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Monday 12 December 2022

Identifying Coffin Fragments from the Collection of a Banjo-Playing Barmaid

Several weeks ago, I wrote about identifying a limestone stela in the Egypt Centre as belonging to an official called Dedusobek. This identity was made possible thanks to the unpublished manuscripts cataloguing Sir Henry Wellcome’s Egyptian and Sudanese material between 1907 and 1914. The manuscripts were mainly compiled by William St Chad Boscawen (1854–1913) between 1907–1912 (Horry 2015). Since getting access to these manuscripts, which are housed at the Petrie Museum, in October this year, I have been able to identify many objects in the Egypt Centre collection. The manuscripts often include additional details otherwise unknown, such as previous owners, auction details, and related objects. This weekend, while working through the transcription of volume three, I spotted two entries for objects I’d been hoping to find information on for several years. Both pieces are wooden panels, which likely belong to the same object (W1042 & W1042a).

Fig. 1: W1042

W1042 (fig. 1) is a wooden panel depicting the god Osiris seated on a throne, with a cobra (Wadjet) wearing the Red Crown twisting around a papyrus and lotus plant shown behind. W1042a (fig. 2) is a larger wooden panel consisting of two registers. On the top, the deceased (or priest?) is depicted at either end with his hands raised in adoration before a winged scarab with two cobras (Wadjet and Nekhbet) emerging from it. A large solar disk was once present at the head of the scarab, but this is now missing and is only identifiable from the circular paint mark. Below this register is a scene depicting Isis (right) adoring Osiris, and Nephthys (left) adoring Re(?). At the top of the panel is a horizontal inscription, while the sides depict a frieze of rosettes between rectangular decoration. The colour scheme and decoration of both pieces is identical, which suggests that they belong to the same object. Additionally, both pieces have large numbers (6 & 7) written in square brackets in black ink. These were likely a numbering system used by an early collector, which is identical to two other objects in the Egypt Centre collection. But whose collection do they originate from? The answer to this had eluded me until this past weekend!

Fig. 2: W1042a


Both objects have their Wellcome registration numbers (R6909 & R6865) written on them, which is usually the key to identifying their origins. However, the records list these objects as simply being recorded in the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum (HMM) in November 1927. It seems that it was at this time that the objects on display in the museum were retrospectively registered. Thus, all that could be determined was that the object was deposited in the museum sometime between 1913 (when it was first opened to the public) and 1927. Given that the formal registration of Wellcome’s objects only started in 1913, it was likely that they were purchased at some point before this date.


When going through the unpublished manuscript on Saturday, I came across the following two entries (fig. 3):

Fig. 3: Boscawen manuscript page 
(Courtesy of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology)


65: “Wooden panel cut out of a large coffin coloured red. Painting represents Osiris seated on his throne holding whip & Ankh. Behind him a large Uraeus serpent issuing from a Lotus plant. The throne of Osiris rests on a bed of water plants.”

66: “Large panel cut out of a coffin in two tiers. Upper tier representation of winged solar disk (disk missing) with two Uraei as supporters to the disk. In middle of the wings the Solar Kheper beetle. Two priests on either side adore the disk. Second Tier, Ra & Horus seated on their thrones being advised by Isis & Nephthys. Line of hieroglyphs on top giving the titles of Horus, Isis, Osiris Seb, & Khnum.”

 

In addition to the descriptions of the pieces, the manuscript states that these objects originate from the Meux collection, which was sold in 1911. While the lot number was not recorded by Boscawen in his manuscript, it was easy to identify it as lot 1504, which is described as follows (fig. 4):

Fig. 4: Auction catalgoue entry


“Inner wooden coffin of a lady who probably lived towards the end of the period of the XXVI dynasty, about B.C. 500. Cover of a coffin of a lady who probably lived during the Ptolemaic period, about B.C. 200. Painted end of a wooden coffin wherein are depicted the deceased adoring a winged disk, and the goddesses Isis and Nephthys. Panel from the same coffin, whereon is painted Osiris. Wooden face from the inner coffin of a man, about the period of the XXVIth dynasty, about B.C. 550; the face is painted red and the eyebrows blue. Wooden face from the inner coffin of a lady who flourished about B.C. 300.  Unpainted wooden face from the coffin of a man who flourished about B.C. 300. Fragment of wood from the coffin of Sheps-ta-Mat.”


Lady Valerie Susan Meux (1852–1910) was a socialite of the Victorian era. She was the wife of Sir Henry Bruce Meux, 3rd Baronet (1856–1900), who came from one of Britain’s richest brewing dynasties, Meux’s Brewery, founded in 1764, which was a major brewer of porter ale in London in the nineteenth century. Before her marriage, Lady Meux claimed to have been an actress, but was apparently on the stage for only a single season. She is believed to have met Sir Henry Meux at the Casino de Venise in Holborn, where she worked as a banjo-playing barmaid (fig. 5) and had a stage name Val Langdon. Lady Meux was a flamboyant and controversial figure, given to driving herself around London in a high phaeton, drawn by a pair of zebras. Their house at Theobald’s Park in Hertfordshire was lavishly improved and enlarged; additions included a swimming pool and an indoor roller-skating rink. It was at Theobald’s Park where Lady Meux amassed a collection of some 1800 Egyptian artefacts, which were first published by Sir E. A. T. Wallis Budge (1857–1934) in 1893 with a second edition in 1896.

Fig. 5: Lady Meux and her banjo


As mentioned previously, two other objects in the Egypt Centre collection bear the same numbering as found on the fragments discussed here. W352 is a wooden face from a coffin, which is painted red with blue eyebrows. It carries the number 8 in square brackets just below the chin. W1022 is an unpainted (except for the eyes) black wooden coffin face, which has the number 10 written on the forehead. These coffin fragments are described in the aforementioned lot, thus meaning that four of the eight pieces sold together are now housed in the Egypt Centre collection. Looking through Budge’s catalogue, I was delighted to find that the numbers correlated to his cataloguing (fig. 6). Thus, the mystery of the numbering and the identity of the former owner had finally been solved!

Fig. 6: Budge's catalogue entry


As for the two large wooden coffin panels, these have long been displayed in the Egypt Centre galleries. I remember being brought to the Egypt Centre back in 2004 as part of an MA module on museum collecting to be told (by a non-Egyptologist teaching the session) that W1042a was a forgery because the inscription above didn’t make sense. In reality, while the hieroglyphs do look unconventional, the inscription is perfectly readable (fig. 7):

Fig. 7: Inscription of W1042a

ꜥnḫ nṯr nfr ḥr ꜣst wsi͗r ḫnty-i͗mntt nṯr ꜥꜣ nb ꜣbḏw sꜣ n wr tp n gb

“Life to the Good God. Horus, Isis, and Osiris, Foremost of the West, the Great God, Lord of Abydos, the eldest son, the first born of Geb.”

 

This style of coffin is well-known as dating to the Roman Period (second century AD) and coming specifically from the necropolis of Tuna el-Gebel. The coffin of Teuris in the Allard Pierson Museum of Antiquities (APM 7069) being the most notable example (Kurth 1990). Unfortunately, with the Swansea fragments, the identity of the coffin owner remains a mystery that is unlikely to be solved any time soon!

 

Bibliography:

Budge, E. A. Wallis 1896. Some account of the collection of Egyptian antiquities in the possession of Lady Meux, of Theobald’s Park, Waltham Cross, 2nd ed. London: Harrison & Sons.

Haarlem, Willem M. van 2010. De sarkofaag van Teuris. APm: Allard Pierson Mededelingen 101–102, 8–11.

Haarlem, Willem M. van 1998. Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam, fascicle 4: sarcophagi and related objects. Corpus antiquitatum Aegyptiacarum: Lose-Blatt-Katalog ägyptischer Altertümer. Amsterdam: Allard Pierson Museum.

Horry, Ruth 2015. Assyriology at the margins, the case of William St. Chad Boscawen (1855–1913). Iraq 77/1, 107–128.

Kurth, Dieter 1990. Der Sarg der Teüris: eine Studie zum Totenglauben im römerzeitlichen Ägypten. Aegyptiaca Treverensia: Trierer Studien zum Griechisch-Römischen Ägypten 6. Mainz am Rhein: Philipp von Zabern.

Monday 5 December 2022

Reuniting the Statue of Djedhor the Saviour

Back in September 2021 at our conference to mark fifty years since part of the Wellcome collection arrived to Swansea, it was announced by Anna Garnett of the Petrie Museum that the plaster cast of the statue of Djedhor the Saviour would be gifted to the Egypt Centre so that it could be reunited with its base (W302). In the intervening fourteen months, preparations for this transfer have been taking place. The base was sent to Cardiff for conservation, as previously discussed in a blog post by Krystina Parker, before returning to us in September. With the base back in Swansea, it was now time to arrange for the statue to be reunited with it. Anna and I had the chance to discuss this when I visited the Petrie Museum in October. This past Tuesday (29 November) was quite an exciting day at the Egypt Centre as the statue of Djedhor finally arrived to the Egypt Centre (fig. 1). It was appropriate that the statue arrived on Giving Tuesday, a global initiative that encourages people and organizations to donate their time and money to charitable causes.

Fig. 1: The reunited Djedhor the Saviour cast


As many readers will know, Djedhor was a Priest and “Guardian of the Gates of the Temple of Athribis” (located in the tenth Lower Egyptian nome). The original statue, which is on display in the Tahrir Museum in Cairo (JE 46341), is one of several known for Djedhor. A statue base is in the Oriental Institute, Chicago (OIM E10589), and a headless torso of a standing, naophorous statue is in Cairo (4/6/19/1). In all probably, the latter two statues were part of the same monument. According to Sherman (1981), JE 46341 was likely produced after the other statue. This is because JE 46341 is the only one of the two in which Djedhor has the “good name” of pꜣ-šd, “the Saviour”, which must have been given to him later in his life. The words of Djedhor on the Cairo statue indicate that he was alive at the time of its creation: “It is I who caused this saviour-statue to appear, along with the saviour-statue which is in the necropolis”. This inscription highlights how the statue was used for healing. The entire statue of Djedhor is covered with magical texts that protect, or heal, against snakes, scorpions, and other malicious creatures. These texts were published by Jelínková-Reymond (1956) and Sherman (1981), with an English translation available here. Users would pour water over the statue of Djedhor, which would absorb the magical healing powers of the hieroglyphs. This water would then collect in the depression located on the base directly in front of the statue, which could then be drunk or applied to a wound. From the inscriptions, we know that Djedhor lived during the reign of Philip Arrhidaeus (c. 323–317 BC).

Fig. 2: Cast of Djedhor on display in the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum


The cast of the Djedhor statue and base was produced in 1933 by the Cairo Museum at the request of Sir Henry Wellcome. Wellcome was particularly interested in objects associated with medicine, healing, and magic, so the object was of great importance to him. Upon arrival in London, it was given the Wellcome acquisition number A129212, with the later registration number R77/1935. The cast was soon displayed in the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum until it was transferred to University College London (UCL) in 1964 (fig. 2). It was here that that statue was separated from its base, with the former going to the Petrie Museum and the latter to Swansea in 1971. Discussions between the Petrie Museum and the Egypt Centre over reuniting the statue with the base first occurred around twenty years ago, but it was only in the last few years that these discussions allowed the reunification to occur. As far as I’m aware, this is the first time objects from the Wellcome collection have been reunited after their separation. Additionally, it is possibly the only cast of the Cairo statue known (I’d be interested to know if any readers are aware of others).

Fig. 3: Newly photographed Djedhor statue


Since the statue (now numbered W302a) arrived in Swansea several days ago, it has been photographed (fig. 3), 3D scanned (fig. 4), and been the guest of honour at the Egypt Centre’s Christmas party on Friday (fig. 5). Future plans include putting it on display and using it for our object-based learning at the museum. We are also planning a study day on Djedhor to take place in 2023, so stay posted for further details about this!

Fig. 4: 3D model of the combined Djedhor statue (https://skfb.ly/oAUI6)


We are grateful to all involved in making this reunification happen, particularly our colleagues at UCL Culture. This transfer could not have taken place without the support of Anna Garnett, the Curator of the Petrie Museum, for being so willing to make this happen!

Fig. 5: Wendy Goodridge next to Djedhor at the Egypt Centre Christmas party


Bibliography:

Jelínkova-Reymond, E. 1956. Les inscriptions de la statue guérisseuse de Djed-ḥer-le-Sauveur. Bibliothèque d’étude 23. Le Caire: Institut français d’Archéologie orientale. 

Rowland, Joanne, Salima Ikram, G. J. Tassie, and Lisa Yeomans 2013. The sacred falcon necropolis of Djedhor(?) at Quesna: recent investigations from 2006–2012. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 99, 53–84.

Sherman, Elizabeth J. 1981. Djedḥor the Saviour statue base OI 10589. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 67, 82–102.