Every year on or around May 18, museums around the world celebrate International Museum Day, a day that focuses on museums and the role they play in our ever-changing society. This year’s International Museum Day theme is “Museum and Memory,” which reflects beautifully the role of museums. The NCMA’s collection—like that of every museum—preserves the memory of cultures and people, past or present.  By visiting the permanent collection galleries of West Building, you can discover these cultures and eras, and create your own memories as well.

The NCMA is celebrating International Museum Day on Wednesday, May 18, with free admission to 30 Americans, a superb exhibition presenting the works of contemporary African American artists, and a free screening of Purvis of Overtown, a documentary on contemporary artist Purvis Young, an icon of Black culture whose work is featured in 30 Americans. East Building will be open until 8 pm for those attending the screening and visiting 30 Americans.

This year during International Museum Day a special focus is also placed on Africa and highlighting its important cultural contributions to the world. Come celebrate International Museum Day and African heritage at the NCMA on May 18! Visit the African collection in West Building until 5 pm (and as the NCMA’s unofficial spokesperson for IMD, I can make a shameless plug for my own galleries—Egypt is in Africa, so take a look at the ancient Egyptian galleries as well and marvel at the long history and cultural diversity of this fascinating continent). 

Happy International Museum Day to all!

In honor of this year’s theme “Museum and Memory,” we want to hear about your most  memorable NCMA experience. Share a story or a photo on our Facebook wall by May 18 and we’ll randomly select one person to win an NCMA prize pack.

The mysterious message

“Ô living ones who are upon the earth who shall pass by this tomb of mine, faring north or south, and who shall utter ‘1000 loaves of bread and 1000 jugs of beer for the owner of this tomb—his nickname is Golden Boy,’ I shall intercede for them in the necropolis. But for any man who shall enter this tomb in his impurity, I shall wring his neck like a bird! He shall be judged for it by the Great God.”*

Signed, Golden Boy

Golden Boy’s message might sound rather cryptic, but it’s in fact quite simple. Our glittery friend is inviting you stop by the Egyptian galleries to visit him next time you come to the NCMA.  If you and your family are interested in all things Egyptian, the best day to visit would be April 30, during our A Date with Egypt family fun day!

Come and immerse yourself in ancient Egyptian culture by taking a gallery tour with an ancient Egyptian guide or participating in the archaeological dig (don’t forget your archaeologist hat). You also can dress up as an Egyptian princess or a pharaoh, join in some art-making activities, and meet the NCMA’s only archaeologist. Oh! And don’t forget to say hello to Golden Boy and offer him some bread and beer (his favourite treats) by quietly whispering the following words: ‘hetep dee inek heh tah heh kheneket en kah en nehen neboo’.**

Mark your calendars for A Date with Egypt on April 30!

We’re looking forward to seeing you.

* This type of text (what Egyptologists call the ‘Address to the Living’) is found at the entrance to Old Kingdom mastaba tombs as an invitation to passers-by to enter the tomb and give offerings. Those failing to do so would be sued by the deceased when they got to heaven.

**An offering of 1000 loaves of bread and 1000 jugs of beer that I give for Golden Boy’s soul.

Not only did we create an Ethafoam mummy to support the various pieces of  the Gilded Mummy Covering, but we also had to make a special mount for the mummy so it could stand upright. This mount for the mount—Golden Boy’s guts, if you will—is hidden inside the Ethafoam body and was made right here in the carpentry shop (just like his mummy body was made in the conservation lab).

When Stacey made the mummy form, she carved a long, narrow space in the middle of the body, from Golden Boy’s feet to his chest. A long, threaded rod (7/8-inch diameter) was inserted vertically in the body (think of it as Golden Boy’s spine) and secured underneath the base. This keeps the mummy upright and stable. However, this was not enough. A 5-by-5-inch cavity was created in his chest so that the rod could be attached to a brass plate with a flange that had also been inserted in Golden Boy’s body. From this flange, two thin brass threaded rods (3/8-inch diameter) were screwed horizontally to the backboard of the case. You can imagine those as Golden Boy’s innards. Or maybe his heart.

The hole in Golden Boy’s chest is cleverly hidden by his gold pectoral. When we installed the Gilded Mummy Covering, we simply removed the pectoral and, just like a character in a Frankenstein movie, I stuck my hands in there and screwed the rods attached to the flange into the backboard. It was a delicate operation, almost like heart surgery, but it was all for our boy’s well-being.

A systematic catalogue is a book that features every single painting or artefact in a collection. SysCats (that’s what curators call this type of catalogue) are very important because they show the world (the general public and scholars alike) what we have in our Museum, and they encourage further academic research. The Museum is planning a series of systematic catalogues, a volume for each of the collections in its holding. Curator Dennis Weller published the first of these catalogues, Seventeenth-Century Dutch and Flemish Paintings, which you can purchase at the Museum Store. (It’s a fabulous book!)

Second in the series, the Egyptian SysCat will feature all 37 artifacts, each beautifully illustrated with recent colour photographs. The catalogue entries will include a very detailed description (what is it, what was it used for, what does it mean, how old is it, where does it come from, who owned it before us, etc.), a translation of the hieroglyphs, publications in which the objects appeared … basically,  everything you always wanted to know about our Egyptian collection!

It’s long and tedious work (just ask Dennis), and I have been studying the Egyptian artefacts for five years in order to write this catalogue. Conservator Noelle Ocon and I have taken x-rays of several objects (including the coffins of Amunred and Djed Mut), Billy and I took the grain mummy for a CT scan last summer, and I have spent endless hours doing research and deciphering hieroglyphs. We even had a conservation scientist (think CSI for art) come to the NCMA to take samples of various pigments for analysis.

There are a few more things we want to do—take a sample for thermoluminescence dating and look at an object or two under ultraviolet light—before we complete the research. That’s what is happening this week. Noelle will set up lab equipment in the gallery in order to do a complete conservation assessment of the collection.

While the gallery are closed, you can certainly stand quietly by the stanchions to peek at the activities within. However, we do ask that you not disturb Noelle, me, or any staff member working in the gallery. If you have questions, just send an e-mail or post a comment on the blog. Thank you for your consideration.

Support for this research has been provided in part by GlaxoSmithKline and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Ann and Jim Goodnight Fund for Curatorial and Conservation Research and Travel.

While walking the ancient art galleries (Egyptian, Classical and Mesoamerican) and keeping a keen eye out for hands gravitating towards artefacts that cannot be touched, I realised that I missed chatting with visitors in the galleries. Adults and kids came to me with comments, questions, requests to take photos with me (!) and praises about the new Egyptian galleries and the West Building. Their enthusiasm was infectious. How can working in the galleries not be fun? It’s tiring, but it’s fun when there are plenty of people around. Over the course of the weekend, I had good laughs with visitors and answered many questions about a variety of things; however, three questions came up over and over. I thought I would share these questions and their answers with you.

What is gesso? Gesso is a primer of fine plaster and glue used in art to smooth surfaces—notably wood—on which paint was applied (gypsum plaster and whiting plaster (powdered limestone) were used in ancient Egypt). The Egyptians also used gesso on objects that were to be gilded with gold leaf. You will see gesso listed on labels for wooden objects such as that of Figure of a Man, Model of Boat, and Coffin of Amunred as well as that of Golden Boy’s Gilded Mummy Covering.

What does b.c.e. / c.e. mean? b.c.e. stands for ‘Before Common Era’ and c.e. for ‘Common Era.’ This system of numbering the years is increasingly becoming the norm for museums and the wider scholarly community.  It replaces the traditional designations of B.C. (for “Before Christ”) and A.D. (for “Anno Domini” or “In the year of Our Lord”) which are now regarded as insensitive to non-Christian religious traditions. You will find the b.c.e. or c.e. designation used in galleries where there is ancient art and where the collections span both eras.

How do you cast a bronze statue? Rather than trying to describe the very complicated process that is the lost wax method, I will simply say this: the ancient Egyptians practiced lost wax casting thousands of years before Auguste Rodin was even born! (I know this question specifically referred to the Rodin bronzes, but as an Egyptologist, I always find ways to bring the attention back to Egypt!) If you don’t believe me, take a look at our bronze Isis and Horus in the Egyptian gallery (at the very back) next time you visit the Museum! And visit the Rodin Court and Garden as well; it’s right next to the Egyptian gallery (and that’s probably why I was asked that question so many times). I know I said I would share the answers to all the questions, but I think that for this one you might have to visit the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation website. You will find there the answer neatly illustrated with one of Rodin’s works.

My days as security guard are now over, but you will see me wandering in the galleries. I’m always available for a quick chat or a few questions.

(See full size image)

And here are some of Stacey’s awesome mummy-making photos with captions on Flickr:

Photo: Statue of King Senkamanisken in situ, Temple of Amun, Dangeil, Sudan. Reproduced by permission of the Berber-Abidiya Archaeological Project (click image for more information). All rights reserved.

After spending two weeks in Germany visiting fabulous Egyptian museums and collections, I headed south for the excavations at Dangeil. Those who have been following the blog will recall that last year there was nothing mentioned in the entries regarding any discovery we might have made. In truth, due to the sensitive nature of our research, I could not share with you our exciting 2008 discoveries.

But that is a thing of the past! Our exciting finds were published* recently in Sudan & Nubia, the journal of the Sudan Archaeological Research Society and I can now share them with you online.

In an archaeologist’s life, major and significant discoveries are rare. Normally, we find things interesting only to other specialists in the field. Occasionally, you find something absolutely mind-boggling, something that you can’t explain but know that somehow it’s very important… and it’s even better if that special something is actually beautiful and rare. That’s what happened last year at Dangeil.

We found magnificent granite statues of Napatan kings.

We found royal statues, can you imagine? Immediately, we knew we had something special because granite is not found in the area of Dangeil. The nearest granite quarry is at the Third Cataract, much further north, across the Bayuda Desert. Additionally, the artistic style and craftsmanship indicated that we were dealing with sculpture of the Napatan period (8^th-4^th century b.c.e.), rather than the Meroitic period (3rd century b.c.e to mid-3rd century c.e.). And that completely baffled us. What were these Napatan statues doing in Dangeil, a Meroitic site that has yet to reveal Napatan occupation?

Statues like the ones at Dangeil have been found at only two other sites in the Sudan: Napata, the first capital of Kush located near the Fourth Cataract (after which the Napatan period is named), and Dukki Gel, near Kerma, an ancient city near the Third Cataract, where the Napatans were very active (and later the Meroites, too). The statue cache at Napata was found by George A. Reisner (Harvard-Boston Expedition) in 1916 and that at Dukki Gel by Charles Bonnet and the Swiss Mission to Kerma in 2003.

Considering that the region of Meroe (the second capital of Kush, which gave its name to the Meroitic period) has so far revealed little evidence of royal Napatan occupation our discovery was surprising to say the least. In fact, some archaeologists who heard rumours of our find could not even believe we had found Napatan statues at our Meroitic site! Yet, there we were with three granite sculptures of powerful Napatan kings. Let me introduce them to you.

King Taharqo (690-664 b.c.e.), probably the most famous Kushite king who ruled Egypt during the Twenty-fifth Dynasty (715-656 b.c.e.). His statue is the largest of all, weighing well over one ton (!).  While we have his body from shoulders to knees, and the statue base that includes his feet, we are still missing the lower legs and the head. (If you go back to my entry about my Tilley hat, you will see Taharqo from the back and me tracing the hieroglyphic inscription of the pillar onto a clear plastic sheet.)

King Senkamanisken (643-623 b.c.e.), whose statue is smaller but better preserved (as you can see from the picture above, he’s got a great body!). Once again, we’re missing his lower legs and head.

King Aspelta (593-568 b.c.e.), at least we think it’s Aspelta. Unlike the other two kings, we have his head and the base with the feet, but not his body! The name of the king is mentioned on the back pillar of the statue, generally between the shoulders and the knees… but we don’t have that part of the statue.  The facial features are very similar to statues of Aspelta from Napata and Dukki Gel, so it might actually be Aspelta.

We also have a small statue of a Meroitic queen, possibly the Kandake Amanitore.  We know the statue is Meroitic because of the iconography and artistic style. It was also carved out of locally available, poor quality sandstone.  There isn’t an inscription on the back of this statue, but because we have found over the years inscriptions mentioning or reliefs representing Amanitore, it might be her.  We know she build the temple we are currently digging, so why not?

As you might have guessed, we hoped to find the heads of Taharqo,  Senkamanisken and Amanitore during the 2009 season… but that was not to be. Instead we found interesting stratigraphy, post holes (lots of them), and earlier construction phases. However, with or without heads, we would like to find out how these statues ended up in Dangeil and why.  It might take a while, but we’re working on it.

* Julie R. Anderson and Salah eldin Mohamed Ahmed. What are these doing above the Fifth Cataract?!! Napatan royal statues at Dangeil. Sudan & Nubia 13 (2009):78-86.

The Berber-Abidiya Archaeological Project is a joint project of the British Museum, London, and the Sudan National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM), Khartoum. The excavations are directed by Drs Julie R. Anderson (BM) and Salah eldin Mohamed Ahmed (NCAM).

So, once Team Golden Boy had decided on an abstracted “mummy” mount for our Gilded Mummy Covering, and we had a scale model to show us how that mount might work (we call him Mini-Mummy-Me!), we looked around to see who else might have had the same idea. We discovered that the Brooklyn Museum of Art has a mummy covering in their collection that is displayed just the right way, and we got in touch with them to see how they did it.

Conveniently enough, I was making a trip up to NYC to visit a friend right around the time we discovered our mini-mummy’s bigger cousin, so I convinced my traveling companion to stop by the BMA to take a look. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to see the object outside of its case–the conservator’s schedule did not align with my time in Brooklyn. Nonetheless, the BMA allows non-flash photography, so we took some photos that (I hope) were helpful in developing our final design for the faux mummy mount.

(Also, I like to think that Mini-Mummy-Me had a good time traveling around NYC–he got to fly with me on the plane, and meet some long-lost relatives, and he even got to cross the Brooklyn Bridge!)

The staff at the BMA was also very generous in sharing information about their process and materials, so with our photos and their expertise, our ingenious Conservation Tech, Stacey Kirby, was able to formulate a plan of action for making our own mummy mount.

(Check out earlier episodes from the Adventures of Golden Boy, and be on the lookout for more, as Golden Boy prepares for his debut in the new building.)

Golden Boy with Mini-Mummy-Me

Dearest Golden Boy,

How lonely you must be without the support of your original mummy! We, the NCMA staff, have decided that your mummy-less existence must come to an end. In admiration of your glittering gilded hieroglyphs, slimming pectoral piece and flowing locks of cobalt blue helmet hair, we are proposing a new mummy for you.

But look! Meet Mini-Mummy-Me—NCMA’s newest Top Model! At 11” tall, MMM is rockin’ the newest mummy style of carved foam covered in the finest of fabrics—a.k.a. felt and cotton knit. (Plastic mounts are so 1983!) Yes, of course darling, MMM’s a bit small for you now—it’s just a model!—rest assured your final mummy will fit you perfectly. Your golden BLING will have their own custom-carved foam pieces embedded into the body of your mummy for support. No worries though—all pieces are easily removable in case you need a little “TLC” or go off-site for your speed dating lunches. We know that the new mummy can never fully replace your original mummy. Your special bond with your “O.M.” is one that we can only cherish and honor.

But you never know what might happen! Once you move into your modern Egyptian super-white penthouse, you can rock those house parties with your hot new mummy. Mingle with the other sexy single gilded mummy coverings and you, too, could be updating your Facebook status! We just can’t wait to see all the changes that are in store for you!

Keep rockin’ that museum scene, Golden Boy!

XOXO

Stacey