Introduction

Welcome to the ‘A Journey through ’ Learning Pack, created by History Centre for schools studying and the local area. This pack uses material from the Bankes Archive,

housed at Dorset History Centre, alongside BKL/H/J/6/11/A/17 - material written in ‘Narrative of the Life and

Adventures of Giovanni Finati’, edited by William Ref. D Ref. . It focuses on the travels of William John (1786-1855), particularly on his two voyages along the . He wrote to his father that he would be travelling “en grand seigneur… I have a noble barge with a cabin” and he engaged Finati as his guide. Finati greatly assisted William John during his time in Egypt, with Bankes later contributing heavily to the above book. For more information on William John, or the wider Bankes family, please see the information sheets later in the pack, or visit the Bankes Archive website. During his travels in Egypt, William John visited a variety of locations, often

recording them in detailed descriptions, 2/A/1 drawings, and mentioning them in

written correspondence. As such, we BKL/H/J/6/ decided to select a handful of the best -

represented locations that the Bankes Ref. D Ref. Archive records him as visiting, and provide an insight into these ancient monuments as many of them were being newly discovered. These materials will give pupils the opportunity to experience these sites before they became popular tourist attractions, through the eyes of one of the first travellers to visit them for thousands of years. With the connection of the Bankes family to Dorset schools, it is a unique opportunity to embed Ancient Egypt in their locality, with House (the seat of the Bankes family) holding Egyptian artefacts to compliment the collection held at Dorset History Centre. There is also a Learning Pack available for the Bankes family as whole, containing information and activities on the to World War Two.

hWe do value any feedback (positive or negative) regarding the pack, so please do contact us. Dorset History Centre can help you by…

 Providing copies of original source material in paper, electronic or CD format to support your lessons. The material will be made accessible before being supplied to the school, and we can supply extracts of complete or incomplete documents within a variety of different types of sessions. These include (but are not limited to):

o World War One o World War Two o Ancient Egypt o Local Art and Design o Development of local Towns, Schools and general local history o Source Analysis, Archive Skills, and Research Sessions

 Visiting your school and delivering workshop sessions based around copies of original source material, for a variety of ages and topics.  Hosting a full class or group of pupils at Dorset History Centre, giving pupils the chance to work with original documents. This also comes with the optional extra of a ‘behind the scenes’ tour, a chance to see how we work and how archive documents are preserved.  Supplementing your visits to any of the local Dorset museums with additional resources to help prepare for, or follow up on, your school trips.  Working with small groups of students to study their own family history or other larger projects around local history (such as Extended Projects).  Providing free learning resource packs on a variety of curriculum topics, all using primary source material from the Archives.

Please visit our website for more information about the types of sessions that we run and for our searchable catalogue.

Please note that there is a charge attached to centre activities, which may vary depending on what you require. For further details, please contact the centre.

Elliott Bailey- Archive Learning Officer Dorset History Centre Bridport Road Dorchester Dorset DT1 1RP Website: www.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/dorsethistorycentre Phone: 01305 250550

Use of Resources

Whilst the Bankes Archive is primarily housed and cared for by Dorset History Centre, it is a collection ultimately owned by the , and unless stated otherwise, the copyright used is ‘© National Trust: Bankes of Kingston Lacy family and estate archive, deposited with Dorset History Centre’.

In using this pack, you acknowledge that all resources are to be used for non-commercial educational purposes or private study and that you will not supply copies of it for any other use. Furthermore, if you do wish to use this material in anything other than an educational setting, or would like further clarification on copyright use, please contact the Dorset History Centre and we would be happy to advise you.

Due to the digital size of some of the resources, the quality has unfortunately had to be reduced to keep the data to a manageable size. However, if you require use of any the original high resolution images available within the pack, please contact the Dorset History Centre and state that you are using the Bankes Learning Resource Pack, before quoting the Resource Number and reference number (D-BKL/etc.). We will endeavour to supply you with the high resolution image free of charge, where possible. However, due to the large size of some of the digital images, there may be a small cost attached if alternative formatting is required.

Further Reading  The Bankes Archive Website https://dcc.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/bankes- archive/ Regularly updated with interesting blogs, stories and other material about the Bankes Archive.  The Exiled Collector, by Anne Sebba A biography on the life of .  The Obelisk and the Englishman, by Dorothy U. Seyler- The story of William John Bankes, from Regency , to Egyptology, to his later life.  Adventures in Egypt and : The Travels of William John Bankes, By Patricia Usick  Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Giovanni Finati (Two Volumes), dictated by Giovanni Finati and edited by William John Bankes- available for free online, extracts from Volume 2 are used throughout the resource pack.

Bankes Archive: Contextual Information

About the Bankes Archive

The Bankes family have lived in Dorset since the 17th Century and owned 16,000 acres of east Dorset and Purbeck, including Studland. During this time the Bankes family were often considered one of the most powerful families in England, owning both the estates of and Kingston Lacy. In 1981, when died, he left the 16,000 acre estate to the National Trust. Corfe Castle The Bankes Estate Collection is housed and cared for at the Dorset History Centre. The archive is stored in 800 boxes and is made up of approximately 25,000 individual items, containing a rich collection of documents that date from the 13th Century right through to the present day.

Opening up the Archive Until 2015, the Bankes Collection had only ever been partially opened up and catalogued. The boxes of documents needed examination, cataloguing and conserving. With the aid of grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and other generous donors, the Dorset History Centre is now exploring this wonderful collection in partnership with National Trust and Priest’s House Museum, and making the contents of the collection more accessible to the public.

Archives are full of stories of people, places and events. The Bankes Archive is no exception, containing manorial, legal and estate records alongside numerous personal documents (including letters, diaries, photographs and drawings). These allow us to gain a fascinating insight into the lives of the Bankes family and the people who worked for them and lived on their estates, particularly from the 17th Century onwards. The archive also contains records of the travels and Middle Eastern explorations of William John Bankes, one of the most prominent members of the family.

How can I find out more? Take a look at the Bankes project website and follow the project blog and Twitter account to keep up-to-date with project news. If you would like to volunteer for the project then please take a look at any available positions on Dorset History Centre’s volunteer’s page. The Bankes Archive: Life on the Bankes Estate CorfeCastle Throughout the 500 year period documented within the Bankes

Archive, the family owned 16,000 acres -

of east Dorset and Purbeck (including NTPL/David Studland). During this time the Bankes family were often considered one of

the most influential families in England, Levenson owning both the estates of Corfe Castle and Kingston Lacy until they were bequeathed to the National Trust by Henry John Ralph Bankes (referred to as Ralph Bankes) in 1982. Being rich in both history and culture, each of these residences has many stories to share.

Originally built by William the Conqueror between 1066 and 1087, Corfe Castle remained a Royal Fortress until it was sold in 1572 by Queen Elizabeth I to her Lord Chancellor, Sir Christopher Hatton. Plans of the castle were drafted by the steward of Hatton, Ralph Treswell, and are the oldest surviving surveys of the castle. It wasn’t until 1635 that the castle came into the possession of the Bankes family, with Sir John Bankes buying the Corfe Castle estate in 1635. During the English Civil War, the

©KingstonLacy castle came under siege in both 1643 and 1645, with the Royalist Bankes family defending against Parliamentary forces until they were betrayed by one of their own soldiers. This was followed by the

confiscation and demolition of the castle,

-

National TrustImages before the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 when the Bankes’ were given back their property.

However, instead of rebuilding Corfe Castle, Sir Ralph Bankes (son of Sir John Bankes) opted to build Kingston Hall. In the 1660s the House became the main residence for the Bankes family, going through multiple restorations to keep in line with current trends and add modern conveniences such as servant’s quarters and extended parkland areas.

Both estates not only housed the Bankes family, but also those who worked on the estates, whose stories are intertwined with that of the estate itself, such as Housekeepers, servants and farmers. The Bankes Archive: William John Bankes MP (1786-1855)

William John Bankes, born on 11th December 1786, was the second son of Henry NationalTrust. © Creative Bankes II and his wife Frances. Handsome, conceited and a great talker, he baffled his old-fashioned father but was doted on by his mother. An educated and wealthy man, he attended both Westminster School and Trinity College Cambridge, before following in his father’s footsteps and becoming an MP, initially for Truro (1810), followed by Cambridge

University (1822-1826), Marlborough (1829-1832) and Commonslicence (CCBY finally Dorset (1832-1835). During his time at Trinity College he met and they became close friends, with Byron considering Bankes his “collegiate pastor, and master, and patron’ who ‘ruled the Roast – or rather the Roasting – and was father of all mischiefs’.”

It is widely believed that William largely considered the - act of becoming an MP as his family duty, not being particularly active or NC) prominent during his time in the House of Commons. His heart was only ever really set on his travels, particularly to Egypt and the Middle East, which began in 1812. Starting in Spain and Portugal, he later travelled on to Alexandria in 1814. Egypt soon captured his imagination and he started to plan a longer trip south, up the Nile. William engaged Giovanni Finati as his guide for these travels, and Finati accompanied his ‘English Gentleman of Fortune’ for the next four years acting as his fixer and interpreter, among other roles.

William Bankes recorded his journeys along the Nile by way of copious sketches and paintings, sketching alone on his first journey in 1815. On his second more ambitious trip in 1818, the party included three talented artists: Henry Beechey, Dr Alessandro Ricci and Louis Linant de Bellefonds (a young French midshipman). They visited and recorded numerous tombs and temples that they encountered on the route.

In 1806 William became heir to Kingston Lacy due to the death of his older brother, Henry. At this point he began sending various notes, drawings and artefacts there during his travels. Although William exiled himself to Venice in 1841 to avoid prosecution for homosexuality (which at the time was illegal and punishable by death), he continued to send items home to his Kingston Lacy collection. It is widely believed that he secretly visited his beloved home several times to admire his collection, before his death in 1855.

Egypt Information Sheets

The map below shows the sites which will be covered in this pack. For more information on other sites visited, see the website or search the catalogue. Please also note that following the building of the Aswan High Dam in the mid- 20th Century, many temples, such as those on the Island of , were relocated to higher ground where they remain to this day. In this pack, the location referred to is the modern day location.

Philae Kalabsha

Wadi es-sebua

Jebel Barkal

Meroe The Island of Philae

Mentioned by ancient writers such as Ptolemy, Seneca and Pliny, the Island of Philae is the site of an ancient temple complex built and added to by multiple Pharaohs. The oldest construction at the site, the vestibule, was built by Nectanebo I between 380 and 362 BC, with the Great Temple of Isis being founded by Ptolemy II (285-246 BC) and reworked and adapted The Island of Philae ©Ivan Marcialis by later generations.

Philae is primarily recognised for its religious significance to Ancient Egyptian culture, with the site not only containing a temple dedicated to the goddess Isis, but also said to be one of the burial places of Osiris. The temple itself consists of several chambers and antechambers, as well as an inner sanctum which still contains a pedestal on which the image of Isis would have sat. It is likely that this figure would have been removed and ceremonially paraded to other temples, such as those of her husband (and brother) Osiris, as well as being a pilgrimage point for the cult of Isis. The site would have been one of the last places where the Egyptian religion survived after the introduction of Christianity to Egypt, with the complex finally closing in about 550 AD, when it became used as a church. This led to many of the Egyptian facades being defaced and damaged due to the representation of non-Christian imagery.

The temples from the Island are now found on the reservoir of the Aswan Dams, however this is not its original location. Due to the building of the Aswan Low Dam in 1902, the area in which the temple complex stood was regularly flooded, damaging these monuments. The decision was taken to do something about this when the Aswan High Dam was built, so in 1972 a UNESCO project began to move the buildings about 500 metres away to the nearby Island of Agilkia, where the complex sits today. The project involved The Trojan Kiosk prior to its removal to Agilika Island dismantling the buildings into about 4000 pieces and relocating them to higher ground, piece by piece, and reworking the new location to replicate the original island as closely as possible. In all, it took 9 years to complete the relocation. Temple at Kalabsha

Started in the late Ptolemaic period and finished during the reign of Emperor Augustus (30 BC- AD 14), the construction of the Temple of Kalabsha contains elements of both Roman and Egyptian decoration, some of which was never finished. Built on the much older site of Amenhotep II, the temple is dedicated to the god Mandulis (or Merul), the Sun god of the Nubian region. Mandulis was often pictured in the form of a hawk but with a human head, sometimes wearing an elaborate headdress of cobras, plumes and ram’s horns, and is frequently equated with the Egyptian god Horus. The Nubian Sun god Mandulis (or Merul) © Ben Pirard

Like so many temples in the region, the temple at Kalabsha was relocated in the 1960s following the building of the Aswan High Dam and the rising waters of Lake Nasser. Originally located at ‘Bab al-Kalabsha’ (Gate of Kalabsha), it was divided into 13000 blocks and transported to its current position, just south of the High Dam. During the disassembly of the temple, it was found that some of the stones and decoration were reused from earlier monuments. Widely considered to be the largest and one of the best examples of a free standing Nubian temple, it was still built in the traditional Egyptian style, with an open court, columns and screen- walls leading to the sanctuary area and antechambers. The introduction of Christianity in the region lead to the temple being used as a church. Fortunately for us, the Egyptian art work was not damaged or defaced nearly as much as at other sites.

Hypostyle Hall at Kalabsha Temple ©www.memphistours.com Wadi es-Sebua

Wadi es-Sebua, built in approximately 1220 BC, is the second largest temple in the Nubian region, only beaten by Abu Simbel. The name, meaning Valley of the Lions, was given to the site by locals because of the Sphinxes, with a lion’s body and the king’s head, lining the approach to the

The sphinx lined approach at Wadi es-Sebua ©Dennis G temple. These, along with rest of the Jarvis temple, were built by Ramesses II, with the site being known in ancient times as “Temple of Amun of Ramesses II”. There was also an earlier temple found on the same site built by Amenhotep III, which Ramesses II restored and added to over 100 years later following its destruction and defacement.

The larger temple built by Ramesses II was dedicated to the worship or Ra- Horakhty, Amun and Ramesses himself deified, and was used as a port or place to rest for those travelling along the Nile. It was this same positioning which meant that it was threatened by the consequences of the building of the Aswan High Dam, so in 1964 both temples were dismantled and moved 4km west, where they now sit close to the Temples of Dakka and Maharraqa. It was originally built by Libyan prisoners used as forced labour, which is evident The Forecourt of the Temple of Wadi es-Sebua ©Dennis G Jarvis by a lower quality of craftsmanship in some areas compared to other structures of the time.

As was the case with so many other temples following the introduction of Christianity, Wadi es-Sebua was converted into a church in the 5th Century AD. This led to many of the reliefs and images in the temple being covered with plaster which, ironically, helped preserve them better.

Abu Simbel temples

Allegedly named after the young local boy who first led explorers to the site, Abu Simbel was rediscovered by Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1813 and was later excavated by the Italian explorer Giovanni Belzoni. The site consists of two temples and was originally carved directly from the mountainside and located in Nubia, near the border with . Known as the ‘Temple of Ramesses, beloved by Amun’ Great Temple of Ramesses II ©Dennis Jarvis and built by Ramesses II in the 13th Century BC, its purpose was supposedly twofold. Firstly, the complex was built as monument to himself and his Queen, Nefertari, to commemorate his victory at the Battle of Kadesh. Secondly, the imposing colossi were used to impose his authority and the Egyptian religion in the region, acting as a symbol of his power to his southern Nubian neighbours.

The larger of the two temples was built by Ramesses and dedicated to Ra-Harakhty, Ptah and Amun, as well as himself. The four colossi are depictions of himself sitting on the throne, wearing the double crown, with smaller carvings around his feet representing his children, wife and mother. Inside the temple, the walls are decorated with Ramesses and Nefertari worshipping and making offerings to the gods, as well as depictions of the victorious Battle of Kadesh. The smaller temple is devoted to Hathor and Nefertari, with the colossi of Nefertari appearing the same size alongside Ramesses. This is unusual, as often the statues of queens would never be taller than the knee of colossal statues of the Pharaoh, a likely symbol of power. Each temple would have had its own priest who represented the king in various daily rituals. Each priest would have had to be a very wise and learned man, to the same level as Pharaoh, in order to best represent him. Colossi of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel ©Kasbah/Fotolia

The temple complex eventually fell into disuse and was covered in sand, until it was rediscovered by Burckhardt, an acquaintance of William John. The complex was later relocated in its entirety following the planned construction of the Aswan High Dam. Dissected into 16000 blocks and weighing up to 30 tons each, the UNESCO project cost $40 million at the time and took about 9 years from start to finish. Block by block, the mammoth task to relocate the temples was completed in 1968, moving each block 200 metres back from the river and 65 metres higher.

Jebel (or Gebel) Barkal, meaning Sacred or Holy Mountain in Arabic, is a small mountain approximately 440km North of Khartoum, Sudan. The distinctive flat topped mountain, at 98 metres tall was a landmark used by traders hoping to cross the Nile, as it is said to be the point at which it was easiest to Jebel Barkal, see the ‘uraeus’ on the left of the mountain cross. ©David Stanley.

The Ancient Egyptians identified Jebel Barkal as the birthplace and primary southern residence of their god Amun, leading the area to become a significant cultural and religious centre. It is possible that this is at least in part due to a natural formation in the rock (see picture), perceived as several possible identities, most pertinently a rearing uraeus serpent wearing the tall white crown. As the serpent, which was also worn on the kings crown, was used as a symbol of sovereignty The mask of Tutankhamun, complete with uraeus on forehead. ©Erik Hooymans in Egyptian culture, the rock formation ‘proved’ that the territory was rightfully theirs to rule, as given by the god Amun.

This led to the creation of the Temple of Amun at the base of the mountain, with Thutmose III likely laying the foundations before it was completed by Ramesses II. Subsequently, it was added to and extended by later kings and Pharaohs. The sacred site also houses the of many rulers from the 1st to the 3rd century BC, acting as a The Pyramids at Jebel Barkal ©Emma Thomson royal cemetery during the Meroitic Kingdom. Meroe

Located on the East bank of the Nile, the Ancient City of Meroe can be found approximately 6km North East of Shendi, Sudan. The ancient city was the base of the flourishing , however not a huge amount is known about the growth of the city due to the script of the time, Meroitic, remaining largely undeciphered. From what we are able to translate, as well Pyramids at Meroe ©B N Chagny as information from other sources, we know that city was home to a thriving and valuable iron industry, which was only helped by the fact that it was located at the crossroads of major trade routes.

The city grew to be increasingly powerful, with the metropolis being made the capital of the Kingdom of Kush for several centuries. The Kushites conquered and ruled much of Egypt between 712 and 657 BC, with the Kushite rulers of this time often referred to as the ‘Black Pharaohs’. Although located in Upper Nubia and later than many other Egyptian monuments, the culture of Meroe during this time seems to have been heavily influenced by Egyptian culture and practices, with Egyptian gods often being mixed in with local gods.

Close to the city of Meroe lie over 200 pyramids, primarily arranged in three groups, many of which are in ruins. These pyramids, which range from 6 metres to 30 metres in height, are considered ‘Nubian’ pyramids, as they are smaller than those of their northern cousins, with narrower bases and steeper sides. They were built between 2700 and 2300 years ©Scott D. Haddow ago, with many of them housing royalty and other important individuals from the region. Many of the tops of the pyramids were destroyed by treasure hunters and looters, but those that have survived give us an interesting insight into the mix of Egyptian and Nubian culture of the area. The decoration in the chapels attached to the pyramids tell us that the occupants were either laid to rest, mummified, or burnt, before being placed in wooden cases and covered in jewellery. It also appears that they may have adopted the practice of burying servants and animals with the deceased, as their remains were also found in some of the pyramids.