Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Outreach Programs
Art of Ancient Nubia Teaching Resources
“Ancient Nubia Now” Exhibition This exhibition of magnificent jewelry, pottery, sculpture, metalwork, and more from the MFA’s collection of ancient Nubian art examines power, representation, and cultural bias—in the ancient world, in the early 20th century, and today. The exhibition confronts past misinterpretations and offers new ways of understanding Nubia’s history by bringing new insights and voices. Video interviews (see links on page two) with a biological anthropologist, an Egyptologist, a young Sudanese American, a photographer, and a professor connect the objects to pertinent themes such as power, self-representation, and cultural appropriation. What was ancient Nubia? For more than 3,000 years (2400 BCE-364 CE), a series of kingdoms flourished in what is today the Sudanese Nile Valley, a region known in antiquity as Kush and by modern scholars as Nubia. Nubian kings and queens controlled vast empires and trade networks, rivalling—and for a brief time conquering—their more famous neighbors, the Egyptians. The Nubians left behind remains of cities, temples, palaces, and pyramids, but few written records. As a result, their story has been told in large part by others—in antiquity by the Egyptians, who used propaganda to cast Nubia as the barbaric “other,” and in the early 20th century by American and European scholars and archeologists who brought cultural bias to their work.
The MFA played a key role in bringing ancient Nubia to light, undertaking excavations at sites in southern Egypt and northern Sudan between 1913 and 1932, when both countries were under British colonial control. As a result, the MFA’s collection of ancient Nubian art is the largest and most important outside Khartoum, but the Museum’s possession of the objects is complicated by the far-reaching impact of European colonialism, and its history of displaying and interpreting them has at times been based on incorrect assumptions.
Image Credits: Winged Isis pectoral, 20.276, Statue of Lady Sennuwy, 14.720 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Outreach Programs
Art of Ancient Nubia Teaching Resources
MFA: Online & Print Resources Hear new insights and voices in this collection of short videos from "Ancient Nubia Now.” Follow the individual links below or find them all at www.youtube.com/mfaboston.
Nubia, Egypt, and the Concept of Race. Dr. Shomarka Keita, Research Affiliate in the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution, discusses race and antiquity through his perspective as a biological anthropologist. How Egyptologists Removed Ancient Egypt from Africa. Egyptologist and author Vanessa Davies discusses how archaeologists’ views of the relationship between ancient Nubia and Egypt have evolved since the early 20th century. A Young Sudanese American Connects Past and Present. Lana Bashir, a student at University of Massachusetts Lowell, discusses her Sudanese heritage and interest in ancient Nubian culture. A Photographer's Passion for Ancient Nubia. Photographer Chester Higgins shares insights into his lifelong passion of documenting antiquity sites along the Nile River. Meroe in the Black Literary Imagination. Professor Nicole Aljoe, Director of the Africana Studies Program at Northeastern University, discusses the work of Pauline Hopkins (1859–1930), author of the fictional Of One Blood; Or, The Hidden Self (1903). The novel, first published in The Colored American Magazine, based in Boston, imagines the rediscovery of ancient Meroe at the start of the 20th century.
Unearthing Ancient Nubia: Photographs from the Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition by Lawrence M. Berman. Hardback, 144 pages, 80 duotone illustrations, 11.375 × 8.5 in., ISBN: 978-0-87846-854-6. Available in the MFA Shop online and at the museum.
Arts of Ancient Nubia: MFA Highlights by Denise M. Doxey. Softcover, 168 pages, 125 color illustrations, 7 × 9 in., ISBN: 978-0-87846-853-9. Available in the MFA Shop online and at the museum.
Image Credits: Winged Isis pectoral, 20.276, Statue of Lady Sennuwy, 14.720 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Outreach Programs
Art of Ancient Nubia Teaching Resources
Classroom Activity: Interpreting the Past
Overview Using an artwork from the MFA’s collection and an “artifact” brought from home, students will explore how archaeologists interpret objects as a way to understand history. Students will: Learn about the MFA’s Statue of Lady Sennuwy, including the discovery and interpretation of the sculpture in the early 20th century; Understand how George Reisner, a leader in the development of modern scientific archaeology, misinterpreted the Egyptian artifacts he discovered at the Nubian city of Kerma; Understand that ongoing archaeological excavations and different perspectives can lead to new interpretations of artifacts that were discovered in the past; Observe and interpret an object brought from home as if it were an artifact discovered by an archaeologist in the future.
Materials Image of Statue of Lady Sennuwy (printable image on page six or visit collections.mfa.org for a downloadable image that can be projected in the classroom) o Statue of Lady Sennuwy Egyptian, Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, reign of Senwosret, 1971–1926 B.C. Granodiorite Accession Number: 14.720 Personal objects brought from home by students to be interpreted as “artifacts” Optional: Motel of the Mysteries by David Macaulay (ISBN 0395284252, 9780395284254)
Activity Part 1: Lady Sennuwy Hand out or project an image of Statue of Lady Sennuwy. Give students a minute to look closely at the sculpture and then ask what they observed about the figure represented.
After listening to student observations, share the identity of Lady Sennuwy: Lady Sennuwy was the wife of an important Egyptian official whose tomb is the largest known from the Middle Kingdom. It is likely that this statue, along with a similar sculpture of her husband, originally stood either in the family tomb at Asyut or in a sanctuary in southern Egypt.
Image Credits: Winged Isis pectoral, 20.276, Statue of Lady Sennuwy, 14.720 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Outreach Programs
Art of Ancient Nubia Teaching Resources
Sennuwy is portrayed as a slender, graceful young woman, dressed in a tightly fitting sheath dress with a long, thick, striated wig framing her carefully modeled face. Sennuwy sits poised and attentive on a solid, block-like chair, with her left hand resting flat on her lap and her right hand holding a lotus blossom, a symbol of rebirth. Next, share with students the story of this sculpture’s discovery and interpretation: In 1913, the sculpture of Lady Sennuwy – along with other Egyptian artifacts – were discovered at Kerma in Nubia, which is far to the south of Senuwwy’s home in Upper Egypt. The sculpture had been buried in the royal tumulus (burial mound) of a Nubian king who lived generations after Sennuwy's death. George Andrew Reisner, curator of Egyptian art at the MFA, oversaw the Museum’s excavations in Egypt and the Sudan. Reisner was thoroughly confused by the presence of so much Egyptian material in Nubian sites. Trusting Egyptian sources that described Nubia as always subordinate to Egypt, and blinded by his own biases, he misinterpreted Kerma as an Egyptian outpost in Nubia, ruled by an Egyptian governor. Fine quality objects were attributed to Egyptian influence, while mundane ones were identified as Nubian. As an archaeologist, Reisner was far ahead of his time, introducing cutting-edge techniques in excavating, recording, and photographing sites and finds. His meticulous excavation records are still consulted today by scholars from around the world. Reisner, however, was not forward thinking when it came to some of his beliefs. Like a number of Egyptologists in the early 20th century, he believed that Africans south of Egypt were incapable of developing highly advanced civilizations. However, Reisner’s own careful records, along with more recent discoveries and new, more open- minded reading of Egyptian sources, have been instrumental in proving that he had it almost entirely backward. We now believe that an army from Kerma attacked Egypt, looted sanctuaries, and brought Egyptian objects—such as the magnificent sculpture of Lady Sennuwy—home as souvenirs and status symbols. They demonstrate Nubian success against Egypt, rather than the other way around. Exactly how and why the ruler of Kerma chose the statue of Lady Sennuwy remains a mystery.
Part 2: Motel of the Mysteries For an additional (and more humorous) look at how an archaeologist might make a misinterpretation, have students read Motel of the Mysteries by David Macaulay.
Book Description: It is the year 4022; all of the ancient country of Usa has been buried under many feet of detritus from a catastrophe that occurred back in 1985. Imagine, then, the excitement that Howard Carson, an amateur archeologist at best, experienced when in crossing the perimeter of
Image Credits: Winged Isis pectoral, 20.276, Statue of Lady Sennuwy, 14.720 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Outreach Programs
Art of Ancient Nubia Teaching Resources
an abandoned excavation site he felt the ground give way beneath him and found himself at the bottom of a shaft, which, judging from the DO NOT DISTURB sign hanging from an archaic doorknob, was clearly the entrance to a still-sealed burial chamber. Carson's incredible discoveries, including the remains of two bodies, one of then on a ceremonial bed facing an altar that appeared to be a means of communicating with the Gods and the other lying in a porcelain sarcophagus in the Inner Chamber, permitted him to piece together the whole fabric of that extraordinary civilization.
Part 3: Interpreting Personal Artifacts Assign the students to bring a small artifact from home that reflects an aspect of his/her life; objects should not be valuable or fragile.
Have each student write a descriptive paragraph that identifies their object and its function, describes its physical characteristics (size, shape, materials, texture, etc.), and explains its personal significance.
Next, have students exchange objects with a partner (students should not partner with someone who is already familiar with their object), but keep their descriptive paragraph to themselves. Have students examine their partner’s object as if he/she is an archaeologist in the year 4022 who is trying to understand life 2,000 years earlier. Ask students to consider these questions when examining their artifact: o Function & Purpose – What is it and what might it have been used for? o Physical Features – What does it look and feel like? o Materials – What is it made of? o Construction – How was it made? o Value – How was it valued? (monetary, spiritual, aesthetic, sentimental, etc.) o Context & History – What can the object tell us about the society in which it was made?
Finally, have the future archaeologists present their observations and interpretations to their partner, the owner of the personal artifact. Then, have the owners present their own artifacts using their descriptive paragraph as a guide.
Follow-up with a class discussion about the process. o How did students feel about their partner’s interpretation of their objects? o Were partner interpretations fairly accurate or were there misinterpretations of the personal artifacts? o Is there additional information that might have helped the future archaeologists to make more accurate interpretations?
Image Credits: Winged Isis pectoral, 20.276, Statue of Lady Sennuwy, 14.720 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Outreach Programs
Art of Ancient Nubia Teaching Resources
Image Credits: Winged Isis pectoral, 20.276, Statue of Lady Sennuwy, 14.720 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Outreach Programs
Art of Ancient Nubia Teaching Resources
Additional Information for Teachers For nearly 3,000 years, a series of kingdoms flourished in the Sudanese Nile Valley—a region known in antiquity as Kush and by modern scholars as Nubia. Ancient Nubian trade networks reached across the Mediterranean to Greece and Rome and far into central Africa. In the 8th century BCE, Nubian kings conquered neighboring Egypt and, for nearly a century, controlled one of the largest empires in antiquity. The Nubians built major cities, temples, palaces, and more pyramids than the Egyptians. Their artists and craftspeople created magnificent jewelry, pottery, metalwork, furniture, and sculpture. Yet for many people today, this powerful history remains little known. Kerma: 2400-1550 BCE Already an established and fortified city by 2400 BCE, Kerma grew to become the capital of a vast Nubian kingdom by about 1700 BCE. Its trade network reached from the Nile Valley into Central Africa and the Red Sea coast. Within the city, palaces, offices, workshops, and homes clustered around a massive mud- brick temple. Outside the walls lay suburbs, ports, and smaller settlements. A cemetery to the west of the city housed royal tombs and mortuary temples.
Archaeologists from the MFA excavated in the cemetery between 1913 and 1916, revealing grave goods unlike anything they had seen before. Kerma’s rulers were buried in huge, mounded tombs, along with the remains of animals and humans, sacrificed to accompany them to the afterlife. Smaller tombs clustered around the royal burials. The dead lay on leather mats or wooden beds decorated with precious materials like gold and ivory. Burial offerings included sculpture, food, beverages, weapons, jewelry, cosmetic equipment, ostrich feather fans, beaded leather clothing, caps inlaid with mica, and exquisitely made pottery, the finest found anywhere in the Nile Valley.
Famed for its archers, the army of Kerma eventually threatened Egypt to the north. In the mid-16th century BCE, war with Egypt led to the destruction of Kerma. Having joined forces with the Hyksos, a Near Eastern coalition that invaded Egypt from the north, Kerma attacked from the south. When the kings of Egypt’s 18th Dynasty came to power, they retaliated, seizing Kerma’s territory and burning the capital city. Nubia and Egypt: Neighbors on the Nile Ancient Nubia and Egypt share an intertwined history. Egypt coveted access to Nubian gold mines and to the luxury goods—ivory, ebony, incense, cheetah skins— available through trade. For long periods, part or all of Nubia fell under Egyptian control. Egyptian propaganda cast Nubians as the barbaric “other.” Yet, as some artworks reveal, the true relationship between Nubia and Egypt was far more nuanced. Egyptians and Nubians lived in proximity, traded, shared culture and ideas, intermarried. Nubians even rose to the highest ranks of the Egyptian government.
Image Credits: Winged Isis pectoral, 20.276, Statue of Lady Sennuwy, 14.720 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Outreach Programs
Art of Ancient Nubia Teaching Resources
The first period of Egyptian occupation, during the Egyptian Middle Kingdom (2040–1640 BCE), was confined to Lower (Northern) Nubia. A string of massive fortresses along the Nile guarded the frontier and maintained control of the lucrative mines and trade both by river and land. The weakening of the Egyptian state at the end of the Middle Kingdom and the rise of the Nubian kingdom of Kerma to the south put an end to this period.
The second period of Egyptian rule, corresponding to Egypt’s New Kingdom (1550–1070 BCE), was longer and covered a more extensive territory—stretching almost all the way to present-day Khartoum. The reoccupied Middle Kingdom forts now served more as administrative and religious centers, and great temples arose along the Nile. The god Amen was introduced at this time. Egyptian rule made a profound impression on Nubia, and it was as true followers of Amen that the Nubians would turn the tables on the Egyptians. Napata: Shifting Power 750-332 BCE During the reign of King Piankhy (743–712 BCE), power dynamics in the Nile Valley took a dramatic turn. After he conquered Egypt, Piankhy and his four successors ruled as the 25th Dynasty. Official inscriptions and religious texts began to be recorded in Egyptian hieroglyphic script— giving us, for the first time in their history, the Nubians’ own voices and perspectives in writing.
Piankhy ruled from Napata, which by the beginning of the 8th century BCE had become the capital of an expansive Nubian kingdom. During this era, Nubia took its place as a world superpower and left for history monuments and artworks of uncontested beauty and power. Located at a strategic location for controlling trade, Napata also stood near Nubia’s holiest site: Gebel Barkal. Piankhy and his successors adopted and adapted select elements of Egyptian iconography and beliefs—including the worship of Amen’s association with kingship. In a twist of history, after being ruled by Egypt for 500 years, the Nubians now portrayed themselves as the true upholders of Egyptian religion.
The burial place of Napata’s earliest kings and queens was located at el-Kurru, just downstream from Gebel Barkal. The majority of tombs were pyramids, some with elaborately decorated burial chambers. While most of the pyramids have been quarried away and nearly all the tombs were robbed, some retained treasures. Napata: Royal Tombs at Nuri Nubia’s most powerful king, Taharqa (reigned 690–664 BCE), chose a new burial place at Nuri, across the Nile from Gebel Barkal. Nearly all other Napatan royal tombs built thereafter are located at Nuri. With the exception of Taharqa’s, the Nuri pyramids date to the period after Nubia had lost control over Egypt, yet they continue to share features with earlier Egyptian pyramids.
Image Credits: Winged Isis pectoral, 20.276, Statue of Lady Sennuwy, 14.720 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Outreach Programs
Art of Ancient Nubia Teaching Resources
Royal coffins were made of gilded wood, inlaid with glass and semiprecious stone. Unfortunately, none survived the ravages of insects, moisture, and ancient tomb robbers. In some cases, all that remains are disembodied eyes and eyebrows from their mummy-shaped lids. At least two Napatan kings—Anlamani (reigned 623–593 BCE) and Aspelta (reigned 593–568 BCE)—had massive granite sarcophagi inscribed with religious texts to provide guidance to the afterlife. Around the walls of the burial chambers stood funerary figurines known as shawabties, numbering sometimes in the hundreds.
We can only imagine the wealth once contained in the royal tombs. Yet one magnificent group of objects from the tomb of Aspelta was spared when a portion of ceiling collapsed and hid it from view. The precious materials and exquisite workmanship of “Aspelta’s treasure” offer a tantalizing glimpse of what is missing. Meroe: 332 BCE-364 CE By the 4th century BCE, the Nubian capital had moved south to the city of Meroe. A cosmopolitan metropolis and the center of a vast international trading network, Meroe featured a flourishing city center and far-ranging suburbs, a religious quarter, iron working facilities, and a complex system for collecting water.
Although Meroe was one of the great cities of antiquity, it remains among the least understood. In part, that mystery stems from the fact that we can’t read Meroitic script, which has yet to be fully deciphered. As a result, we cannot read Nubian accounts of life in Meroe and must rely on art, archaeology, and the writings of ancient authors from abroad to piece together the story of this historical moment.
For more than 600 years, Nubia’s kings and queens were buried at Meroe, and the Harvard University- Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition excavated most of their pyramid tombs and chapels. The ancient Romans tried—but failed—to conquer Meroe, and in 22 BCE the Emperor Augustus signed a peace treaty with the Nubian queen Amenirenas. The Greek and Roman objects discovered during MFA excavations in Meroe may have been diplomatic gifts, tribute, or the results of trade with Meroe’s many rulers.
Image Credits: Winged Isis pectoral, 20.276, Statue of Lady Sennuwy, 14.720 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Outreach Programs
Art of Ancient Nubia Teaching Resources
Image Credits: Winged Isis pectoral, 20.276, Statue of Lady Sennuwy, 14.720 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Outreach Programs
Art of Ancient Nubia Teaching Resources
Image Credits: Winged Isis pectoral, 20.276, Statue of Lady Sennuwy, 14.720 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Outreach Programs
Art of Ancient Nubia Teaching Resources
Image Credits: Winged Isis pectoral, 20.276, Statue of Lady Sennuwy, 14.720