DOCSLIB.ORG

OI Museum Explorer's Guide

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
OI Museum Explorer's Guide MUSEUM EXPLORER’S GUIDE CAN YOU FIND ALL THESE ARTIFACTS? Whisper your wishes to the ARE YOU READY Make up your own gods at the Hearing ear stela, rules for this Game a tiny tablet inscribed with of 58 holes—no one 10 ears that Egyptians used TO BEGIN A JOURNEY knows how to play it! as a direct line to the gods. Statue of King Egyptians played board games Tutankhamun just like we do. Check out King Tut’s favorite game, Senet, , and an ancient set of dice. 10 000 Discover the ancient resting place of this Monumental Lamps Take a look at head of a ruler. an ancestor of our modern day receipts, Persian Clay envelopes Megiddo Egyptian Gallery Gallery with tokens. YEARS Gallery IN THE MAKING? Double-protome Relief of Nefermaat column capital Anatolian Syro-Anatolian and Itet Gallery Nubian Have you ever wondered how humans started living together? hieroglyphs Gallery Breasted Hall How did people build cities and empires? How did they understand Assyrian Courtyard Empire (Auditorium) Gallery the world and their place in it? How did they work, live, and play Gallery for Special together, and why did they fi ght? Exhibits Qustul incense burner The Oriental Institute (OI) Museum of the University of Chicago holds over 350,000 artifacts, excavated mainly by OI archaeologists. Khorsabad Court Mesopotamian Gallery Lobby In these artifacts from thousands of years ago, you might see a few See why the demon Pazuzu Suq Gift Shop things that remind you of your own life. Use this guide to explore had a face our galleries, and learn more about the fi rst civilizations and how only a mother could love. they relate to us today. Lamassu Cuneiform What key di erence WHO ARE is there between ARCHAEOLOGISTS? this Nubian ba statue and the ba birds of Archaeologists are scientists who study people ancient Egypt? of the past using artifacts, written languages, Spot the di erence in this One of the oldest Arabic Relief of Assyrian dignitaries; and the environment. Lots of archaeologists paper manuscripts, this copy see if you can fi nd evidence work in this building! of A Thousand Nights is the of some ancient erasing. earliest version of what is known today as A Thousand WHAT’S AN ARTIFACT? and One Nights. Investigate why these wide- An artifact is anything made, modifi ed, or eyed Statues are found buried used by a human. The Museum is full of them! beneath temples. MESOPOTAMIA ASSYRIA ARE YOU READY It’s around 3200 BC, and What was the lamassu for? there’s a lot to keep track of in THIS LAMASSU The lamassu stood at the door TO BEGIN A JOURNEY of the throneroom and protected Mesopotamia’s cities! Goods are HASN’T LET HIS the palace by keeping evil away. , being ,bought and sold, people 5 200 5are working200 and need to be paid, GUARD DOWN , and workers need to be organized. What animals make up the 10 000 YEARS AGO lamassu? This lamassu has YEARSPeople started using pictures AGO to PEOPLE USED PEOPLE USED I N NEARLY a human head, bird wings, communicate and keep track of and the body and ears of a things. They wrote in wet clay bull. The lamassu was thought YEARS using a stylus cut from a reed, to have the best characteristics IN THE MAKING? PICTURES PICTUREScreating triangle-shaped marks. of each animal. TO COMMUNICATE. TO COMMUNICATE. , We call this writing cuneiform, 3 000 meaning “wedge-shaped.” What kind of crown is that? HOW CRAZY IS THAT The lamassu wears a cylinder- shaped crown decorated with Drawing all these pictures took YEARS. rosettes (fl owers), feathers, and ?!? a long time (and some talent!). three pairs of horns. Horned crowns What do you see happening to were only worn by divine beings cuneiform writing over time? How did the lamassu get to the Museum? in Mesopotamia. The more horns, The lamassu was found in twelve pieces and weighs about the more powerful—making our 40 tons! It took three months to bring it to the Museum lamassu a mighty gatekeeper. Oldest (3000 BC) Newest (600 BC) using trucks, boats, and trains. The wall behind the lamassu was built after the sculpture was installed! HEAD ? What does this writing WHY DOES THE say? The writing on SYMBOL FOR “BREAD” the front of the BREAD LOOK LIKE A BOWL? lamassu describes King Sargon II’s The symbol for bread came from building of a new the symbol for rations. Check out capital city and his The more people wrote, the more they wanted the nearby bevel-rimmed bowl, accomplishments. to say! They combined symbols to show more which may have been used to pass There is also text on the back of the lamassu. complex ideas, like eating or getting paid in grain: out grain as payment to workers. Who would have read this writing? The lamassu would have been set up TO EAT against a wall, so only the gods would be able to read this hidden text. They also had to write down abstract ideas—like “life,” “write,” or “belief”—that are di cult to show with a symbol. Luckily, many words in Sumerian sound the same! So, they could use the symbol of a word that is easy to picture to also mean another more abstract word that sounds the same. How many legs can FIND EXAMPLES OF EARLY This is called the rebus principle. you count? From the WRITING IN THE WRITING AREA. side, the lamassu looks like it’s walking, but from • What did people fi rst write down? the front, it looks like it’s standing still. To achieve • When were letters, histories, and poetry SAR: cuneiform for TI: cuneiform for both looks, the lamassu fi rst written? Can you guess why? “garden,” also used to “arrow,” also used to has fi ve legs! • What types of things do you like to write? write “to write.” write “life.” 98827_ExplorerGuide.indd 4 9/3/19 9:34 AM EGYPT CAN YOU FIND HIS DEATH REMAINS HOW TO READ THE THESE COMMON HIEROGLYPHIC PHRASES WHERE PICTURES A MYSTERY. A MYSTERY. IN THE GALLERY? See if you can fi nd the objects ARE WORTH A NINE-YEAR-OLD WITH ANCIENT in the gallery that some of these signs are based on. A THOUSAND A BEARD? A BEAR4 D? WRITING O N THE WORDS . SOLVED SOLVED. WALL An o ering that the king gives King Tut ruled from age nine or ten until his death 1 Hieroglyphs were only one of the writing systems (Hint: Start with our cover mummy, at age eighteen. How did he have a beard? He Meresamun—ancient Egyptians believed used in ancient Egypt! Hieratic, Demotic, and Coptic hieroglyphs were essential to helping didn’t! Look closely at this statue and you can see were all used at various times for everyday writing, while the dead live1 on in the afterlife!) that this beard is shown strapped to Tut’s chin. hieroglyphs were used for monumental inscriptions— Pharaohs wore false beards to imitate Osiris, important and permanent carvings and paintings found the god of the afterlife. Even female pharaohs, in tombs, temples, and palaces. such as Hatshepsut, were shown with false beards. Ancient Egyptians called hieroglyphs “the god’s words” Writing and believed that the writing had been given to them by What is King Tut holding? This remains the god of wisdom, Thoth. Egyptians believed that things 2 a mystery. Some believe that King Tut is holding the base of a crook and fl ail, written in hieroglyphs would be magically made to happen symbols of kingship, or two scrolls, or rolls of over and over again. cloth. Others believe that the cylinders are 5 2 ways to show empty space while preventing Because hieroglyphs are pictures, Given life the hands from breaking, similar to they could be written right-to-left, the strips of stone behind Tut’s Take a look at the hieroglyphs on the back 1 beard and behind his left leg. of this statue. Can you fi nd these cartouches? left-to-right, and top-to-bottom A cartouche is an oval symbol used to (but never bottom-to-top!). magically protect a pharaoh’s name. They were arranged to be beautiful, Whose small feet are Living Horus not easy to read. Symbols would also 3 these? These feet belonged to a statue of King Tut’s wife, be rearranged to put the gods’ names Ankhesenamun [ANK-es-en-AH- at the top of an inscription. 1 mun], which was lost in ancient Hieroglyphs symbolized 1 times. Tut’s wife is shown smaller both sounds and ideas, than he is because this statue was and included only Bread (each symbol shows made for Tut’s temple. Since Tut was a di erent kind of bread!) the most important person at his consonants. own temple, he was shown much Tut’s throne name, Tut’s birth name, larger than his wife. Her small size RESTORATION QUESTION Neb Kheperu Ra Tutankhamun is no slight, though—that she is This statue was restored when it was brought shown with Tut indicates that If you can’t, it’s because they aren’t there! to the OI almost one hundred years ago, ? she was still important. Tut died before this statue was finished. meaning that things that were broken or missing Names were added to statues last, since names were put back together to look like what we know Water (Hint: Look at paintings!) 1 were so important to ancient Egyptians and gave or think they would have looked like in ancient The cobra on King Tut’s statues their power.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Artist: Period/Style: Patron: Material/Technique: Form
    TITLE: Apollo 11 Stones LOCATION: Namibia DATE: 25,500-25,300 BCE ARTIST: PERIOD/STYLE: Mesolithic Stone Age PATRON: MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE: FORM: The Apollo 11 stones are a collection of grey-brown quartzite slabs that feature drawings of animals painted with charcoal, clay, and kaolin FUNCTION: These slabs may have had a more social function. CONTENT: Drawings of animals that could be found in nature. On the cleavage face of what was once a complete slab, an unidentified animal form was drawn resembling a feline in appearance but with human hind legs that were probably added later. Barely visible on the head of the animal are two slightly-curved horns likely belonging to an Oryx, a large grazing antelope; on the animal’s underbelly, possibly the sexual organ of a bovid. CONTEXT: Inside the cave, above and below the layer where the Apollo 11 cave stones were found, archaeologists unearthed a sequence of cultural layers representing over 100,000 years of human occupation. In these layers stone artifacts, typical of the Middle Stone Age period—such as blades, pointed flakes, and scraper—were found in raw materials not native to the region, signaling stone tool technology transported over long distances.Among the remnants of hearths, ostrich eggshell fragments bearing traces of red color were also found—either remnants of ornamental painting or evidence that the eggshells were used as containers for pigment. Approximately 25,000 years ago, in a rock shelter in the Huns Mountains of Namibia on the southwest coast of Africa (today part of the Ai-Ais Richtersveld Transfrontier Park), an animal was drawn in charcoal on a hand-sized slab of stone.
    [Show full text]
  • The British Museum Annual Reports and Accounts 2019
    The British Museum REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2020 HC 432 The British Museum REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2020 Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 9(8) of the Museums and Galleries Act 1992 Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed on 19 November 2020 HC 432 The British Museum Report and Accounts 2019-20 © The British Museum copyright 2020 The text of this document (this excludes, where present, the Royal Arms and all departmental or agency logos) may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium provided that it is reproduced accurately and not in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as British Museum copyright and the document title specifed. Where third party material has been identifed, permission from the respective copyright holder must be sought. Any enquiries related to this publication should be sent to us at [email protected]. This publication is available at www.gov.uk/ofcial-documents. ISBN 978-1-5286-2095-6 CCS0320321972 11/20 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fbre content minimum Printed in the UK by the APS Group on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Ofce The British Museum Report and Accounts 2019-20 Contents Trustees’ and Accounting Ofcer’s Annual Report 3 Chairman’s Foreword 3 Structure, governance and management 4 Constitution and operating environment 4 Subsidiaries 4 Friends’ organisations 4 Strategic direction and performance against objectives 4 Collections and research 4 Audiences and Engagement 5 Investing
    [Show full text]
  • The Mythological Tales Which Must Have Been Current Among the Sumerians And
    oi.uchicago.edu THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE of THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO ASSYRIOLOGIOAL STUDIES JOHN ALBEBT WILSON and THOMAS GEORGE ALLEN Editors oi.uchicago.edu oi.uchicago.edu GILGAMESH AND THE HULUPPU-TREV oi.uchicago.edu THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS THE BAKER & TAYLOR COMPANY NEW YORK THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON THE MARTJZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA TOKYO, OSAKA, KYOTO, FTTKTJOKA, SENDAI THE COMMERCIAL PRESS, LIMITED SHANGHAI oi.uchicago.edu THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE of THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO ASSYRIOLOGICAL STUDIES, NO. 10 GILGAMESH AND THE HULUPPU-TREE A RECONSTRUCTED SUMERIAN TEXT By SAMUEL N. KRAMER THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS oi.uchicago.edu ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PUBLISHED APRIL 1938 PRINTED IN GERMANY BY J.J. AUGUSTIN, GLT)CKSTADT-HAMBURG-NEW YORK oi.uchicago.edu TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix TEXT AND TRANSLATION 1 PROBLEMS IN THE TRANSLATION OF SUMERIAN 11 COMMENTARY ON THE GILGAMESH TEXT 31 vii oi.uchicago.edu oi.uchicago.edu LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ABL Harper, Robert Francis. Assyrian and Babylonian letters belonging to the Kouyunjik collection of the British Museum (14 vols.; London, 1892-1914). AJSL American journal of Semitic languages and literatures (Chicago etc., 1884 .)• AO Paris. Musee national du Louvre. Antiquites orientales. (Followed by catalogue number.) AOF Archiv fur Orientforschung (Berlin, 1923 ). AS Chicago. University. Oriental Institute. Assyriological studies (Chicago, 1931 ). AS~No. 8 Kramer, Samuel N. The Sumerian prefix forms be- and bi- in the time of the earlier princes of Lagag (1936). ASKT Haupt, Paul. Akkadische und sumerische Keilschrifttexte (Leipzig, 1881-82). BE Pennsylvania. University. The Babylonian expedition of the Uni­ versity of Pennsylvania.
    [Show full text]
  • Interaction of Aramaeans and Assyrians on the Lower Khabur
    Syria Archéologie, art et histoire 86 | 2009 Dossier : Interaction entre Assyriens et Araméens Interaction of Aramaeans and Assyrians on the Lower Khabur Hartmut Kühne Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/syria/509 DOI: 10.4000/syria.509 ISSN: 2076-8435 Publisher IFPO - Institut français du Proche-Orient Printed version Date of publication: 1 November 2009 Number of pages: 43-54 ISBN: 9782351591512 ISSN: 0039-7946 Electronic reference Hartmut Kühne, « Interaction of Aramaeans and Assyrians on the Lower Khabur », Syria [Online], 86 | 2009, Online since 01 July 2016, connection on 22 May 2020. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/ syria/509 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/syria.509 © Presses IFPO INTERACTION OF ARAMAEANS AND ASSYRIANS ON THE LOWER KHABUR Hartmut KÜHNE Freie Universität Berlin Résumé – Le modèle centre/périphérie a souvent été utilisé pour expliquer les relations entre Assyriens et Araméens. Il est de plus en plus clair que ce modèle n’est pas apte à rendre compte de l’interaction entre ces deux groupes ethniques. Il convient de se défaire de l’idée de l’influence sur la périphérie et de chercher plutôt les signes des processus d’émulation qui ont lieu entre deux groupes équivalents culturellement et qui s’affrontent dans un territoire sans suprématie politique. Au cours du temps — environ 500 ans, entre 1100 et 600 av. J.-C. —, la situation politique change et avec elle les formes de l’interaction perceptibles au travers des différents traits culturels, illustrés par les objets découverts en fouille. De fait, on doit s’attendre à ce que ces objets reflètent différentes étapes d’émulation et deviennent potentiellement des hybrides, plus ou moins élaborés, ou des transferts plus ou moins profondément modifiés.
    [Show full text]
  • Myths of Babylonia and Assyria by Donald A. Mackenzie
    Myths Of Babylonia And Assyria By Donald A. Mackenzie Introduction Ancient Babylonia has made stronger appeal to the imagination of Christendom than even Ancient Egypt, because of its association with the captivity of the Hebrews, whose sorrows are enshrined in the familiar psalm: By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down; Yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows.... In sacred literature proud Babylon became the city of the anti-Christ, the symbol of wickedness and cruelty and human vanity. Early Christians who suffered persecution compared their worldly state to that of the oppressed and disconsolate Hebrews, and, like them, they sighed for Jerusalem--the new Jerusalem. When St. John the Divine had visions of the ultimate triumph of Christianity, he referred to its enemies--the unbelievers and persecutors--as the citizens of the earthly Babylon, the doom of which he pronounced in stately and memorable phrases: Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, And is become the habitation of devils, And the hold of every foul spirit, And a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.... For her sins have reached unto heaven And God hath remembered her iniquities.... The merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her, For no man buyeth their merchandise any more. "At the noise of the taking of Babylon", cried Jeremiah, referring to the original Babylon, "the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.... It shall be no more inhabited forever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation."
    [Show full text]
  • The Mythology of Kingship in Neo-Assyrian Art Mehmet-Ali Ataç Frontmatter More Information
    Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-62760-4 - The Mythology of Kingship in Neo-Assyrian Art Mehmet-Ali Ataç Frontmatter More information THE MYTHOLOGY OF KINGSHIP IN NEO-ASSYRIAN ART The relief slabs that decorated the palaces of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, which emphasized military conquest and royal prowess, have traditionally been understood as statements of imperial propaganda that glorified the Assyrian king. In this book, Mehmet-Ali¸argues Atac that the reliefs hold a deeper meaning that was addressed primarily to an internal audience composed of court scholars and master craftsmen. Atac¸ focuses on representations of animals, depictions of the king as priest and warrior, and figures of mythological beings that evoke an archaic cosmos. He demonstrates that these images mask a complex philosophical rhetoric developed by court scholars in collaboration with master craftsmen who were responsible for their design and execution. Atac¸argues that the layers of meaning embedded in the Neo-Assyrian palace reliefs go deeper than politics, imperial propaganda, and straightforward historical record. Mehmet-Ali Atac¸is assistant professor of classical and Near Eastern archaeology at Bryn Mawr College. A scholar of the art of the ancient Near East, he has contributed to The Art Bulletin and The Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-62760-4 - The Mythology of Kingship in Neo-Assyrian Art Mehmet-Ali Ataç Frontmatter More information © in this
    [Show full text]
  • 025. Lamassu from the Citadel of Sargon II
    1. IDENTIFICATION: (Artist, title, date, size, country 2. FORM: (use of design elements/ principles: 3. MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUE: (art making of origin, period/style) color, shape, value, texture, line, space; balance, processes) contrast, emphasis, movement, etc.) 025. Lamassu from the citadel of Sargon II, Dur Imposing, tall and facing forward and dutifully, Alabaster Sharrukin (modern Khorsabad, Iraq) fairly symmetrical and balanced High-Relief sculpture (with portions in the round) Neo-Assyrian ca. 720-705 BCE 4. CONTENT: (subject & genre: iconography, 5. ORIGINAL CONTEXT/ SITE/ INTENDED symbolism, the story) FUNCTION OF THE WORK: (Overlap to #6) Composite beast (with ‘5 legs’, so it can be seen fully At the entrance of the royal throne room in the at any angle) citadel of Sargon II Headdress marks it as a deity Quality not uniformly high because so many were Symbolizes power and the king’s right to rule created 6. INTENDED PURPOSE & MOTIVATION (why was it 7. INNOVATION/ CHANGE(S): 8. THEME(S): made?); PATRON/AUDIENCE (who was it made for?); Narrative component, piece was a guardian of Power, human & animal, supernatural, deity IMAGE OF WORK ARTIST’S DECISION MAKING: sorts Sargon II had it made for his citadel COMPARE TO ANOTHER WORK: They served to guard and protect him as well as Like the Great Sphinx of Egypt, both of these symbolize his power CONVENTION/ TRADITION(S): pieces are composite beasts and serve to show Same technique of sculpture with rock, importance power. However, they were made with different of divine right and power styles and this piece was not funerary.
    [Show full text]
  • Ancient Near East (Aka Mesopotamia) Neolithic Jericho C. 7000 Bce Uruk (Sumerian) C
    Ancient Near East (aka Mesopotamia) Neolithic Jericho c. 7000 bce Uruk (Sumerian) c. 3500 - 2300 bce Ziggurat Cuneiform, Cylinder seals Inanna, Anu Votive Queen Puabi Gilgamesh registers Akkad c.2300-2100 bce Sargon, Enhuedonna, Naram Sin Stele Neo-Sumerian c.2100-1800 bce Gudea Lilith Babylon c.1900-539 bce Hammurabi Law code Shamash Hittites c.1450-1200 bce Lion Gate Assyria c.1300-612 bce Assurnasirpal II Lamassu Neo Babylonia 612-539 bce Ishtar gate, Nebuchadnezzar, Ba’al, Marduk Persia 539-331 bce Persepolis, Apadana Ancient Iran beaker 5000 bce Scythian gold Ancient Near East (Mesopotamia & Persia) 4,000 BCE Neolithic city of Jericho, 8000-7000 bce Walls, tower Jericho, altered skulls, 7000 bce Plaster, paint, cowrie shells ” Mesopotamia, Euphrates river Sumeria 3500-2300 bce cuneiform Ziggurat Ancient Sumerian Ziggurat, c. 3,500-3000 bce White Temple, Uruk (Erech Bible, Warka today) SE View, right Ancient Sumer, White Temple, Uruk c. 3,500 Ancient Sumer, White Temple, Uruk c. 3,500 Ancient Sumer, White Temple, Uruk c. 3,500 Nanna Ziggurat , Ur, Neo-Sumeria 2,100 BCE Decorative cone mosaics cuneiform Cylinder seals & stamps Cylinder Seals Uruk Vase, 3,300. alabaster 36” Registers? Pose of body? Ground line? Woman from Uruk, 3,300 Marble, 8” Lost, then recovered during war in Iraq 2003 Royal Tombs of Ur 2,550 Queen Puabi Royal Tombs of Ur 2,550 Queen Puabi Bull Harp, 2550, Royal tombs of Ur Plaque 13” Medium? Registers? Ground line? Pose of figures? Gilgamesh, King of Ancient Sumer Votive figures, Tell Asmar, Iraq, marble 2,700 BCE
    [Show full text]
  • The Intercession Scenes in Ancient Mesopotamian Cylinder Seals Till the End of the Old Babylonian Period (*)
    id1858875 pdfMachine by Broadgun Software - a great PDF writer! - a great PDF creator! - http://www.pdfmachine.com http://www.broadgun.com Egyptian Journal of Archaeological and Restoration Studies "EJARS" An International peer-reviewed journal published bi-annually Volume 7, Issue 2, December - 2017: pp: 133-147 www. ejars.sohag-univ.edu.eg Original article THE INTERCESSION SCENES IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN CYLINDER SEALS TILL THE END OF THE OLD BABYLONIAN PERIOD (*) Elhewaily, S. Egyptology dept., Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo Univ., Cairo, Egypt. E-mail: [email protected] Received 20/11/2016 Accepted 2/10/2017 Abstract By the means of the expression “intercession scenes", which this paper presents, it is generally meant a group of figurative themes which appear on Mesopotamian cylinder seals impressions since the end of the Early Dynastic period and become quite frequent since the Akkadian period. This theme also became very popular under the third Dynasty of Ur and Babylonian period. Concerning this theme it is consisted of three elements: the worshipper who stand before the god, the interceding god and the deified king or another male or female god. These are the main characters of this type of scene that I will deal with and interpret it in this article in Mesopotamian cylinder seals till the end of the Old Babylonian Period. Keywords: Mesopotamian cylinder seals, Intercession Scenes, Worshiper, The deified king. 1. Introduction A popular subject in the third dynasty of Ur because the status of early dynastic cylinder seals is the banquet kingship reached a new peak at this scene or symposium. Presentation scenes, time.
    [Show full text]
  • The British Museum Review 2019–20
    Reaching out Review 2019/20 Contents 08 Director’s preface 10 Chairman’s foreword 14 Headlines Reaching out 26 New museums in Africa 28 Listening and learning 30 Fighting heritage crime 32 National moves 34 100 years of conservation and science National 38 National tours and loans 44 National partnerships 48 Archaeology and research in the UK International 56 International tours and loans 60 International partnerships Ready for X-ray 64 World archaeology and research 2020 marks 100 years since the BM launched one of the world’s London first dedicated museum science 72 Collection laboratories. Here the celebrated 76 Exhibitions Roman sculpture of the Discobolus 90 Learning (‘Discus-Thrower’) is shown in the X-ray imaging lab of the BM’s World 98 Support Conservation and Exhibitions Centre. 108 Appendices 6 Egyptian cat, c.600 BC Director’s preface The Gayer-Anderson cat, one of the most beloved objects in the BM, bears symbols of protection, healing and rebirth. (Height 14 cm) The month of March 2020 saw unprecedented Despite the profound change in our living and This situation does present an opportunity to think scenes at the British Museum as we responded working habits, and this strange enforced period more calmly, perhaps more profoundly, about our to the COVID 19 health crisis. BM colleagues of ‘exile’, I have been so pleased to see how our work and our achievements but also to think about were outstanding, helping us to close the audiences have continued to engage with the how to improve what we are doing once we have Museum in an orderly way and making sure collection and the BM digitally.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 from Mesopotamia to the Nebraska State Capitol
    From Mesopotamia to the Nebraska State Capitol: Assyrian Revival and New American Meanings Eva Miller From Mesopotamia to the Nebraska State Capitol: Assyrian Revival and New American Meanings Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue’s influential ‘prairie skyscraper’ design for the Nebraska State Capitol, inaugurated in 1928, has long defied stylistic categorisation. A now greatly overlooked element of its unclassifiable style was noted in numerous assessments at the time which identified ‘Oriental’ ‘Assyrian’ or ‘Assyrian-Babylonian’ features which, despite (or because of) their associations with a deep antiquity, contributed to the new, distinctly American architecture of the building, and of its sculptural programme by Lee Lawrie. This article considers the Assyrianising tendencies of the Capitol in the context of Art Deco interest in ‘revival’ of ancient styles, and American civic architecture’s engagement with the ancient Middle Eastern past as an origin of civilization. Goodhue’s close collaboration with Lawrie, muralist Hildreth Meière, and ‘symbologist’ Hartley Burr Alexander exemplified the productive and creative application of revived ancient iconography, which was employed in Nebraska in the service of various historical narratives and as a reflection of the designers’ aesthetic appreciation for Assyrian sculptures. Finally this article also investigates how the Capitol’s treatment of the ancient Mesopotamian ‘lawgiver’ Hammurabi influenced ‘Hammurabis’ in subsequent sculptural contexts, including in the State Capitol of Louisiana, American federal government buildings, and the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.1 In 1929, the year after architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue’s new State Capitol at Lincoln, Nebraska (fig. 1) opened to the public, the Nebraska-based journal The Prairie Schooner published a seven-page poem by a certain Rosemonde E.
    [Show full text]
  • Bowdoin College Museum of Art Assyria to America October 24
    Bowdoin College Museum of Art Assyria to America October 24, 2019–December 13, 2020 Labels Assyria to America explores the palace complex of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BCE), who constructed a lavish and powerful new capital at Nimrud (ancient Kalhu). This urban center thrived for over two centuries before being destroyed by an alliance of Babylonians and Medes around 612 BCE. Its story continues to evolve today. Largely abandoned for over 2,000 years, the site of Nimrud was rediscovered by Sir Austen Henry Layard, an English explorer, diplomat, and archaeologist who excavated the site from 1845 to 1851. Layard and his successors sent numerous artifacts to the British Museum and other European collections while producing lavishly illustrated publications aimed at the general public. Growing fascination with Assyria coincided with an increased American presence in the region. Dr. Henri Byron Haskell (Bowdoin Medical School Class of 1855), a missionary in the Ottoman province of Mosul, recognized an opportunity and sent five impressive reliefs to the College. Since the nineteenth century, excavations and studies of ancient Assyria have continued. Today, despite serious damage inflicted on the site by the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2015, resolute efforts to better understand the Assyrians are leading to new ways of interpreting the past. 1 Bowdoin College Museum of Art I just returned from Mosul, Assyria where I have some very fine slabs from Nineveh [sic], which I shall be pleased to present to Bowdoin College my Medical School alma mater. Henri Byron Haskell to Professor Parker Cleaveland, July 3, 1857 Generous support for this exhibition comes from the Stevens L.
    [Show full text]