Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Ancient Nubia Now at the MFA Boston

Ancient Nubia Now October 13, 2019–January 20, 2020 Ann and Graham Gund Gallery (Gallery LG31)
Ancient Nubia Now at the MFA Boston 
"Ancient Nubia Now" at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts- October 13, 2019 to January 20, 2020. A collection of jewelry, pottery and sculpture for the Sudanese Nile Valley. We caught up with this show near the end of its run at the MFA on a Bank of America "Museums on Us" weekend and we were glad we did. We've been putting off a big MFA visit until April when the new Basquiat show opens, but an afternoon exploring the MFA is always a good fallback for a cold and rainy January afternoon. If you have a Bank of America card you can get free admission to a number of museums around the country on the first full weekend of each month- click the link above for a State-by-State list.




Ancient Nubia Now at the MFA Boston 

What was ancient Nubia? For more than 3,000 years, 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. Ruling from the capitals of Kerma (2400–1550 BCE), Napata (750–332 BCE), and Meroe (332 BCE–364 CE), Nubian kings and queens controlled vast empires and trade networks, rivalling—and even 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.
Ancient Nubia Now at the MFA Boston 





Kush, Nubia, Ancient Nubia, Hieroglyphics, Archaeology
Hieroglyphics from the Sudanese Nile Valley
Ancient Nubia was home to some of Africa's earliest Kingdoms and Boston's MFA sponsored many of the earliest archaeological expeditions in this region of the Southern Nile along Egypt's border with Sudan. An area rich in gold and positioned along important trade routes towards their more famous Egyptian neighbors to the North the earliest Nubian Kingdom or Kush flourished beginning around 2000 BC.

An ancient Egyptian shawabty is a funerary figurine that was intended to magically animate in the Afterlife in order to act as a proxy for the deceased when called upon to tend to field labor or other tasks. This expressed purpose was sometimes written on the shawabty itself in the form of a "Shawabty Spell," of which versions of various lengths are known. Shorter shawabty inscriptions could also just identify the deceased by name and, when applicable, title(s). However, many shawabtys carry no text at all. The ideal number of such figurines to include in a tomb or burial seems to have varied during different time periods.
Funerary figures know as Shawabty (or Ushatbi) 
Pictured above are a collection of "Shawabty", these small funerary figures were buried with the Kings and Queens of Nubia to act as guardians and servants in the afterlife. Hundreds of these figures might be buried with a ruler, sometimes covering the floor around the sarcophagus. These figures were made in multiples often carry a tool and pack on their back, with the hieroglyphics found about their legs declaring their willingness to obey the deceased.

Shabti figures were statuettes, usually in the form of a mummy. The Egyptians believed that these would magically carry out any work they had to do in the afterlife. Often 365 shabti figuresn were placed in a tomb that's one for each day of the year
Close-up of several Swabaty figures
For the MFA show these Nubian swawabty were collected in a small darkened room and lit from beneath creating an impressive an dramatic effect. Presented are the shawabty belonging to King Taharqa. These Nubian examples share many aspects with their Egyptian counterparts but differ in several ways. For one, the Nubian swabaty are only used for royal burials. Most figures hold a narrow hoe in their left hand and a broader hoe in their right, and over the back is slung a pack of seeds but Nubian figures have been found to hold different tools, stand in different poses and have text unique to the region. 

Meant to magically animate in the afterworld, text found on some figures is believed to be a "Swabaty Spell" to animate, command or instruct the decased rulers minions.  

From Nuri, pyramid 36 (tomb of Queen Atakhabasken). 1917:excavated by the Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition; assigned to the MFA in the division of finds by the government of Sudan. (Accession date: March 1, 1920)
Baboon head from canopic vessel
A canopic vessel was used in the mummification process and would hold the entrails and viscera of the deceased. This elaborately carved alabaster head was found in the tomb of Queen Atakhabasken.
During mummification the liver, stomach, lungs and intestines were each housed in a separate jar representing the four sons of Horus. This baboon would have held the lungs and represents the god Hapy (or Hapi).  


Imsety the human headed son of Horus, protected the liver of the deceased and was in turn protected by the GoddessIsis. It seems that his role was to help revivify the corpse of the dead person, as he is asked to lift them up by Horus: "You have come to N; betake yourself beneath him and lift him up, do not be far from him, (even) N, in your name of Imsety." To stand up meant to be active and thus alive while to be prone signified death. In Spell 151 of the Book of the Dead Imsety is given the following words to say: "I am your son, Osiris, I have come to be your protection. I have strengthened your house Imset in Hieroglyphs i im z ti i enduringly
Canopic vessel in the form of Imsety 

The human head Imsety protected the liver. Unlike the other three sons of Horus, Imsety is always represented with a human head. It is believed Imsety was responsible for reviving the deceased upon crossing over to the afterworld. 

Statue of King Senkamanisken
Senkamanisken was a Kushite King that ruled from 640 to 620 BC in the Nubian city of Napata. Napata was the center of the Kingdom of Kush and is located in present day Karima in the Sudan.


Horus was the ancient Egyptian sky god who was usually depicted as a falcon, most likely a lanner or peregrine falcon.[7] His right eye was associated with the sun god, Ra. The eye symbol represents the marking around the eye of the falcon, including the "teardrop" marking sometimes found below the eye. The mirror image, or left eye, sometimes represented the moon and the god Djehuti (Thoth).[8]
EYE OF HORUS
The Eye of Horus or wedjat is a symbol of protection, royal power, and good health. This funerary amulet was buried with a King (or Queen) as protection in the afterlife. Horus was God of the Sky, his right eye representing the Sun and his left the Moon and these celestial bodies moved across the sky while Horus flew in the form of a falcon. 

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