Introduction

This exhibition explores Sigmund Freud’s enduring fascination with ancient Egypt evident both in his writings and in his collection of antiquities. Egyptian artefacts form the largest part of Freud’s collection and lie behind his ‘archaeological metaphor’ – one of his most productive methods for exploring the psyche and developing the practice of psychoanalysis. The exhibition brings Freud into dialogue with his contemporary Flinders Petrie, the first UK Professor of Egyptology and pioneer of ‘scientific archaeology’ and enables us to compare their thoughts on archaeology and their respective collections of artefacts. The exhibition explores the themes of Egyptomania, sexuality and death as well as examining the central role that Egypt played in Freud’s last major work, Moses and Monotheism, ​which was published in London in 1939, the last year of his life.