Review of ‘25 years of the Egypt Centre: History and Highlights’: a Zoom course by curator Ken Griffin

The blog post for this week has been written by Dr Dulcie Engel, a regular contributor. Dulcie is a former lecturer in French and linguistics and has been volunteering at the Egypt Centre for the last eight years. She is a gallery supervisor and associate editor of the Volunteer Newsletter. Dulcie has a particular interest in collectors and the history of museums.

This course launched the Egypt Centre’s twenty-fifth anniversary year and ran from January 8^th/11^th for 5 weeks (10 hours), presented live on Sunday evenings and Wednesday mornings. There were 52 participants in total, including me! The course covered the history and highlights of the museum, from its origins with the Wellcome loan in 1971 to its online engagement during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Ken pointed out that the Egypt Centre holds around 6000 objects, of which c. 2000 are currently on display. Ken used 3D models for most of the objects, which enabled Zoom participants to see them in amazing detail, and in particular to observe the backs and sides of objects that are normally hidden from view in the cases or in 2D images. This is what was covered:

Week 1: The History of the Egypt Centre: From Wellcome to Swansea

In week 1, we found out many interesting details about Henry Wellcome and his collection, with the aid of wonderful archival photos and documents. We also learnt that his company was an early user of Egyptian imagery in its advertising (fig. 1). He was a truly prolific collector: by 1936, the year of his death, Wellcome’s collection was five times bigger than that of the Louvre, with over one million objects. We also heard about the collectors ‘collected’ by Wellcome, such as Rustafjaell and MacGregor, and the cataloguer Boscawen. We had a close look at the work of Kate Bosse-Griffiths, the first honorary curator of the Wellcome Collection in Swansea, including her transcribed daybooks, and finished with a fascinating black and white film of the Swansea collection in 1976, narrated by Gwyn Griffiths.

Fig. 1: Historical Medical Exhibition cover (© Wellcome Collection)

Week 2: Highlights of the Egypt Centre

Ken chose twenty objects from the Thirty Highlights of the Egypt Centre booklet, ten from each gallery. As well as describing the object and its history, for most of them we also saw 3D models of the objects, and where there were inscriptions, translations of these. Among the interesting points which arose, we heard that W1013, the mummified foetus, may not in fact be genuine. It is possible that it is a Victorian fake, particularly because of the rather “fresh” layer of paint and the pseudo-hieroglyphs. On the other hand, a genuine cartonnage may have been repainted in Victorian times. It is not unknown for Victorians to have turned deceased babies into fake Egyptian mummies to sell! A Raman Spectrometer scan could determine whether this is genuine or not, and this might be possible as Swansea University has the equipment. Another favourite object has a more modern provenance: the miniature prayer book AR50/3540 containing chapters from the Quran is probably from the nineteenth century, possibly the early twentieth century (fig. 2). During the First World War, the British army distributed such prayer books to Egyptian soldiers serving in the British army. It was excavated at Armant in the 1930s by the Egypt Exploration Society. Various other pieces were matched up with items in other collections, particularly ones which were divided up when Wellcome’s collection was dispersed. Some of these could be re-united for special exhibitions in the future.

Fig. 2: Miniture prayer book

Week 3: The House of Death

Ken gave us a virtual tour around the gallery, with a view of each case, and then analysis of one or two objects (a total of twenty-two): utilising a combination of photos, descriptions, and 3D models. These were items not featured last week; some of which one might easily pass by without a second thought. One example of this is W2037C/b2; a small faience amulet of Bes, which was one of over one hundred objects donated to the Egypt Centre in 1983 by Cardiff Museum. It is of particular interest as it has two colours on it: a blue background with applied decoration in pale green (fig. 3). What is more, a 3D printout has been made, with the hope that eventually the mummification activity can use such replicas of amulets in our own collection. Another small and easily missed object is W760, a wooden shabti of the scribe Nedjem. It is one of the earliest shabtis we have, dating from the Eighteenth Dynasty. At this period, it was common for the deceased to have just one shabti with them in the tomb, so each one is all the more special. There are traces of gilding on the face, hands, and lappets of the wig. Other items included the first object to be published from our collection, in 1973 (W549, a Greek mummy label); AB129, a fragment of an ancestor stela, one of only around ninety known; a Fayum portrait, which seems to be composed of two (or possibly three) pieces of different faces stuck together (W646), and a canopic jar belonging to a person called Psamtek (W498). From stelae in other collections belonging to Psamtek, we know his dates of birth and death, and that the embalming process took thirty-two days (not the usual seventy)!

Fig. 3: Bes amulet

Week 4: The House of Life

Following a similar format to week three, we studied twenty-five objects in this gallery. One of the earliest items was W415, a pottery vessel from the Naqada II Period with a unique decoration of antelope-type animals around the body of the pot and a net decoration around the neck. We also saw a delightful fired clay horse figurine from Cyprus, W229a, which would have been part of a chariot model. This is another good candidate for 3D printing. EC2018 is a model faience scribal palette, which is possibly the rarest object we have as it is the only known depiction of the Third Intermediate Period pharaoh Djehutiemhat (fig. 4). W2044c is a pottery spindle bottle, imported into Egypt in the Eighteenth Dynasty from Cyprus or the Levant. It is a type of pottery known as Red Lustrous Wheelmade (RLWM) ware, and probably used for transporting oil of some sort. It is unique in having a hieroglyphic inscription on it, but this could have been added later. W157 is a beautiful fragment of a limestone double statue from the Ramesside period. The depiction of folds of cloth is particularly fine. Although we only have part of the man, we can see the woman’s hand on his shoulder and part of her inscription on the back. We do not have any names, but the combination of titles given would suggest the man is an important official, such as a vizier. EC2002 is a carnelian scarab ring dating from the fourth century BC. It is Etruscan, and the base of the scarab depicts Heracles fighting Cerberus. It is yet another example of the links between Egypt and its neighbours, with Egyptian symbols being adopted all over the Mediterranean and Near East.

Fig. 4: Model scribal palette of Djehutiemhat

Week 5: Treasures in Storage

Twenty-nine stunning objects, large and small, were packed into the final week of this course. The very first one we saw, W1287, was a rattle made from a small New Kingdom pottery vessel covered with a lid of decorated cartonnage, possibly reused during the Coptic era, and containing some small items which make a sound when shaken. Not many examples of these have been found. A larger piece that struck me was a faience incense holder, EC2042, in the shape of an arm ending in a hand closed into a fist (fig. 5). This arm would be held by the priest/pharaoh, and the fist would hold the incense. It probably dates from the Late Period and possibly comes from Meroe. One other faience example is known and is in a private collection in France. W5295 is part of a large stone statue depicting the body of a Thirteenth Dynasty official. We know this from the typical Middle Kingdom kilt depicted. It is very similar in pose and in dress to the replica of the statue of Senebtyfy (W1012) held in the fakes case (the original is in the British Museum). W304 is a wooden coffin fragment dating from the Middle Kingdom and originating from Deir el-Bersha. It comes from the Berens collection and one aspect that is really fascinating is a note written about it by Randolph Berens on the back of a dinner menu from the Savoy Hotel in Cairo, dated 16^th March 1910. Berens writes that he obtained the piece from a Mr Parvis, a well-known Cairo antiques dealer and furniture maker, who regularly recycled sections of Ancient Egyptian coffins to create his furniture pieces! Other coffin fragments, W1051 and W1055, this time from the Twenty-first Dynasty, join with pieces in Rio de Janeiro, which is very exciting. Perhaps the most beautifully decorated item we saw was a damaged Ptah-Sokar-Osiris figure, W2050, badly affected by woodworm, and currently undergoing conservation in Cardiff. It is finely carved and beautifully embellished with gold leaf on a deep red background. Part of the face has also been found in store, so it can be re-attached. Like many other of the pieces featured this week, Ken hopes that it can eventually be put on display.

Fig. 5: Faience incense holder

It is wonderful to see these artefacts and hear their fascinating histories. Above all, to appreciate the enormous amount of research (primarily by Ken), which has gone into telling their stories. Thank you, Ken!

While this course is now finished, the next one on the Early Dynastic Period will be starting in just a few weeks. Details available via the museum’s Eventbrite page.