The Joseph and Mary Grimshaw Egyptian Gallery contains nearly 800 objects dating from the Predynastic Period through the Byzantine period (5000 BC–AD 600). A 17-foot tall statue of king Tutankhamun gallery stands at the entrance of the gallery. After a chronological introduction, the gallery is arranged thematically around the topics of writing; kingship; funerary beliefs (tombs, mummification, protection of the dead, mummies), and daily life (art, clothing, tools, jewelry, food, music, and games). Highlights of the gallery include the brightly painted coffin of a temple singer named Meresamun, a written account of the first labor strike in history (ca. 1182–1151 BC), an annuity contract between a man and his wife written in flowing demotic script in about 365 BC, and a group of statues from a tomb that show people engaged in everyday tasks dating to 2477 BC.
