Ernesto Schiaparelli and the Italian Archaeological Mission (MAI): Predynastic Egypt at Museo Delle Antichità Egizie (Turin, Italy)

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Ernesto Schiaparelli and the Italian Archaeological Mission (MAI): Predynastic Egypt at Museo Delle Antichità Egizie (Turin, Italy) See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337276430 Ernesto Schiaparelli and the Italian Archaeological Mission (MAI): Predynastic Egypt at Museo delle Antichità Egizie (Turin, Italy) Chapter · January 2017 CITATIONS READS 0 63 1 author: Federica Ugliano Università di Pisa 12 PUBLICATIONS 24 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: 'Secrets of the Ancient Egyptian embalmers: an archaeological, historical and scientific investigation of the origins and development of mummification'. View project All content following this page was uploaded by Federica Ugliano on 16 August 2021. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. ERNeSTO SCHIAPAReLLI AND THe ITALIAN ARCHAeOLOGICAL MISSION (MAI): PReDYNASTIC EGYPT AT Museo delle ANTICHITà EGIZIE (TURIN, ITALY) FEDERICA UGLIANO Università di Pisa, Italy The focus of this paper is the Predynastic collection gathered by the Italian Egyptolo- gist Ernesto Schiaparelli (1856-1928) through his purchases on the antiquarian market and archeological excavations in Egypt as the leader of the MAI (Italian Archaeologi- cal Mission). The collection is now stored and on display in the Turin Museum – Museo delle Antichità Egizie, Torino, Italy. Schiaparelli never published extensively the results of his excavations in Predynastic sites such as Gebelein and Hemamieh, and most of his fieldwork records are still unedited. After briefly summarising the nature of the Predynastic collection and the work of the MAI in Egypt, the author presents the case study of the so-called “prehistoric village” of Heliopolis. Introduction The Turin Egyptian Museum houses one of the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world; it covers almost all the different aspects and periods of Egyptian history, from the Predynastic to the Graeco-Roman era. Founded in 1824 by king Carlo Felice of Savoy, who acquired a major collection gathered by Bernardino Drovetti, General Consul in Egypt, it was subsequently enhanced through acquisitions on the antiquarian market by Ernesto Schiaparelli, director of the Museum from 1894 to 1928 (Curto 1990; Donadoni Roveri 1987; 1988; 1990a; 1997; Moiso 2008a; 2008b). Schiaparelli’s first aim was to fill the his- torical, geographical and cultural gaps in the Turin collection, which preva- lently represented the New Kingdom and Theban area (Donadoni Roveri 1988: 29; Piacentini 2011: 62–63). He was mainly concerned with the lack of arte- facts dating from the beginning of Egyptian history, and the lack of an archae- ological context and certified provenance for the objects of the Turin collection. He therefore decided to set up his own mission in Egypt, where he excavated from 1903 to 1920. His explorations focused not only on famous pharaonic sites, but also on provincial, less promising but strategic venues. Unfortunately, Schiaparelli never published extensively the results of his excavations and most of his records are still unedited. The original documentation (notes, plans, draw- ings and photographs) is kept at the Archivio di Stato di Torino (State Archive of Turin), the archive of the Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Pae- saggio per la città metropolitana di Torino, and in G. Marro’s anthropological collection. 200 f. UGLIANO This essay presents the preliminary results of the author’s PhD research con- cerning selected groups of Predynastic artefacts stored in the Turin collection, and the excavations in Predynastic sites undertaken by Schiaparelli and his team, focussing on the case study of the so-called “prehistoric village” of Heliopolis. The analysis of unpublished archival documentation has shed light on the history of Schiaparelli’s excavations in Heliopolis, its results, and the Italian contribu- tion to the study of the Predynastic period. Ernesto Schiaparelli: director, leader of the MAI – Italian Archaeological Mission – and his interest in the Predynastic Founded in 1902 by Ernesto Schiaparelli and supported directly by king Vittorio Emanuele III, the MAI worked in Egypt for more than fifteen years and exca- vated eleven sites. The mission devoted special attention to the beginning of the Egyptian civilisation (D’Amicone 2013), particularly at the sites of Heliopolis, Qau el-Kebir, and Hemamieh. Ever since his appointment as director of the Turin collection, Ernesto Schia- parelli showed an interest in the prehistoric and protohistoric periods which were poorly represented at the time. In 1900-1901 he travelled to Egypt to buy arte- facts for the Museum on the antiquarian market. He purchased more than 1,400 artefacts, which were assigned progressive numbers and the indication “Suppl.”, which stands for “supplement”.1 Further artefacts were donated by the Cairo Museum. All these objects were registered in a new inventory, usually known as “Inventario Manoscritto” (Inv. Ms., i.e. manuscript inventory). This is not a mere list, as it often provides additional information about archaeological ­context, acquisition, and association between artefacts. This manuscript inven- tory is a fundamental source for our knowledge of the collection, as no other general hardcopy inventories have been produced so far.2 Out of the purchased objects, 918 – more than half of the total – were datable to the Predynastic period: Complessivamente, i 918 oggetti che sono da riferirsi al periodo preistorico, che importano una spesa totale di acquisto di L. 2,987,36 rappresentano una colle- zione che può esserci invidiata dai maggiori Musei, malgrado che in acquisti di consimili oggetti essi abbiano profuso somma di gran lunga maggiore. Per altra parte, essi riempiono una grande lacuna di questo Museo, il quale, di quell’antico periodo, non possedeva che pochissimi oggetti della collezione Drovetti […]. 1 The objects catalogued in the first publication of the Turin collection (Fabretti et al. 1882- 1888) are marked by progressive numbers and the indication “Cat.”, for “catalogue”. This is a distinct numbering sequence, so the indication “Cat.” or “Suppl.” is fundamental for correctly identifying an object. There is a third sequence, whose numbers are preceded by the designation “Provv.”, which assigns a provisory number when the original one, whether Cat. or S., is missing. 2 A copy of the Ms. Inv. is kept at the Turin State Archive, second deposit, bundle 2. ERNeSTO SCHIAPAReLLI AND THe ITALIAN ARCHAeOLOGICAL MISSION 201 Overall, the 918 artefacts datable to the prehistoric period, which were purchased for a total of 2,987.36 Lire, constitute a collection that all the major Museums may very well envy us, despite their having spent much larger sums in the purchase of objects of the same kind. Moreover, these objects fill a great lacuna in this Museum, which owned very few pieces, from the Drovetti collection, datable to this period […]. (Ernesto Schiaparelli, Report to the Minister of Public Education, 12/5/1901)3 Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to rely on the description provided by Schiaparelli, and some amount of interpretation is often necessary. Neverthe- less, in its definitive version, the Manuscript Inventory also includes the objects from the many field expeditions of the MAI in Egypt and is the mandatory starting point of any research concerning the Predynastic collection of the Turin Museum. According to this document and the official reports presented by Schiaparelli to the Minister of Public Education or to the King, Predynastic evidence was uncovered in Heliopolis (the so called “prehistoric village”), Qaw el-Kebir, Hemamieh and Gebelein.4 The first excavations to record Predynastic remains were the ones undertaken concomitantly at Qau el-Kebir (1905, 1906), Hemamieh (1905) and Heliopolis (1905, 1906). The results have never been published extensively. The only existing publication is a short descriptive article by Roberto Paribeni (1940), a prehistoric archaeologist of the Roman School of Archaeology, who comments on the Predynastic tombs found at Hemamieh in 1905, with a short description of their contents. The main issue with this article is that it was written many years after the actual excavation and no inventory numbers are associated with the objects described. Moreover, a group of 35 objects, mainly pottery, was donated by Schiaparelli and Paribeni to the National Prehistoric and Ethno- graphical Museum of Rome – Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico “Luigi Pigorini” (Cappozzo 2005-2007: 164–170). In the Manuscript Inventory, 294 objects are registered as coming from Hemamieh (S. 4680-5022). They are mostly vases or pottery sherds. Seven fish-shaped cosmetic palettes (S. 4055- 4061) are especially worthy of note.5 The site of Gebelein was also extensively investigated by the MAI in 1910, 1911, 1914 and 1920 (Schiaparelli 1921). Giulio Farina, Schiaparelli’s successor, 3 Turin State Archive, first deposit, bundle 241. 4 I would like to thank Prof. Rosa Boano and Prof. Renato Grilletto (Museo di Antropologia ed Etnogafia, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biologia dei Sistemi, Università degli Studi di Torino) for supplying available digital copies and all the related bibliography. See also Rabino Massa 2012. Further photographs from Aswan are kept at Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici ed Antichtà Egizie, but have not been yet scanned and made available (Trapani 2012). 5 So far, I have identified and studied S. 4055, 4056, 4059/02, 4049/03, 4060, 4061. 202 f. UGLIANO returned to this site in 1930,
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