The Met in New York explores the complexity of the gods of ancient Egypt

In a new temporary exhibition , the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) in New York explores the "complexity" of ancient Egyptian deities and the different ways they were represented in art .

Divine Egypt will feature over 200 works on display from October 12 to January 19, of which around 140 are part of the Met's permanent collection and another 70 have been loaned by institutions around the world, including the Louvre in Paris.

Met Executive Director Max Hollein explained at a press conference that the goal of this exhibition is to explore "in greater depth" the complexity of the gods of ancient Egypt and how they expressed their identity.

"These works of art reveal a nuanced visual language developed by humans to honor, identify, and depict the nearly 1,500 gods and goddesses worshipped in ancient Egypt," he noted.

According to Hollein, many of the pieces that make up Divine Egypt have not been exhibited together , and in fact some have never been shown to the public in the United States.

Divine Egypt is divided into five sections , three of which focus on gods worshipped in Egypt's great temples through "images that the king would revere daily," Diana Craig Patch, curator of the Lila Acheson Wallace wing, told the media.

The work that greets the public is a large statue of Amun-Ra, the sun god , who appears seated on a throne, dressed in a pleated skirt and bodice and sporting a curly beard.

In this piece, dating from the 18th Dynasty of Egypt , part of the so-called New Kingdom, Ra holds a small figure of the pharaoh Tutankhamun by the shoulders.

Another large statue represents Horus – god of the sky, royalty, hunting and war and son of the deities Osiris and Isis – and King Horemheb, the last pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt.

These sculptures of Horus and Horemheb, who wear a double crown representing rule "over a unified Egypt," were likely intended to "legitimize the reign" of the pharaoh , according to the Met's description.

Among the most notable pieces in the exhibition is also a large sarcophagus that housed Wadjerenes, an Egyptian noblewoman , and inside which is represented the goddess Nut, who embodies both heaven and the underworld and forms a microcosm designed so that the deceased can be "eternally reborn."

Nut appears naked and with two red solar discs – one held in her hands and another emerging from her thighs – illustrating the myth in which the deity swallows the sun god and gives birth to him at dawn.

" Our goal is to broaden our understanding of how the ancient Egyptians lived in a time far removed from our own, how they represented their gods, and what these representations reveal about this ancient culture," said Diana Craig.

Craig also stated that the exhibition aims to explore "new perspectives" on ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and the different ways in which these people attempted to answer questions about life and death, among other issues.