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.