In 1913, W.E.B. Du Bois staged a giant pageant called “The Star of Ethiopia” in New York, with a thousand elaborately costumed performers and detailed sets, including an Egyptian temple. Over the next ...

Since the 19th century, a strain in Black American culture has claimed ancient Egypt as ancestor and inspiration. A fascination with that long-ago land has permeated Black art deeply enough to seem ...

In the foyer of the Met’s second-floor gallery, Cleopatra’s Chair sits empty, beckoning. This throne, constructed by legendary sculptor Barbara Chase-Riboud, is a remnant of a sustained revelation. In ...