Object-Based Learning at the Egypt Centre

This past week has been quite a busy one at the Egypt Centre with several modules at Swansea University utilising the collection. On Monday, Dr. Ersin Hussein, an ancient historian with interests in local identity formation in the Hellenistic and Roman Mediterranean, had a handling session at the Egypt Centre as part of her module Set in Stone? Inscribing and Writing in Antiquity. This module provides an overview of a history of inscribing objects in antiquity with a focus on the use of epigraphic evidence for the study of ancient history. For this session, a total of six objects were chosen for the students, some of which had never been used as teaching aids before (fig. 1).

Fig. 1: Handling session in progress (photo by Ersin Hussein)

While the name of the Egypt Centre implies that we only have Egyptian objects in the collection, this session was a great opportunity to showcase some non-Egyptian material. One of the most interesting pieces is W953, a fragment of an Old South Arabian funerary stela (fig. 2). This is one of three Old South Arabian objects in the collection, which were all published by Prof. Ken Kitchen in 1997. The fragment, which is made of pink alabaster, contains the head of the owner with a partial horizontal text above. The text identifies the owner as "Sharah, son of (the clan) […]" (Šrḥ / bn / […]). Although the provenance of the fragment is unknown, it likely comes from the cemetery at Qataban (modern Yemen). The closest parallel is YM 69, housed in the National Museum of Yemen, Sana'a, which dates to the first century BC. YM 69 depicts the owner with his right arm upraised (an act of prayer or greeting) while holding a sword in his left (fig. 3). 

Fig. 2: W953

Fig. 3: YM 69 (https://www.akg-images.de/archive/-2UMDHUTKDGMW.html)

Another object used during this handling session was W950, a Sumerian fired brick with a stamp written in cuneiform (fig. 4). The text, written from left to right in four horizontal lines, reads as “Ur-Nammu, king of Ur, who built the temple of Nanna” (ur – {d}nammu lugal urí{ki}-ma lú é {d}nanna in-dù-a). Ur-Nammu (𒌨𒀭𒇉) was the founder of the Sumerian Third Dynasty of Ur, in southern Mesopotamia, who ruled around 2047–2030 BC. His death on the battle-field against the Gutians after a rule of eighteen years was commemorated in a long Sumerian poetic composition. The Code of Ur-Nammu is one of the oldest known law codes surviving today. Nanna (𒀭𒋀𒆠) was the god of the moon whose main temple was at Ur. Parallels to this stamp are well-known, such as British Museum 90801.

Fig. 4: W950

Recent studies have shown that Object-Based Learning has many benefits, including the long-term retention of ideas. Handling sessions offer a tactile experience for students, challenging them to interrogate the object and conceptualise their thinking. Object-Based Learning has been practised at the Egypt Centre for many years now, enhancing the degree schemes at Swansea University (fig. 5).

Fig. 5: Examining a mummy label (W549)

Bibliography:
Chatterjee, H. and L. Hannan. eds. (2017) Engaging the Senses: Object-Based Learning in Higher Education. London: Routledge.
Hamblin, W. J. (2006) Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. London: Routledge.

Kitchen, K. A. (1997) ‘Three Old-South-Arabian Fragments in the Wellcome Collection, University of Wales, Swansea’. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 8: 241–244.

Paris, S. G. ed. (2002) Perspectives on Object-Centered Learning in Museums. London: Routledge.

Walker, C. B. F. (1981) Cuneiform brick inscriptions in the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, the City of Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, the City of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. London: British Museum Press.