Regular readers of this blog may recognise me a frequent contributor. I
have been lucky enough to have been volunteering at the Egypt Centre for
several years, most recently in the last eighteen months assisting Ken in the
stores with condition checks and the transfer of material to the fantastic new
storage facility.
It was during this time, whilst also researching the wooden
funerary figures and other objects as part of my Masters degree, that I
noted some of the limitations of the Egypt Centre’s online catalogue. The Egypt Centre
was one of the first museums to provide an online catalogue of its entire
collection way back in 2004, and whilst very ahead of its time then, there
hasn’t been the capacity to update the software since. Abaset Collections (named
after a rare
goddess with a hedgehog on her head!) has been set up by myself to create a
brand-new online collection for the Egypt Centre. As well as being a searchable dataset of the entire
collection of over five thousand objects, there will also be audio
descriptions, videos, and the option to curate your own “trail” of your
favourite objects. As I’ve been working closely with the collection in-person
(prior to the lockdown of course!), I’ve been able to apply my working
knowledge of researching the objects to identify the needs of those researching
the collection. I am also working in close collaboration with the staff in the
museum to ensure the software created is fit for their purposes as well.
Fig. 2: A sneak preview of the intuitive search bar (click to enlarge) |
Thanks
to a grant from
the Greatest Need Fund by Swansea University
Alumni, I am very pleased to announce that The Egypt Centre Online
Collection will be having a “soft” launch at 16:30 on 8th
October. This coincides with Ken’s presentation The Egypt Centre, Swansea: Past, Present and Future at the British Egyptological
Congress hosted by the Egypt Exploration
Society (if you haven’t booked already, I highly recommend it!). A “soft”
launch means that although work will be ongoing, we would be very grateful for
your feedback on what you think works well and what can be improved.
Fig. 3: An example of the entry for W491 (click to enlarge) |
As with any collection, research
is constantly being undertaken and edits are constantly being made to the data.
The Egypt Centre Online Collection will automatically update when new data is
entered and so all information available will immediately become available
online in real time. Due to the sheer size and variety of the data provided,
the content is still being updated, some entries may not be complete, and some
errors may still be displayed. Much of this is a result of transferring the
data from our internal MODES catalogue to a new online format. The online
collection has been designed to be as intuitive to use as possible, as well as
to work on PC, mobile, and tablet. There will be many bespoke fields, which can
be searched and selected for easy comparison. As well as the usual description,
provenance, and image provided by most generic online catalogues, there will
also be searchable fields for auction details, previous owners, translations
and transcriptions of any texts, gods and goddesses represented, animals
depicted, and much, much more. In addition, it will be possible to “drill down”
through hierarchical searches, for example, to search for all objects in the
collection from a specific excavation with ease.
Fig. 4: Additional details for W491 (click to enlarge) |
As
research continues (and I have more time once my dissertation is submitted!),
The Egypt Centre Online Collection will continue to grow and evolve,
particularly in light of the current Covid-19 restrictions, which has brought
to light the importance of access online to this wonderful group of objects.
Although an online catalogue will never replace the value of experiencing the
objects “live”, the digital availability of the objects aims to allow access to
the collection on a global scale. Further details about the new online
catalogue will be posted on this blog over the coming months.
Just
yesterday, we finished adding all the
ancient personal names associated with the Egypt Centre objects, which will
appear in both anglicised form and in transliteration. Why not say the hetep-di-nesu formula in memory of some
of them!
Aaphety
(ꜥꜣ-pḥty)
Aba
(i͗bꜣ)
Ammonarion (Ἀμμωνάριον)
Ammonarion (Ἀμμωνάριον)
Amunemope
(i͗mn-m-i͗pt)
Amunhotep
(i͗mn-ḥtp)
Ankhefenmut
(ꜥnḫ.f-n-mwt)
Ankhesenaset
(ꜥnḫ.s-n-ꜣst)
Ankhesenptah
(ꜥnḫ.s-n-ptḥ)
Ankhhapi
(ꜥnḫ-ḥp)
Ankhkhonsu
(ꜥnḫ-ḫnsw)
Ankhpakhered
(ꜥnḫ-pꜣ-ẖrd)
Ankhpefhery
(ꜥnḫ-pꜣ.f-ḥry)
Ankhwahibresaneith
(ꜥnḫ-wꜣḥ-i͗b-rꜥ-sꜣ-nt)
Ankhwennefer
(ꜥnḫ-wnn-nfr)
Asetemakhbit
(ꜣst-m-ꜣḫ-bi͗t)
Asetirdis
(ꜣst-i͗r-di͗.s)
Djedaset
(ḏd-ꜣst)
Djedbastetiwefankh
(ḏd-bꜣstt-i͗w.f-ꜥnḫ)
Djeddjehutiiwefankh
(ḏd-ḏḥwty-i͗w.f-ꜥnḫ)
Djedhor
(ḏd-ḥr)
Djedkhonsu
(ḏd-ḫnsw)
Djedkhonsuiwesankh
(ḏd-ḫnsw-i͗w.s-ꜥnḫ)?
Djedmontuiwesankh
(ḏd-mnṯw-i͗w.s-ꜥnḫ)
Djedmutiwefankh
(ḏd-mwt-i͗w.f-ꜥnḫ)
Habum (ḥbm)
Habum (ḥbm)
Hapi
(ḥpi͗)
Harsiese
(ḥr-sꜣ-ꜣst)
Henuttawy
(ḥnwt-tꜣwy)
Herefernit?
Hermiysis (Ἑρμιῦσις)
Hermiysis (Ἑρμιῦσις)
Heru
(ḥrw)?
Hetepwt
(ḥtpwt)
Horbes
(ḥrbs)
Hormes
(ḥr-ms)
Iahirdis
(i͗ꜥḥ-i͗r-di͗.s)
Iahweben
(i͗ꜥḥ-wbn)
Ibiia
(i͗b.i͗-i͗ꜥ)
Ibity
(i͗bi͗ty)?
Ipw
(i͗pw)
Iry
(i͗ry)
Iwesenhesetmut
(i͗w.s-n-ḥst-mwt)
Iwf
(i͗wf)
Iwteknefer
(i͗wṯk-nfr)
Kallistos (Καλλίστωι)
Kallistos (Καλλίστωι)
Kedmerut
(ḳd-mrt)
Khabekhnet
(ḫꜥ-bḫnt)
Khawlil (ḫwll)
Khawlil (ḫwll)
Khnumemsaef
(ẖnmw-m-sꜣ.f)
Khnumibre
(ẖnm-i͗b-rꜥ)
Kollouthes (Κολλοῦθος)
Kollouthes (Κολλοῦθος)
Minaa
(mnw-ꜥꜣ)
Namenekhamun
(nꜣ-mnḫ-i͗mn)
Neb[...]
(nb-[...])
Nebnetjeru
(nb-nṯrw)
Nebuherdedeni
(nbw-ḥr-dd-n.i͗)
Nedjem
(nḏm)
Nefersenut
(nfr-snwt)
Nes[...]re
(ns-[...]-rꜥ)
Nesmin
(ns-mnw)
Nespaneferher
(ns-pꜣ-nfr-ḥr)
Nespasefy
(ns-pꜣ-sfy)
Nethedjet
(nt-ḥḏt)
Niankhhathor
(ny-ꜥnḫ-ḥwt-ḥr)
Padiamun
(pꜣ-di͗-i͗mn)
Padiamunneb[…]
(pꜣ-di͗-i͗mn-nb-[...])
Padiamunnebnesuttawy
(pꜣ-di͗-i͗mn-nb-nswt-tꜣwy)
Padiamunopet
(pꜣ-di͗-i͗mn-i͗pt)
Padientanebu
(pꜣ-di͗-n-tꜣ-nbw)?
Padiese
(pꜣ-di͗-ꜣst)
Padineferhotep
(pꜣ-di͗-nfr-ḥtp)
Padiusir
(pꜣ-di͗-wsi͗r)
Pahat
(pꜣ-ḥꜣt)
Pahemnetjer
(pꜣ-ḥm-nṯr)
Pamenes
(pꜣ-mns)
Paneb
(pꜣ-nb)
Paraemhab
(pꜣ-rꜥ-m-ḥb)
Paser
(pꜣ-sr)
Pashedkhonsu
(pꜣ-šd-ḫnsw)
Pasherienimhotep
(pꜣ-šri͗-n-i͗i͗-m-ḥtp)
Pasherienmin
(pꜣ-šri͗-n-mnw)
Payeftjawemawyaset
(pꜣ.f-ṯꜢw-m-ꜥwy-ꜣst)
Petetriphis (Πετετρειφίος)
Psamtik (psmtk)
Psamtik (psmtk)
Ptahhotep
(ptḥ-ḥtp)
Ptahirdis
(ptḥ-i͗r-di͗-sw)
Ramose
(rꜥ-ms)
Sahte
(sꜣḥ-tꜣ)
Samenhetet
(sꜣ-mnḥtt)
Satweret
(st-wrt)
Senbet
(snbt)
Senebtyfy
(snb-ty-fy)
Senpeteminis (Σενπετεμινις)
Sharah (šrḥ)
Senpeteminis (Σενπετεμινις)
Sharah (šrḥ)
Shebenwepet
(šb-n-wpt)
Siamun
(sꜣ-i͗mn)
Sobek
(sbk)?
Tadiese
(tꜣ-di͗-ꜣst)
Takha[...]
(tꜣ-ḫꜣ-[...])
Takerheb
(tꜣ-kr-hb)
Tantise
(tꜣ-nt-ꜣst)?
Taremetj[...]
(tꜣ-rmṯ-[...])
Tasenkh[...]
(tꜣ-snḫ-[...])
Tashay
(tꜣ-šꜣ)
Tawer
(tꜣ-wr)
Tayet
(tꜣyt)
Tery
(try)?
Teti
(tti͗)
Tjenti
(ṯnty)
Tjesmutperet
(ṯs-mwt-prt)
Userhatmes
(wsr-ḥꜣt-ms)
Wahet
(wḫt)
Wennefer
(wnn-nfr)
[...]supakhered
([...]sw-pꜣ-ẖrd)?
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