San Francisco is about to time travel. Starting August 1, 2026, the de Young Museum will host the North American premiere of “Treasures of the Pharaohs,” a blockbuster show packing 130 royal artifacts and 3,000 years of Egyptian history into Golden Gate Park. Many of the pieces have never crossed the Atlantic before, and the run ends January 31, 2027.
What’s Coming to the de Young This Summer
The exhibition is the first stop on a rare two city North American tour. Treasures of the Pharaohs will be on view at the de Young museum from August 1, 2026, through January 31, 2027, followed by the Kimbell Art Museum from March 14 through September 19, 2027.
Spanning 3,000 years of Egyptian history, the de Young museum presentation will bring 130 dazzling royal treasures and other rare antiquities to San Francisco, which will offer insights into their daily life, social structures, religious practices, and the society’s lasting impact on the modern world.
The show arrives fresh from a record breaking run in Italy. Treasures of the Pharaohs is currently on view at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome, where it is on track to become one of the most highly attended exhibitions in the museum’s history. After its close in Rome on June 14, 2026, the exhibition will be on view at the de Young museum in San Francisco from August 1, 2026, through January 31, 2027, prior to its presentation in Fort Worth.
The exhibition was curated by Dr. Tarek El Awady, former director of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The FAMSF presentation is curated by Renée Dreyfus, Distinguished Curator and George and Judy Marcus Curator in Charge of Ancient Art. The exhibition is accompanied by a major scholarly catalogue by Egyptian archaeologist Dr. Zahi Hawass.
Inside the Six Themed Galleries
The show is built around storytelling, not chronology. Key aspects of ancient Egyptian civilization are explored through six thematic sections: The Treasures of the Pharaohs; People Around the Pharaohs; Religion and Beliefs: The World of Gods and Goddesses; Daily Life in Ancient Egypt; The Golden City; and Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt.
The lineup reads like a greatest hits album of pharaonic art. Highlights include works directly associated with pharaohs and their families, dating from Dynasty I (c. 3100 BC) to the Ptolemaic period (321 BC). Among them are some made in precious metal: the golden sarcophagus of Queen Ahhotep, the gold funerary mask of Amenemope, the golden sarcophagus of Thuya, the gold funerary covering of Pharaoh Psusennes I, the gold collar of Psusennes I, the painted and gilded wooden Canopic Box of Yuya with Sloping Lid on a Sled, and the gilded wooden chair of Princess Sitamun.
Stone work and rare paper also share the stage. Sculptures in stone are also represented, including the carved schist Menkaure Triad and the limestone relief of Akhenaten and His Family. A rare manuscript, the Hieroglyphic Funerary Papyrus of the Songstress of Amoun Djedkhonsuiusankh, is also featured.
| Quick Facts | Details |
|---|---|
| Venue | de Young Museum, Golden Gate Park |
| Dates | August 1, 2026 to January 31, 2027 |
| Objects on view | 130 artifacts |
| Time period covered | About 3,000 years |
| Next stop | Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth (2027) |
The Lost Golden City Makes Its US Debut
This is the section that has Egyptologists buzzing. A special highlight is the US debut of objects from the Golden City, a newly unearthed workers’ community near Luxor. The suddenly abandoned city is a moment frozen in time, much like Pompeii.
The site is one of the biggest finds in recent memory. An Egyptian mission under the supervision of Egyptologist Dr. Zahi Hawass discovered a city, dubbed the Rise of Aten, which had been under the sands for 3,000 years, dating back to the reign of Amenhotep III. The statement adds that the largest city ever found in Egypt was founded by one of the greatest rulers of Egypt, namely of the New Kingdom, Amenhotep III.
Newly discovered artifacts from King Amenhotep’s workers’ community within the “Golden City” in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings will be introduced to North America for the first time, providing a glimpse into the lives of those often overlooked in presentations of ancient Egyptian art history.
Tickets, Crowds and Why This Show Matters
Bay Area museum goers should plan ahead. Member tickets become available June 17. Public tickets become available July 1. The galleries will occupy a sizable chunk of the de Young, taking over spaces 28, 29, 50a, 60, 61 and 62.
Demand is expected to be intense, and there is precedent. FAMSF’s most recent Egyptian exhibition was “Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs,” at the de Young from August 2022 to February 2023. Due to high demand, the show required timed tickets, and members were limited to one free visit. It drew 312,114 visitors during its run, making it the museum’s most attended exhibition since 2019.
The curators want visitors to leave thinking about people, not just objects. “The Egyptian pharaohs were considered both deities and leaders. They ruled as kings, military leaders, and chief priests from about 3100 BC, when Egypt was unified, to 30 BC, when it was invaded by Rome,” Dreyfus explained in a statement. “As the exhibition reveals, their rule depended not only on their position but also on their families, those who served them, traditional symbols of power, and the religious beliefs that shaped their world and afterlife.”
Tips before you go:
- Book timed tickets the moment they drop on July 1.
- Give yourself at least two hours inside the galleries.
- Weekday mornings will likely have shorter lines than weekends.
- The official scholarly catalogue by Dr. Zahi Hawass is already listed in the museum shop.
The exhibition is organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, which oversees both the de Young and Legion of Honor museums, the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas; the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of the Arab Republic of Egypt; and the Supreme Council of Antiquities in collaboration with ALES SpA, the in-house company of the Italian Ministry of Culture and MondoMostre.
For one extended season, the de Young is offering something rare: the chance to stand a few inches from gold that was buried, lost, and rediscovered across thousands of years. It is history you can almost reach out and touch, and it will not pass through Northern California again any time soon. Are you planning to visit “Treasures of the Pharaohs” this summer or fall? Share your thoughts in the comments, and tell us which artifact you are most excited to see.
