 9–August 14, 2013.

Personally, I felt the show was a bit of a hodgepodge and found it difficult to navigate and engage with single works of art. And while I was thrilled to find a video clip of Sun Ra from Space is the Place, as well as some studio footage of Alice Coltrane thrumming her harp, in the video room, I had to wonder why some very obvious album covers were omitted in their collection of Black musicians under the spell of Egyptomania.

So, I’ve put together a quick playlist of great Black music for your listening pleasure that was (for whatever reason) missed by the Met curators. This is by no means complete, so please feel free to add your favorite Black American artists to the list!

Pharoah Sanders - Upper Egypt & Lower Egypt -

McCoy Tyner - Message From The Nile

Egypt Strut - Salah Ragab & The Cairo Jazz Band

Yusef Lateef - Nubian Lady

Art Blakey - The Egyptian

Sadly there were no Black American poets in the mix either… I couldn’t get Ishmael Reed’s "I Am a Cowboy in the Boat of Ra" out of my head as I strolled through the gallery…. Perhaps a video of the great Black Bard reading his work (below) would have been in order? or perhaps printing the poem on a gallery wall?

I am a Cowboy in the Boat of Ra

^{'The devil must be forced to reveal any such physical evil
(potions, charms, fetishes, etc.) still outside the body
and these must be burned.' (Rituale Romanum, published
1947, endorsed by the coat-of-arms and introductory
letter from Francis cardinal Spellman)}

I am a cowboy in the boat of Ra,
sidewinders in the saloons of fools
bit my forehead like O
the untrustworthiness of Egyptologists
who do not know their trips. Who was that
dog-faced man? they asked, the day I rode
from town.

School marms with halitosis cannot see
the Nefertiti fake chipped on the run by slick
germans, the hawk behind Sonny Rollins' head or
the ritual beard of his axe; a longhorn winding
its bells thru the Field of Reeds.

I am a cowboy in the boat of Ra. I bedded
down with Isis, Lady of the Boogaloo, dove
deep down in her horny, stuck up her Wells-Far-ago
in daring midday getaway. 'Start grabbing the
blue,' I said from top of my double crown.

I am a cowboy in the boat of Ra. Ezzard Charles
of the Chisholm Trail. Took up the bass but they
blew off my thumb. Alchemist in ringmanship but a
sucker for the right cross.

I am a cowboy in the boat of Ra. Vamoosed from
the temple i bide my time. The price on the wanted
poster was a-going down, outlaw alias copped my stance
and moody greenhorns were making me dance;
while my mouth's
shooting iron got its chambers jammed.

I am a cowboy in the boat of Ra. Boning-up in
the ol' West i bide my time. You should see
me pick off these tin cans whippersnappers. I
write the motown long plays for the comeback of
Osiris. Make them up when stars stare at sleeping
steer out here near the campfire. Women arrive
on the backs of goats and throw themselves on
my Bowie.

I am a cowboy in the boat of Ra. Lord of the lash,
the Loup Garou Kid. Half breed son of Pisces and
Aquarius. I hold the souls of men in my pot. I do
the dirty boogie with scorpions. I make the bulls
keep still and was the first swinger to grape the taste.

I am a cowboy in his boat. Pope Joan of the
Ptah Ra. C/mere a minute willya doll?
Be a good girl and
bring me my Buffalo horn of black powder
bring me my headdress of black feathers
bring me my bones of Ju-Ju snake
go get my eyelids of red paint.
Hand me my shadow

I'm going into town after Set

I am a cowboy in the boat of Ra

look out Set here i come Set
to get Set to sunset Set
to unseat Set to Set down Set

usurper of the Royal couch
imposter RAdio of Moses' bush
party pooper O hater of dance
vampire outlaw of the milky way

Sonic Cocktails

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