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Recently, an expedition of Japanese and Egyptian archaeologists unearthed three such masks in a series of cut-rock tombs in the cliffs of Saqqara, a primary burial site for the Pharaonic capital of Memphis.

"Almost any subject you want to study about Pharaonic civilization is available on the tomb walls at Giza," Der Manuelian says.

This section is augmented by items in the Brooklyn Museum’s collection, including gold rings from Pharaonic dynasties and early 20th-century beadwork from southern Africa.

But Egypt has already launched counterprogramming plans to tell its own version of the Pharaonic ruler’s story using “the highest levels of research and scrutiny.”

She has conjured up the Pharaonic funk and empyreal jazz of George Clinton and Sun Ra.