Time for a makeover: Sending objects for conservation

On Tuesday 10th September, the Curator (Carolyn Graves-Brown) and I travelled to Cardiff University with a group of 40+ objects for conservation (fig. 1). For several decades the Egypt Centre have been sending objects to the School of History, Archaeology, and Religion to undergo conservation treatment. As part of the agreement, the conservation work is undertaken for free by carefully supervised students as part of their degree scheme. Students enrolled in the BSc in the Conservation of Objects in Museums and Archaeology, or an MSc in Conservation Practice carry out hands-on conservation work of genuine museum objects taught by accredited conservators. This agreement benefits both parties since the Egypt Centre is able to support students with object information, context, and feedback to shape their conservation decisions and Cardiff students deliver a constant, if slow, supply of conserved objects ready for display.

Fig. 1: Objects loaded for delivery

Over the past few months, in consultation with Phil Parkes (Senior Conservator at Cardiff) we selected suitable objects that needed conservation and study. This included objects that were both on display and in storage. We even sent the papyrus of Ankh-hapi (W867), which is one of our most popular objects in the House of Life gallery and recently featured in the final list of our thirty highlights. This papyrus consists of 44 lines containing chapters 15a–g of the Book of the Dead, along with the vignette for Chapter 1 above (fig. 2). W867 represents only a small fragment of the original papyrus, with sections also housed in the British Museum (P. London BM EA 9946) and the Hurst Galley Cambridge, MA (P. Cambridge, Mass). At some point, because of the friability of the papyrus, clear tape was used to hold it together. This tape will have to be removed and new modern conservation methods used in order adequately preserve the papyrus.

Fig. 2: Papyrus of Ankh-Hapi

Another popular object sent for conservation is a small whistle (W247), which was the topic of a paper by John Rogers at our Wonderful Things conference in May. This object was purchased by Henry Wellcome in 1922 from the collection of the Reverend William MacGregor (lot 1798). The object was already in several fragments in 1922, and at an unknown date had been glued back together. This glue has since lost its adhesiveness and the whistle is now in three pieces. At Cardiff the old glue will be removed and a new adhesive used to join the fragments together. It will also be possible to analyse the components of the whistle, which seems to consist of a copper alloy internal tube with alternating bone/ivory and lapis lazuli rings (fig. 3). This whistle will feature in a future guest post by John Rogers.

Fig. 3: Whistle with bone/ivory and lapis lazuli rings

Four stelae have also been sent to Cardiff for restoration and conservation. This includes fragments of a Middle Kingdom stela (EC1848), which featured in a blog post in June. One lucky student will have the opportunity to reconstruct around forty limestone fragments, thus requiring a lot of patience! The remaining three stelae date to the Coptic era, with EC521 being particularly beautiful. While the stela is largely complete, it is unfortunately now in five fragments. The decoration features two birds facing one another and rosettes around the edge (fig 4) The name of the deceased would have been carved on the bottom register, although for some reason it was left empty. Once in Cardiff the fragments will be cleaned and restored.

Fig. 4: Coptic stela (EC521)

Other objects sent to Cardiff for conservation include our model funerary boat (W361), twenty-three coffin clamps from the burial of the mother of the Buchis Bull at Armant, an alabaster dish (W408), several textiles, model tools from Meroe (EC686), and four pottery vessels. Our visit to Cardiff also provided the opportunity to see the latest work on AB118, a Late Period coffin belonging to a man named Ankhpakhered, which was later usurped by Djedhor. Now that the lid of the coffin is “finished”, work will continue with the base (fig. 5). It is expected that the conservation of AB118 will continue for a few years yet.

Fig. 5: Interior of the coffin base (AB118)

Later in the academic year I hope to have a few guest posts from some of the students working on our objects!

And the winner is ...

The subject of this blog post changed as a result of events that took place on Friday 13th September. Contrary to common lore, it turned out to be quite a lucky day for the Egypt Centre as our Front of House Manager (Angharad Gavin) and I attended the Swansea Life Awards 2019. The awards are Swansea’s red carpet event of the year, which rewards individuals and businesses that have helped to push Swansea onwards and upwards, with regards to outstanding quality, customer service, and innovation. More than 450 guests packed Swansea’s Brangwyn Hall to celebrate this year’s awards (fig. 1). Thousands of votes were cast and those three businesses with the highest number of votes were shortlisted in each of the seventeen categories. The category winners with the most votes were revealed on the night, which was hosted by the Commercial Managing Director at Media Wales, Lisa Cameron, and Kev Johns.

Fig. 1: Angharad and I dressed for the occasion

The Egypt Centre had been shortlisted for the leisure and culture category, which was sponsored by BusinessLife. Perhaps rather fittingly the theme for this year was Africa, with excellent entertainment provided throughout the night in the form of singers, dancers, and drummers. The soundtrack to the Lion King also featured heavily. The dinner for the evening, provided by JR Events & Catering, was a Kenyan vegetable samosa for starter, oven roasted chicken breast with a South African pepper cream sauce for the main, and a delightful “Simba’s Pride ‘Lion Bar’ cheesecake and butterscotch sauce” (fig. 2).

Fig. 2: “Simba‘s Pride” cheesecake

The shortlist for the leisure & tourism category consisted of the LC Swansea, Plantasia, and the Egypt Centre. Having won the award last year, we were not expecting to repeat our success. However, we were delighted when our name was announced (fig. 3)! This achievement is down to the hard work and determination of our staff and wonderful volunteers, without whom it wouldn’t have been possible. We would also like to thank all those who have supported us over the years, and particularly to everyone who voted for us. Congratulations to all those shortlisted, and especially to the winners.

Fig. 3: Our framed award

Why not pop down to the Egypt Centre to see for yourselves why we have won this award two years in a row. You can even see our own “lion queen” in the form of this statue of the goddess Sekhmet (fig. 4)!

Fig. 4: Statue of Sekhmet (W496)

"So intense but so cool" - a journey across campus with an Amarna vessel

The blog post for this week is written by Molly Osborne, an Egypt Centre volunteer and third year student of Egyptology and Classical Civilisation. 

From the 27th August until the 21st September, six students, including myself, are doing a third year practicum module at the Egypt Centre. On Wednesday 4th September, Ken Griffin asked for one of us to help with something, without giving any indication as to what this would entail. I offered to help and it turned out that this involved moving a decorated Amarna storage jar from the old storage room to the new one (fig. 1).

Fig. 1: The moving team (L to R) of Jiayun Zhu, Sam Powell, Ken Griffin, Molly Osborne

When we arrived at the old storage facility, I saw W193 for the first time. It is a large storage jar with beautiful decoration on it of lotus plants and fruit. The neck of the jar is decorated with big, blue lotus petals, and separates the neck and the body with a red band. The body of the jar is separated into three sections; the first and second sections have the same pattern of overlying blue lotus petals, which are separated by red bands. The third is decorated with white lotus flowers (fig. 2). This type of decoration is typical of vessels dating to the late Eighteenth Dynasty, which are often referred to as “blue painted ware” or “palace ware” (Rose 2007).

Fig. 2: Decoration of W193

On the side of the vessel is what appears to be a manufacturer’s mark, in the shape of an upside down bow (fig. 3). I plan look at this further in the hope of finding parallels—perhaps some readers who have worked on Amarna pottery are familiar with it?

Fig. 3: Manufacturer’s mark on the side of W193

It is evident looking at the jar that the cracks were fixed with a putty-like substance, with the object file for W193 stating that the jar arrived in Swansea in twenty fragments. It was subsequently pieced back together again by the Chemistry Department at Swansea University. The vessel was accompanied by a Wellcome label giving the number as 153449. This has allowed us to trace the flimsy slip in the Wellcome archives (fig. 4), which shows that it was part of the distribution of finds from the Egypt Exploration Society, most likely from their 1930–1931 excavation season at Amarna (Frankfort & Pendlebury 1933). In fact, the Egypt Centre has large quantities of Amarna pottery, some on display and even more in storage!

Fig. 4: Flimsy slip from the Wellcome archives for W193

The jar was originally on display in the old Wellcome Museum between the 1970s–1990s. At some point it seems to have been exposed to direct sunlight, which resulted in the paint flaking off one side of the vessel (fig. 5). A chemical agent that had been applied to the surface of the jar during the conservation process in the 1970s may have accelerated this process. W193 will eventually be treated by the conservation department at Cardiff University, whom the Egypt Centre works very closely with.

Fig. 5: W193 showing the flaking to the surface on the right side

The process of transporting W193 to the new storage facility was done very carefully. The object was placed on a trolley, which was very intense to watch. I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to move it myself because the jar is so fragile! The trolley was slowly moved by Ken, Jiayun Zhu (a Museum Studies placement student from Leicester University), Sam Powell (Egyptology Masters student at Swansea University), and myself. We had to remove all lanyards and jewellery before moving the object and we had to wear gloves so that we could hold the top of the jar firmly (fig. 6). We also wrapped the trolley and the top of the neck of the jar with bubble wrap to protect it from the wind. Thankfully, the journey from the old store to the new one was only a distance of about 100 metres!

Fig. 6: Transporting W193

On the following day the other practicum students assisted in transporting more objects and I think they would agree that doing this was so intense but also so cool. After writing this, I realised describing this experience sounds mundane and normal, but to me it meant a lot. This was the first object I had transferred and I hope in the future to have more opportunities like this. The practicum module at the Egypt Centre has provided me with real experiences that I wouldn’t usually get through other modules. I would like to thank Ken and the Egypt Centre for this opportunity as it is certainly something I’ll never forget (fig. 7)!

Fig. 7: Me with the pot following transportation

Bibliography:

Frankfort, H. and J. D. S. Pendlebury (1933) The city of Akhenaten. Part II: The north suburb and the desert altars. The excavations at Tell el Amarna during the seasons 1926–1932. MEES 40. London: Egypt Exploration Society.

Rose, P. J. (2007) The Eighteenth Dynasty pottery corpus from Amarna. Egypt Exploration Society, Excavation Memoir 83. London: Egypt Exploration Society.

From the Banks of the Nile to the Garden of Sennedjem

For just over a week (22–30 August) I was fortunate to have been based at the Czech Institute of Egyptology Charles University, Prague. My main reason for being there was to participate in two academic events. First was the initial workshop as part of the project Continuity, Discontinuity and Change. Adaptation Strategies of Individuals and Communities in Egypt at Times of Internal and External Transformations. This international project, which was initiated by Dr. Filip Coppens, is funded by the Czech Science Foundation (Grant GA ČR 19-07268S). Over two days the eight team members (fig. 1) had a productive discussion on topics focusing on two distinct periods of ancient Egyptian history: the Amarna age, and the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. Secondly, there was the Seventh Ptolemaic Summer School, which took place in Prague for the first time. The event was an excellent opportunity to meet colleagues specialising in Graeco-Roman temple texts, as well as providing the forum for me to discuss my work on the Ritual of the Hours of the Night.

Fig. 1: Workshop participants, from left to right. Silke Caßor-Pfeiffer (Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, IANES – Ägyptologie), Ken Griffin (The Egypt Centre), Filip Coppens (Czech Institute of Egyptology), Gabriele Pieke (Reiss-Engelhorn Museen, Mannheim), Dorotea Wollnerová (Czech Institute of Egyptology), Dana Bělohoubková (Czech Institute of Egyptology), Jiří Honzl (Czech Institute of Egyptology), and Nico Staring (Leiden Institute for Area Studies – Egyptology, Leiden University).

The visit to Prague also coincided with four temporary exhibitions, which I had the opportunity to visit. The first, which is housed in the recently refurbished National Museum (Národní muzeum) in Prague is entitled Tutankhamun RealExperience. Much of the focus of the exhibition is on the tomb and treasures of Tutankhamun, seen through the wonderful photography of Sandro Vannini, supplemented by a selection of original objects describing how the ancient Egyptians conceived the afterlife. The centrepiece of the exhibit is a statue of the young pharaoh from the Museum August Kestner in Hanover, on loan from the Fritz Behrens Foundation (fig. 2). The exhibit runs through 31 January 2020.

Fig. 2: Statue of Tutankhamun

To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the death of the renowned Czech Egyptologist Jaroslav Černý (1898–1970), the National Museum is also hosting a small exhibit entitled In the Garden of Sennedjem. The exhibition traces the life and career of Černý, which was heavily impacted by the political events of the twentieth century. Not surprisingly, objects from Deir el-Medina feature heavily, including numerous ostraca. There are also more personal items, such as his diplomatic passport from 1942 (fig. 3), letters and drawings, and his Doctoral diploma dated to 1922. While the significance of the exhibition’s name may not be evident to most—besides the obvious connection to the village of Deir el-Medina—it alludes to the words on the gravestone of Černý and his wife, “together now in the garden of Sennedjem”.

Fig. 3: Černý's diplomatic passport. 

The third exhibit I visited was On the Banks of the Nile, which is located in the Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures. This exhibition is dedicated to the nature of the ancient Nile valley, with showcases dealing with flora and fauna of the land, air, and water. Although many of the objects were small, they were particularly appealing. They include a faience hedgehog or porcupine (fig. 4) and an amulet in the form of a grasshopper. The exhibit concluded with some nicely preserved animal remains, including a bundle of snakes similar to that which we have in the Egypt Centre.

Fig. 4: Faience hedgehog or porcupine.

The final exhibition was Between Prague and Cairo: 100 Years of Czech Egyptology, which is housed in the Karolinum building of Charles University. As the title implies, the exhibition tells the story of the first 100 years of Czech Egyptology through a series of photos and a short film. It was in the summer of 1919 that František Lexa (1876–1960) delivered the first Egyptology lectures at Charles University. A large part of the exhibit is dedicated to excavations in Egypt, which commenced in 1959 with the work in the mastaba of Ptahshepses at Abusir. Many of the images shown related to the excavations at Abusir, including some of the wonderful treasures discovered (fig. 5). The exhibition concluded with a 15 minute film on the excavations of the Late Period shaft tombs of Iwfaa and Menekhibnekau.

Fig. 5: Swansea student John Rogers looking at some of the spectacular Czech finds from Abusir.

While the four exhibits are all quite different from each other, they are all wonderfully curated. The first three are accompanied by catalogues while the latter with a small booklet (fig. 6). I would highly recommend anyone visiting Prague before the end of the year to take in these exhibitions. I am most grateful to Filip for inviting me to join his project and I look forward to visiting Prague again next year!

Fig. 6: Exhibition catalogues

Missing Pieces: The Nubian Cemeteries at Armant

The blog post for this week is a guest entry by Dr Aaron de Souza, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at the Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna. 

Located just south of Luxor (ancient Thebes), the town of Armant is home to a myriad of sites spanning the breadth of Egyptian history. Perhaps the best-known sites are the catacombs for the sacred Buchis bulls (known as the Bucheum), a temple dedicated to the god Montu, and cemeteries and settlements dating to the Predynastic Period. Among all of these better-known locales is an often overlooked cemetery of the so-called Pan-Grave culture, a nomadic people who moved around the Nile Valley and deserts to the east of the Nile from the late Middle Kingdom until the early Eighteenth Dynasty (de Souza 2019). This small cemetery, Cemetery 1900, remains unpublished, but a draft manuscript prepared by Oliver Humphrys Myers (1903–1966) survives in the Lucy Gura Archive at the EES (fig. 1), and a small collection of ceramics from the site is now held by The Egypt Centre.

Fig. 1: Archive photograph of Pan-Grave pottery from Armant Cemetery 1900. The current location of these objects is unknown., Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society

This Pan-Grave pottery (fig. 2) was the main reason for my research trip to Swansea as part of my Marie Skłodowska-Curie Project, InBetween, which reviews our understanding of the so-called Middle Nubian culture groups.* The collection of Pan-Grave objects in the collection, although fragmentary, is essential to my long-term goal of reuniting the finds from Cemetery 1900 and ultimately to more fully understanding the Pan-Grave presence in Egypt. Even in its fragmentary state, the pottery in the Egypt Centre’s collection was enough to tell me a few interesting and important things about the site (fig. 2). The Pan-Grave pottery is all very comparable with material I’ve studied during recent excavations at Hierakonpolis and at sites around Aswan, all of which dates to the late Middle Kingdom. This date is further supported by photographs of Egyptian pottery from Cemetery 1900 as well as descriptions of the graves themselves in Myers’ unpublished manuscript. These characteristics would place the Armant Pan-Graves among the earliest known in the Nile Valley, not long after the people buried in them are first attested in the Nile Valley. It was also somewhat unusual—at least in my opinion!—that the assemblage included a number of sherds that I would classify as coarse, utilitarian wares. Usually called cooking pots, this type of pottery is usually associated with settlement sites and is not typically found in funerary contexts. The same phenomenon occurs at other early Pan-Grave sites, so maybe this is another marker of an early date.

Fig. 2: New monograph on the Pan-grave people

All of this being said, the other finds from Cemetery 1900 need to be (re-)located before I can make any firm observations… and herein lies the challenge! The finds from Armant have been scattered far and wide across the UK, a bit here, a bit there. So far I’ve located some of the faunal remains at the World Museum in Liverpool, including painted skulls and horns from cattle and goats that are as dramatic as they are enigmatic. In relation to those objects, I stumbled upon an envelope addressed to J. Wilfrid Jackson (1880–1978), an archaeologist and the former Keeper of Zoology at Manchester Museum, who excavated at Armant. Jackson is also the man who studied the same painted animal skulls that are now Liverpool (fig. 3), and I was able to identify them in his unpublished report on the remains from Cemetery 1900, which also now resides in the EES archives. The search continues, and there are tantalising clues everywhere, but for now I must work with the photos and notes that survive in the archives like ghosts of objects missing or lost.

Fig. 3: Aaron examining a painted cattle skull from Armant, now located at the World Museum, Liverpool.
(photo by Ashley Cooke)

But, on a happier note, after having looked through all of the material, I can tell you that the collection of finds from Armant held in the collection of The Egypt Centre is both impressive and extensive, and it is crying out for more attention! The scope of the collection is incredible—virtually a continuous sequence of pottery from the Predynastic to Islamic periods (with a few fragments of the eighteenth century European porcelain thrown in for good measure!), stone vessels, flint tools, jewellery, glass, statue fragments… it is a veritable microcosm of Egyptian history from the earliest days up to the recent past (figs. 4–5)! There is so much waiting to be studied anew, and I am extremely grateful to Ken and Carolyn for allowing me to access the material. I hope I’ll be able to come back soon, but in the meantime, I would encourage anyone interested to come to Swansea to study the finds from Armant. There is quite literally something for everyone!

Fig. 4: Aaron drawing an A-Group sherd from the Egypt Centre collection. 

Fig. 5: A-group pottery from Armant cemetery 1600 in the Egypt Centre,

* The InBetween project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 796050.

Aaron’s monograph on the Pan-grave people (fig. 2) has just been published and can be purchased direct from the publisher.

Bibliography:

de Souza, A. M. (2017) ‘The Pan-Grave Panned Out! New Digs at HK 47 and HK 21A’. Nekhen News 29: 18–21.

——— (2018) ‘The “End” of an Era: A Review of the Phasing System for the Late C-Group and Pan-Grave Cultures’. In Nubian Archaeology in the XXIst Century: Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Conference for Nubian Studies, Neuchâtel, 1st–6th September 2014, ed. M. Honegger. Publications de la mission archéologique suisse à Kerma 1; Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 273. Leuven: Peeters. 233–244.

——— (2018) ‘Paint it Black: Pan-Grave Black-topped and Egyptian Black-rimmed Pottery of the Late Second Intermediate Period and Early New Kingdom’. Cahiers de la céramique égyptienne 11: 75–90.

——— (2019) New Horizons: The Pan-Grave Ceramic Tradition in Context. Middle Kingdom Studies 9. London: Golden House Publications.

Mond, R. and O. H. Myers (1934) The Bucheum. Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Society 41. London: Egypt Exploration Society.

——— (1937) Cemeteries of Armant I. Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Society 42. London: Egypt Exploration Society.

——— (1940) Temples of Armant: A Preliminary Survey. Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Society 43. London: Egypt Exploration Society. 

The John Foulkes Jones Collection at the Egypt Centre

The blog post for this week is a guest entry by Dulcie Engel, a volunteer at the Egypt Centre who curated the exhibit Objects from a Victorian gentleman’s cabinet of curiosities. This was based on objects the Egypt Centre received in 2013, which belonged to the Welsh minister John Foulkes Jones.

John Foulkes Jones (fig. 1) was born in Machynlleth (Powys, Wales) on the 6th June 1826,  and was educated at the Calvinistic Methodist College in Bala (Gwynedd, Wales) before training for the ministry at Edinburgh University from 1844 to 1848. He worked in Methodist missions in North Wales, Liverpool, and Chester, and was ordained in 1856. Jones travelled to Egypt and Palestine in 1855, and published his book on his travels in 1860. He married Margaret Jones in 1861, and had five children. He became pastor of Maengwyn Church in Machynlleth in 1863, and died there on 14th April 1880. Jones was a highly sought after lecturer and respected preacher, whose volume of sermons (Owen 1884) was, for some time, one of the most widely read books in Welsh. He often gave lectures about his travels, and his book would reach out to an audience eager to hear of Biblical Egypt.

Fig. 1: John Foulkes Jones

The items that Jones collected on his travels remained in the family until a descendant contacted the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum in 2012. There, assistant keeper John Taylor examined and listed the artefacts, and in January 2013, he wrote to Carolyn Graves-Brown, curator of the Egypt Centre, regarding a home for the collection. The objects arrived at the Egypt Centre in May 2013. The twenty-four items, plus associated wrappings, were catalogued and conserved in suitable containers. They remained in storage until April 2017, when I was lucky enough to curate a selection for display in the House of Life (fig. 2).

Fig. 2: Current display of the Foulkes Jones collection.

In the case we display fourteen items, including original labels. Some of the items are definitely, or probably, fakes. The most blatant example is EC1920, a small metal cone labelled ‘Summit of Cheops’(fig. 3). It is in fact quite surprising to think that anyone would be taken in by this item, given the size and material, if not the very rough shape and condition. EC1924, the papyrus roll with writing on, is almost definitely fake as the ‘roll’ is in fact a bundle of dried plant stems to which tiny fragments of papyrus have been attached. It is possible that the bits of papyrus are ancient, as there are traces of cursive hieroglyphs. EC1923, the mummy hair, also raises questions of authenticity; without testing, it is impossible to date the hair any further back than when it was acquired in 1855.

Fig. 3: The “summit of Cheops” (EC1920)

Jones brought back both human (EC1918, 1919, 1921) and animal remains (EC1922, 1922a & b), which remain in storage. The human skull and mandible are even inscribed: EC1919, the skull, is labelled ‘Tombs of the Pharaohs at Thebes’(fig. 4); and EC1921, the mandible, is labelled by hand in pencil ‘Thebes’. Were these picked up by Jones or bought from a dealer, and then labelled by Jones? We will never know. Was the fact that the human remains belonged to pre-Christian ‘pagans’ an acceptable excuse for collection?

Fig. 4: Fragment of skull from the “tomb of the pharaohs at Thebes” (EC1919)

The items in Jones’ collection are of little monetary or archaeological value; they are however an excellent illustration of changing attitudes towards the legacy of ancient Egypt, and the ethics of collecting and exhibiting ancient artefacts.

Bibliography:

Goodridge, W. (2016) ‘What is the oddest job on campus?’. Times Higher Education Supplement (30/09/16).

Graves-Brown, C. (2017) Egypt Centre is proud to announce a new display case curated by its volunteers. Available at: http://www.egypt.swan.ac.uk/en/new-volunteer-display-case/.

Jones, J. F. (1860) Egypt in its Biblical relations and moral aspect. London: Smith, Elder and Co.,.

Owen, J. (1884) Cofiant a Llythyrau, nghyda Phregethau y Parch J. Foulkes-Jones. Machynlleth: J. Jones.

Thomas, W. J. (1959) ‘Jones, John Foulkes (1826–1880), Calvinistic Methodist minister’. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Available at: https://biography.wales/article/s-JONE-FOU-1826.

An Object-focused History of Egypt via the Egypt Centre

As readers of this blog will be fully aware, the Egypt Centre are very keen on promoting object-based learning. The Egypt Centre works closely with the Department of Classics, Ancient History, and Egyptology in facilitating handling sessions for students at Swansea University. Additionally, the Egypt Centre also organises its own courses, workshops, and “curator’s talks”, which focus on the collection. I am therefore pleased to announce my new course, Ancient Egyptian History through the Egypt Centre, which will commence in October (fig. 1). This course is open to all, from students to staff, volunteers to the public.

Fig. 1: Course flyer

This ten-week course will take a different approach to the study of Egyptian history by drawing on objects in the Egypt Centre collection. Over the ten weeks participants will have the opportunity to handle over fifty objects, including many highlights and others currently kept in storage. Each week we will examine a different period, with PowerPoint lectures supplemented by handling sessions. The breakdown of the course is as follows:

Date	Period
10 Oct	Predynastic Period
17 Oct	Old Kingdom
24 Oct	First Intermediate Period
31 Oct	Middle Kingdom
07 Nov	Second Intermediate Period
14 Nov	New Kingdom
21 Nov	The Amarna Period
28 Nov	Third Intermediate Period
05 Dec	Late Period
12 Dec	Graeco-Roman Period

In the Predynastic week we will examine some D-Ware pottery, a cosmetic palette, a beautifully carved stone vessel, and an unusual Predynastic figure. The next week participants will have the opportunity to handle several bowls and dishes, an alabaster offering table, and our reserve head, all of which date to the Old Kingdom. The provincial art of the First Intermediate Period will be the main focus of week three, with three stelae being made available. Two of these are so-called “soldier stelae” (fig. 2), which were particularly common during this period and no doubt relate to the political instability of the time.

Fig. 2: Soldier Stela (W1366)

In week four we will examine several Middle Kingdom statues, including a cast of the Thirteenth Dynasty chancellor and royal scribe Senebtyfy, the original of which is in the British Museum. A stela, statue, hyksos axe, and some Tell el-Yahudiyeh ware will be available for study during the Second Intermediate Period week. Weeks six and seven cover the New Kingdom, with a relief of Neferure (fig. 3), a statue base of the Nineteenth Dynasty vizier Paser, and an offering stand of the infamous Paneb under discussion in week six. With a large collection of objects originating from the Egypt Exploration Society’s excavations at Amarna, week seven will include a fragment of a household stela, blue-painted ware, several ring bezels, and a broad collar.

Fig. 3: Relief of Neferure (W1376)

In the week dealing with the Third Intermediate Period we will examine some shabtis, a stela, a coffin fragment, and a rare scribal palette containing the only known image of the obscure ruler Djehutiemhat. Some more shabtis, a canopic jar, a bronze statue of Osiris, and a statue of the priest Iba will be available for study. The final week covers the Graeco-Roman Period, which will include a stela from Edfu, a wooden door of a small shrine, and a large granite head depicting an unknown Ptolemaic queen (fig. 4).

Fig. 4: Ptolemaic queen (W194)

Note that these classes, limited to a maximum 15 people per course, will not result in any credits gained and no assessment will be required. For more details or to book a place, please contact me or the Egypt Centre.

Cost: £120, or £60 for (active) volunteers
Length of course: 10 x 2 hour sessions
Venue: Studio Room, Taliesin Create, Singleton Campus
Time: Thursday 16:00–18:00 (starting 10 Oct 2019)
      or Thursday 18:30–20:30 (starting 10 Oct 2019)

New Egypt Centre Store!

During the past week there has been a lot of excitement at the Egypt Centre because of construction work taking place in our new storage facility. While work on this facility has been ongoing intermittently for the last year, work has increased considerably in recent months. This included the addition of the security doors, the building of a new wall, and the removal of the carpet (fig. 1). All this was in preparation for the roller racking shelving, which have now been installed. The facility comes with an air conditioning unit, which controls both the temperature and humidity. This is particularly important in safeguarding the objects.

Fig. 1: New store awaiting shelving (29 July)

Following a very competitive bidding process, we decided to go with Rackline, a company that has delivered museum storage systems for the past quarter of a century with clients including nationally recognised institutions. Our new storage facility now has both static and mobile shelving units (fig. 2), which will be used to accommodate our reserve collection of approximately 4,000 objects. This includes human and animal remains, large quantities of pottery, and a complete coffin from Tarkhan. Work on transferring our objects to the new facility will begin in earnest and is expected to to take many months to complete.

Fig. 2: Store with shelving installed (2 Aug)

Moving the objects to the new facility provides an ideal opportunity check the contents of our boxes. For the past two weeks I have been assisted by Jiayun, a Leicester University Museum Studies placement student, who has been carrying out condition reports on the objects. While checking one box last Thursday we came across a bag labelled “snake bones” (EC532). A closer inspection revealed that the bag contained sand, some bandages, and lots of broken snake skeletons. In total, the bag contained at least nine snake heads (fig. 3), which have now been put on display next to the mummified snake (EC308) in our animals case. This week we were also able to identify a kohl stick as coming from Amarna, two tools belonging to model funerary figures from the Reverend William MacGregor collection, and three kohl pots from the collection of Robert de Rustafjaell.

Fig. 3: Nine snake heads (EC532)

Stay tuned for a blog post by Jiayun, towards the end of her stay next month, on her work with the Egypt Centre!