An Update from the Louvre

This blog post has been written by Hugo Rault-Marical, who arrived at Swansea University in January 2022 on a six-month exchange programme from the Université de Lille. Hugo previously wrote a blog post about his experiences in Swansea and provides us with an update on his recent internship at the Louvre.

I spent six months last year at Swansea University as an exchange student specialising in Egyptology. It was such a great opportunity that enabled me to make a first step into museology. In April & May 2023, I had an internship at the Louvre under the supervision of Florence Gombert-Meurice, curator in charge of Egyptian bronzes in the Egyptian Antiquities Department. What I learned during my time abroad in Swansea was so helpful at this time.

Fig. 1: Hugo undertaking a condition report on an Egypt Centre object in 2022

Back in Swansea, I partook in a course taught by Ken Griffin, Carolyn Graves-Brown, and Wendy Goodridge regarding museums, preventive conservation, artefact care, collection history, audiences, and inclusivity (fig. 1). Fortunately, I was also accepted into the Swansea University Pottery Project (SUPP), directed by Christian Knoblauch and Ken, where I was able to handle ancient Egyptian pottery, analyze them, and enter the data into the Egypt Centre’s database: Abaset. These different experiences allowed me to be efficient in my work at the Louvre (fig. 2). I knew how to handle ancient objects with care, how to describe them with the correct vocabulary, and finally how to implement data into the online database. In brief, I had a museology background due to Swansea University’s offerings. Not only in a practical way, but also regarding Egyptian art knowledge: the module coordinated by Christian about art enhanced my perception of Egyptian artefacts. Thanks to it, I am now able to date an object by its features and decoration.

Fig. 2: The gallery where much of Hugo's work at the Louvre took place

Next, I aim to take the curator national exam! Once again, the knowledge offered by Swansea University and its staff will be necessary. I would like to thank again Ken Griffin, Christian Knoblauch, Carolyn Graves-Brown, and Wendy Goodridge for their warm welcome into the Swansea University and Egypt Centre. I won’t forget the first artefacts that I handled at the Egypt Centre. My time at Swansea University was such an enriching experience!

Merging Cultures: Cultural Syncretism in the Ancient World

This blog post has been written by Kian Murphy, an MA student of Ancient History and Classical Culture at Swansea University. As part of the module Reaching the Public: Museums and Object Handling (CL-M77), Kian had the opportunity to curate a display at the Egypt Centre. The theme and objects chosen were made by Kian, who provides an introduction to them in the blog below. This provided a unique opportunity for Kian to gain valuable museum practice and is an excellent student experience. The exhibition will remain on display in the House of Life gallery until September this year.

The new Egypt Centre case that I have curated is focused on the theme of cultural syncretism, which is a term that I am using to describe the process by which two different cultures influence each other. This case also looks at the various ways in which cultural syncretism occurs with a particular focus on Egypt (fig. 1). Of the many ways in which cultures can influence each other, there are several particularly prominent forms of syncretism that would occur within ancient Egypt. The main forms of syncretism include migration, imitation, and assimilation. It goes without saying that these are certainly not the only forms of cultural syncretism, but they are ones that feature within my display.

Fig. 1: Merging Cultures display

The categories I have listed with somewhat poetic names are purposefully vague as trying to create stricter categories would make things unnecessarily confusing. Additionally, these categories can also overlap often. For example, the category of migration mainly focuses on the movement of people from one location to another and the objects they bring with them; this does not mean they have to become permanent residents and can include traders. Of the objects in my display, the mummy label (W551) is a good example of the migration category (fig. 2). Mueller (1973, 175) notes that within the Graeco-Roman Period, the transporting of bodies was not uncommon, especially when one has died away from their homeland. These labels are usually inscribed with Greek or Coptic writing, and some may also work as cheap alternatives to gravestones (Mueller 1973, 176–6). The fact that this type of artefact is relatively unique to the Graeco-Roman Period suggests some degree of influence, probably as a result of Greek-speaking people living or travelling to Egypt and adapting their funerary methods to suit the new environment. In addition, the presence of Coptic writing acts as an example of human movement affecting the language of a culture, in this case Egyptian language adapting to fit the Greek alphabet.

Fig. 2: Mummy label

Cultural syncretism through imitation is usually shown through art or architecture. One of the best examples of this can be seen with Roman burial shrouds. EC38 is a fragment of a burial shroud (fig. 3). Whilst sections of the shroud are missing, the remaining surface has some pretty distinct designs worth noting. Primarily, the style of the shroud is fairly typical of the Roman Period. The feet shown on the shroud have thick linework and long thin toes. At the same time, there are two very noticeable jackals, one of which is holding a cross. At the very least, both Roman and Egyptian art styles and symbolism are depicted on a shroud. It could also be argued that the cross the jackal is holding is invoking Christian imagery in which case we have an interplay of three cultures included upon one shroud. It is worth mentioning that this mixed artistic style appears to be very purposeful. Christina Riggs argues that the funerary style popularised during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods in Egypt was a product of an awareness of the several cultures interacting during this period resulting in artists drawing from several different traditions (2002, 99).

Fig. 3: Roman shroud

The last form of cultural syncretism that I will discuss is what I describe as assimilation. This choice of word provides a somewhat darker image but is actually meant to simply relate to aspects of culture that are a bit less tangible, like religion. When two different religions interact the end result can often be fairly violent, but in other cases the result may be an adoption of traditions, practices, and deities. The Harpakhered figure (EC1982) is a good example of this. Harpakhered is a child deity (literally “Horus the child”) who seems to have embodied morning light (fig. 4). This particular form of Horus was present in Egyptian religion throughout their history, but it was not until the Graeco-Roman Period that his worship grew after being merged with several other gods, including the Roman Hercules (Hall 1977, 55–6). In this case, the act of taking a god of another religion and syncretising him with one of their own shows a form of cultural syncretism that is particularly fascinating. By taking the desirable features of a foreign deity the Romans seemingly enriched their own religion. As mentioned before, these examples are not the only forms of cultural syncretism that exist but they are the most broad. This act of merging cultures was not always a completely conscious one and it was not unique to the Graeco-Roman Period, but it was far more noticeable during this period. In addition, this process is not one that stopped suddenly but instead has been a consistent aspect of cultural change throughout human history. Beyond this, it should be noted that this process is not necessarily a benevolent one; the Roman occupation of Egypt was marked with conflict and mistreatment. One could describe some of these examples as Romans “stealing” culture, a claim that would be problematic but not to be ignored. In truth, trying to apply strict moral boundaries onto the process is ill-advised, but an awareness of cultural syncretism as well as the ways in which it happens can be used to think critically about one’s own identity.

Fig. 4: Figure of Harpakhered

The objects on display in the temporary exhibition, in addition to a few other objects, can be found in this specially designed trail on Merging Cultures.

 

Bibliography

Hall, E. S. (1977) Harpocrates and other child deities in ancient Egyptian sculpture. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, 14, 55–58.

Mueller, D. (1973) Three mummy labels in the Swansea Wellcome collection. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 59, 175–180.

Riggs, C. (2002). Facing the dead: recent research on the funerary art of Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt. American Journal of Archaeology, 106(1), 85–101.

The Domestic Piety Case

Continuing on from previous blog posts presenting the displays in the House of Life gallery, this week’s entry with focus on the Domestic Piety case. As with the previous cases, this display was created in 1998 for the opening of the Egypt Centre and has remained largely the same ever since. In total, there are seventeen objects on display, including three on long-term loan since 2005 from the British Museum. The idea behind the case is that, as the name suggests, the objects relate to personal piety or religion in the home. While evidence of personal piety existed before the New Kingdom, it is from this period onwards that we see a greater prevalence (Luiselli 2008; 2014). This is particularly the case within the community of workmen at Deir el-Medina, where a few of the objects in this case originate from. This blog post will present some of the objects on display in this case (fig. 1).

Fig. 1: The domestic piety case

One of the objects from Deir el-Medina is a limestone ostracon (W1327). The object was previously part of the collection of Robert de Rustafjaell, which was purchased by Sir Henry Wellcome in 1906. It can be traced back to lot 75, which is described in the auction catalogue as consisting of “three stelae and various fragments”. On the front of the ostracon there is decoration in red ink, which includes a cow in the upper half and four figures in the lower half (fig. 2). While the decoration is somewhat difficult to see, it becomes much clearer when running the image through DStretch (fig. 3). The cow has a sun disc between her horns, which clearly identify her as the goddess Hathor. Hathor is a goddess who is well-known from Deir el-Medina, including within the home. She was associated with music, dance, joy, love, sexuality, and maternal care. The provenance of the item is known from the writing on the reverse of the ostracon, which is commonly found on objects originating from the collection of Rustafjaell. Also on the reverse is a rectangular serrated sticker with the printed number 21. This was added by the Assyriologist William St. Chad Boscawen (1854–1913), who was tasked with cataloguing Wellcome’s Egyptian collection from 1906 until his death in 1913. His catalogue entry for the ostracon describes it as a “sandstone (sic) ostraca with artists design. A cow & male figures in red outline”.

Fig. 2: Ostracon from Deir el-Medina

Fig. 3: DStretch of ostracon

Also from Deir el-Medina is fragment of a Bes vessel (W1702), which was also purchased in 1906 from the Rustafjaell collection (fig. 4). As with the previous object, the writing on the back of the fragment provides the provenance. The face of Bes is created using four shallow horizontal lines for the forehead, with his eyebrows and eyelids formed by arches: five arches on the left and two on the right. The eyes are concave oval shapes, with smaller ovals inside to form the pupils. The nose is triangular, connected to a downcurved arch; the triangle and arch protrude from the surface. The tongue is sticking out under the nose. Fragments of the outline of the face are preserved, created by a thick line, and on the top right an ear is preserved. The ear is a semi-circle attached to the face outline. Such vessels probably contained wine or milk and date to the New Kingdom. Bes was a household protector, becoming responsible for such varied tasks as killing snakes, fighting off evil spirits, watching after children, and aiding women in labour by fighting off evil spirits (Bagh & Manniche 2021).

Fig. 4: Bes vessel

Two other Bes vessels are on display in the case, both of which are complete. W1283 is a small ellipsoid jar made from a fine Marl clay (fig. 5). It is a wheel-made vessel with a ring base and a collar around the transition from the shoulder and the neck. The vessel’s rim has been broken and now has an uneven jagged rim. The vessel has a stylised depiction of the god Bes made of applied decoration that has been carefully sculpted. This example dates to the Ptolemaic Period and comes from the collection of the Reverend William MacGregor, which was sold at auction in 1922. This vessel was affectionally referred to by Kate Bosse-Griffiths as the “humpty dumpty” pot because of its striking resemblance to the character. EC546 likely dates to the Late Period also has an extremely stylised image of the god Bes, with just the eyes applied as decoration.

Fig. 5: Bes vessel

Two further objects in the case feature the popular Bes. British Museum EA2569 is a wooden cosmetic container in the form of a standing figure of the god Bes, shown with leonine features, wearing a wig and short kilt (fig. 6). His arms are slightly bent at the elbow, with hands resting on his thighs. There is a cylindrical hollow drilled down from the top of the head to contain cosmetics. The vessel would have been covered by a lid, which is now missing. A small hole is present where the attachment of the lid once fitted. It was dated by Gay Robins to the period between the reign of Amenhotep III and Tutankhamun (Robins 1995, 22). This object has been on long-term loan at the Egypt Centre since 2005 from the British Museum who acquired it from the collection of Henry Salt in 1821. The other item is a fragment of blue faience showing part of the face of Bes (EC257). This is possibly part of a faience vessel dating to the Late Period.

Fig. 6: Cosmetic vessel of Bes

Just like the Bes vessels discussed previously, Hathor vases were also common. W1284a is part of a pottery vessel showing a cow’s head to represent the goddess Hathor (fig. 7). Such vessels seem to have been used from the Middle Kingdom to contain wine or milk. Festivals of Hathor often contained an element of drunkenness but on many temple estates cows were kept to produce sacred milk. This object was also purchased by Wellcome in 1906 from the collection of Robert de Rustafjaell. W5364 is a small bag-shaped jar that has been wheel-made. There is an incised line that has applied decoration attached, just beneath the rolled rim (outside), which depicts the horns of a cow and sun disc linking it to the goddess Hathor.

Fig. 7: Hathor vessel

AB129 is an object that I have a close fondness for since it was the subject of my first ever article, which was written to mark the occasion of Professor Alan Lloyd’s retirement at Swansea University (Griffin 2007). This limestone fragment is part of an ꜣḫ i͗ḳr n Rꜥ stela (fig. 8). On the left, the dedicatee is seated on a high-backed chair wearing a wig with fillet and a wesekh-collar. He has a short beard and wears a short wig with a fillet band tied around it. The curved end of the top of the chair can be seen just above the collar. In his left hand he holds a lotus-flower, which sinuously curls away from his body with its blossom looping back towards his face, giving the impression that he is sniffing its pleasing fragrance. In his right hand he appears to be holding a bouquet of flowers, the remains of which can be seen just in front of him. Traces of brown and white paint on the surface. In the lunette above the scene is an inscription, written over several vertical lines. The text, which is incomplete, can be tentatively reconstructed based on other examples of this type. It concludes with the name of the dedicatee, which to date remains elusive. Ancestor stelae were common during the Ramesside Period. While most often found at Deir el-Medina, this fragment appears to have come from Abydos. It was gifted to the University of Wales, Aberystwyth by John Bancroft Willans, a subscriber of the Egypt Exploration Fund/Society, who received the object in 1903. It was subsequently gifted to the Egypt Centre in 1997.

Fig. 8: Ancestor stela

All the objects in the Domestic Piety case, including those not discussed in this blog, can be viewed here.

 

Bibliography:

Bagh, Tine and Lise Manniche (eds) 2021. Bes: demon god, protector of Egypt. Contributions by Jørgen Podemann Sørensen, Lise Manniche, Christian E. Loeben, Olaf E. Kaper, Pavel Onderka. [Kopenhagen]: Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek.

Demarée, R. J. 1983. The ꜣḫ i͗ḳr n Rꜥ-stelae: on ancestor worship in ancient Egypt. Egyptologische Uitgaven 3. Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten.

Griffin, K. 2007. An ꜣḫ ı͗ḳr n Rꜥ stela from the collection of the Egypt Centre, Swansea. In Schneider, Thomas and Kasia Szpakowska (eds), Egyptian stories: a British Egyptological tribute to Alan B. Lloyd on the occasion of his retirement, 137–147. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag.

Luiselli, Maria Michela 2014. Personal piety in ancient Egypt. Religion Compass 8 (4), 105–116.

Luiselli, Michela 2008. Personal piety (modern theories related to). Edited by Jacco Dieleman and Willeke Wendrich. UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2008 (July).

Robins, Gay 1995. Reflections of women in the New Kingdom. Ancient Egyptian art from The British Museum, 4 February–14 May 1995. Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University.

New Egypt Centre Course on the Old Kingdom

Later this week, the latest Egypt Centre short course will commence. Following on from the successful course on the Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods, this course will focus on the Old Kingdom.

 

Course Synopsis

The Old Kingdom (c. 2,686–2,181 BC) was one of the golden ages of Egyptian history, a period that determined the form and character of Egyptian society and art for centuries to come. From the Third Dynasty through to the Sixth Dynasty, not only were there monumental building achievements, but the artisans who worked with an array of materials and techniques created masterpieces that even today hold the observer in awe. This period also saw the development of Egyptian literary texts from the briefest notations into autobiography and didactic literature. This course will explore the history of the Old Kingdom, from the reign of Djoser and his famed architect Imhotep, to the possible record-breaking reign of Pepi II.

Fig. 1: The pyramids of Giza

 

Schedule

Week 1: (Sunday 14th May and Wednesday 17th May): The Third Dynasty

Week 2: (Sunday 21st May and Wednesday 24th May): The Fourth Dynasty

Week 3: (Sunday 28th May and Wednesday 31st May): The Fifth Dynasty

Week 4: (Sunday 04th June and Wednesday 07th June): The Sixth Dynasty

Week 5: (Sunday 11th June and Wednesday 14th June): The collapse of the Old Kingdom

Tutor

Dr Ken Griffin is the Curator of the Egypt Centre, Swansea University. Prior to this, he was the Collections Access Manager at the museum. His association with the Egypt Centre first began in 2000 as a volunteer. Over the past two decades, he has been researching the collection, including publishing a number of the objects. Ken is a former lecturer in Egyptology and the coordinating tutor of Egyptology with the Department of Adult Continuing Education (DACE) at Swansea University. He has visited Egypt on over 60 occasions and participated in archaeological work at Abydos, the Valley of the Kings, the South Asasif necropolis, and Sai Island (Sudan).

 

When

In order to be as accessible as possible, this 5-week course will be run twice, with sessions taking place via Zoom:

- Sunday evenings 6–8pm (UK time) - Starting Sunday 14th May

- Wednesday mornings 10am–noon (UK time) - Starting Wednesday 17th May

Once registered, you will receive a Zoom link, which can be used for both sessions. Therefore, participants will have the option of attending either day, or both!

 

Cost

This course costs £40, with fees going directly to supporting the Egypt Centre. In particular, the funds will be used to support the development of the Egypt Centre displays. Additionally, participants have the option of adding an extra donation if they wish. Donations, of course, are greatly appreciated! Tickets are available via the following link. Once you have booked, you will automatically receive a confirmation email from Eventbrite. If you haven’t received anything within 24 hours, please contact Ken at k.griffin@swansea.ac.uk

An Update on the Harrogate Collection

It’s just over two months since a collection of more than 700 objects arrived at the Egypt Centre on loan from Harrogate Museum. During this time, a lot of work has been undertaken in researching the objects and preparing them for publication on a new online collection catalogue hosted by Abaset Collections. So far, almost 400 objects have been photographed from multiple angles. Catalogue entries have also been written for around 100 objects, so there is still plenty of work to do before the launch. This is planned for the 7th October to coincide with the Egypt Centre’s Twenty-fifth Anniversary celebrations (more details on this in a future blog!). At the same time, the first temporary exhibition featuring the Harrogate collection will be launched. The title of the exhibition is Causing their Names to Live, which takes inspiration from a common vivification formula found on statues, stelae, and other objects. In fact, one of the statues (fig. 1) on loan from Harrogate (HARGM10634) is dedicated by Nebamun to his daughter Senetre “in order to cause her name to live” (sꜥnḫ rn.s). Over the past two months, more than seventy-five names have been read on the stelae, statues, shabtis, and other objects, so the loan of the collection to Swansea really is helping to cause their names to live!

Fig. 1: Statue of Senetre

The Harrogate collection has already been used for student handling sessions, including several stelae for a module on Egyptian Art and Architecture (fig. 2). Urška Furlan, who recently completed her PhD thesis at Swansea University on Egyptian amulets from the Delta during the First Millennium BC has started cataloguing the amulets from the Harrogate collection. It’s great to have someone with an extensive knowledge and love of Egyptian amulets working on these. At the same time, the pottery from the collection is being catalogued by students as part of the Swansea University Pottery Project (SUPP). The majority of the vessels date to the Predynastic Period, including several from the excavations of Petrie at Naqada. It’s always particularly exciting to find a tomb number written on the vessels!

Fig. 2: Students examining three Harrogate stelae

Quite a few surprises have been made over the past few months. In my initial blog post on the Harrogate loan, I included a photo (fig. 3) of the beautiful faience shabti of Seti I (HARGM3722). Little did I know at the time that the shabti had a very close connection to Swansea University. While examining the manuscript catalogue produced by Benjamin Kent for almost 1,000 of his objects, I was amazed to see that the shabti of Seti had been purchased in 1919 from the collection of Lord Swansea! It was Ernest Ambrose Vivian, 2nd Baron Swansea (1848–1922) who decided to sell the contents of their large nineteenth century mansion, Singleton Abbey. Lot 734 is described as “a collection of ancient Egyptian objects, comprising a fine blue Ushabti figure of Seti 1st, Men-Maat-Ra, 4 others in faience and wood, an alabaster unguent vessel with lid, 2 alabaster pots, swathed in the original mummy wrappings, with unexamined contents, 10 bronze amulets of Osiris on step plinth, a blue faience ring, etc.” In the same year, Singleton Abbey was sold to Swansea Corporation. In 1920 the Corporation rented and in 1923 sold the house and the nucleus of the estate to the University College of Swansea (now Swansea University), which made the Abbey its headquarters. Therefore, it’s quite ironic that the shabti is now back in Swansea just 100 metres away from the Abbey where it was housed over 100 years ago!

Fig. 3: Shabti of Seti I

 

Another surprise took place just a few weeks ago when I was looking at a rather grotty coffin fragment (HARGM10877) from the Harrogate collection. The fragment contains the remains of a female goddess flanked by columns of hieroglyphs (six in front and two behind). I was immediately drawn by the palaeography of the hieroglyphs, which reminded me of a fragment (EC385) in the Egypt Centre collection. The more I looked at the Harrogate fragment, the more I thought about the Egypt Centre one, so I decided to get it from the store for a closer look. As it happens, the fragments are not just similar, but actually connect together (fig. 4)! This join helps to identify the name of the goddess as Nephthys, while the owner of the coffin and his parents can now be read in full for the first time. While we knew that there would certainly be links between both collections, particularly since they were both formed via auction purchases, we never expected fragments to connect like this!

Fig. 4: Connecting Harrogate (bottom) and Swansea (upper) fragments

Last week we had a visit to the Egypt Centre by Karen Southworth, a curator at Harrogate Museum, to discuss aspects of the loan. Additionally, Katie and Gary from This Film came to record some of the stories relating to the Harrogate collection that we have been able to uncover over the past few months. This was a lot of fun and involved several members of the Egypt Centre staff and volunteers. One of the highlights was visiting the former library of Singleton Abbey, which is possibly where the aforementioned shabti of Seti I was displayed prior to its sale in 1919. This suggestion is based on an old grainy photograph showing what looks like a shabti on a plinth atop the fireplace in the room. While it is impossible to confirm if this is the case, we strongly believe that it is (fig. 5). It seems as if it is fate that the Harrogate collection came to Swansea!

Fig. 5: The shabti of Seti I returning "home" to Singleton Abbey