SCHOLARS, SCOUNDRELS, AND THE SPHINX: A Photographic and Archaeological Adventure Up the Nile 28 January - 30 July 2000

		Introduction
		Exhibition Overview
		Photographs and Artifacts
		Exhibition Mini-Tour
		Ancient Egypt Webpage
		Selected Web Resources

  INTRODUCTION

The McClung Museum has ushered in the new century with an exhibition that celebrates Egypt, the land of the pharaohs, in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The exhibition explores the Nile River Valley between 1850 and 1930, at a time that saw the birth of Egyptology as a science and the flowering of photography. It was a pivotal time in the development of scholarly research. It also saw the emergence of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo through the relentless determination of the great French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. This period is one of tremendous fascination with ancient Egypt and one that witnessed a wealth of important records produced by Egyptologists and photographers, who bathed the world in new light about the country of the pyramid builders. It was an exciting and dramatic age, when an intense interest and study of a rich culture and its treasures were at its peak. The exotic tales of much earlier explorers and travelers were changing into systematic investigation and documentation of ancient Egypt.

  EXHIBITION OVERVIEW

The exhibition is a brief introduction to the important discoveries by a few leading Egyptologists, and the memorable views of the Nile River Valley produced by gifted and industrious photographers. Each documented Egypt in ways of enduring value. They witnessed and recorded the 19th century state of the monuments and, through their work, awakened in people a curiosity to learn more.

EXCAVATION OF A MASTABA TOMB. (82K)

This 19th century photograph shows the famous Egyptologist Auguste Mariette as he supervises the removal of objects from an Old Kingdom mastaba tomb at Saqqara.

During the period covered by the exhibition, the discipline of Egyptology moved forward with great strides, and improved archaeological methods were established. At the same time, new technological developments in photography were introduced, and photographic records became more useful to research. The juxtaposition of photographs and ancient objects in the exhibition makes clear why people came to Egypt and what seized their imagination.

SCHOLARS, SCOUNDRELS, AND THE SPHINX also suggests the condition of ancient tombs and monuments, mosques, and museums, providing views of how they once looked and indicating a few of the monuments subsequently moved to other locations due to rising waters of the Nile River resulting from construction of the dam at Aswan.

TEMPLE OF RAMSES II AT ABU SIMBEL. (48K)

Albumen print by J. Pascal Sébah. The Great Temple (New Kingdom, Dynasty XIX), dedicated to the sun gods Amen-Re of Thebes and falcon-headed Re-Harakhte of Heliopolis, was created to celebrate the 30th year of the pharaoh's reign. Ramses II reigned for 36 more years, from 1304-1237 BC, enabling him to erect numerous monuments and usurp many others. Here, the great pharaoh sits for eternity before his temple. In the distance is a felucca, a typical sailboat which has remained unchanged since pharaonic times.

Also featured in the exhibition are a few of the eminent archaeologists who excavated in Egypt, and several of the important photographers who photographed there. These individuals were pioneers in their respective fields and opened the way for a deeper understanding of a remarkable ancient civilization.

Finally, the exhibition also touches upon the topic of travelers, collectors, explorers, fakers of and dealers in antiquities, town and country life, excavation funding, donors to American museums, and the pashas and khedives of the time.

  PHOTOGRAPHS AND ARTIFACTS

Over 80 original photographic images, including albumen and silver prints, of more than 35 sites along the Nile River were taken from the McClung Museum's photographic archives. A selection of early stereoviews and postcards are also from the Museum's collections. These early photographic records taken along the Nile River capture some of the major sites seen by the adventurous traveler of an earlier time.

Starting at Alexandria, the exhibition takes visitors to a number of the most outstanding monuments. Represented are Giza and the Great Sphinx and pyramids, Saqqara and King Djoser's Step Pyramid, Thebes and the great Temple of Amen at Karnak, the Valley of the Kings and the famous tomb of Tutankhamen, and the temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel in Lower Nubia. Many of the photographs in the exhibition were taken by well-known commercial photographers who worked in the Middle East.

YOUNG LEBANESE WOMAN. (65K)

Albumen print. Photographed in Beirut by the Bonfils Family. In this studio portrait, the young woman is dressed in a festive native costume.

These photographers included such luminaries as Félix Teynard, Francis Frith, Antonio Beato, the Bonfils family, and J. Pascal Sébah. These were the photographers then also popular with travelers, who bought their photographic prints in shops in Cairo or Luxor as souvenirs.

To complement the photographs, the Museum has borrowed some 58 ancient Egyptian objects from Ancient Egyptian collections in American museums. Statues, wall reliefs, objects of daily life, pottery, jewelry, figurines, amulets, and other ancient works are on loan from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology; the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh; the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley; the Detroit Institute of Arts; and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University.

The ancient objects were excavated at or near many of the sites pictured by renowned archaeologists, including the British Egyptologists W. M. Flinders Petrie and James Quibell, and the American Egyptologist George A. Reisner. These individuals were pioneers in their field. They opened the way for a deeper understanding of a remarkable ancient civilization and introduced more scientific methods to archaeological excavations.

Also noted in the exhibition is that these Egyptologists and many other archaeologists were skilled in field photography as well. They made their own photographic records of monuments and their excavations. One outstanding photographer was the British archaeologist Harry Burton, who completely documented the Tomb of Tutankhamen discovered by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon in 1922. A video show with actual footage of treasures being removed from the tomb, as well as still photographs by Burton, introduce the exhibition.

The photographs and ancient objects in the exhibition help to illustrate why people came to Egypt. Visitors are introduced to a few of the Egyptologists who discovered exciting new data and the photographers who produced memorable images of the Nile Valley. Each in their own way preserved knowledge. They witnessed and recorded the state of monuments at that time.

  EXHIBITION MINI-TOUR

The following photographs and artifacts are representative of those on display in the exhibition.

		MAP - ANCIENT EGYPT  (50K) This map is similar to the one located at each "stop" along the NIle journey, both in the exhibition and in the exhibition catalog. Here, however, the major placenames on this mini-tour are consolidated onto this single map.
		BOOK: A THOUSAND MILES UP THE NILE, by Amelia B. Edwards.  (65K)
CAIRO		CAIRO STREET SCENE. Silver print by an unidentified photographer.  (65K) Posing for the photographer is an Egyptian "donkey-boy" standing next to his bridled and saddled donkey. The Mosque of Kait-Bey, built in 1475, is in the background.
GIZA		STATUE: KEMKARE AND HIS SON.  (20K) Painted Limestone, 39.4 cm (15.5 in) high. Old Kingdom, Dynasty IV-VI. From Giza, Lower Egypt; Cemetery 1000, Tomb 11. Excavated by George Reisner, 1903-1904. Loaned by the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology. On the base of the once polychromed statue is the inscription: "The royal wig-maker Kemkare." His nude son stands at his left. The inscription on the base in front of the child's feet reads: "His eldest son, Ankhqakhes."
SAQQARA		SEE ABOVE.
DENDERA		TEMPLE OF HATHOR FACADE. Albumen print by Francis Frith.  (70K) The temple (Ptolemaic-Roman Periods, circa 116 BC-AD 34) is dedicated to Hathor, goddess of love and joy, consort of Horus of Edfu, and equated with the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Three Hathor-headed sistrum columns with screen walls between them are on either side of the entrance. Facade reliefs bear cartouches of Roman emperors.
KOPTOS		RELIEF: God MONTU.  (46K) Limestone, 55.5 cm (22 in) high. Second Intermediate Period, 1778-1567 BC. From Koptos, Temple of Nubkheperre-Antef. Excavated by W. M. Flinders Petrie, 1894. Loaned by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The cosmic god Montu of Hermonthis is represented. Hermonthis was an important solar center and was considered the Heliopolis ("City of the Sun") of the south. The deity appears in the form of a falcon as Re-Harakhte, the great solar god "Horus of the Two Horizons," and wears the solar disk, royal uraeus (cobra), and double feather headdress.
NAQADA		VESSEL: EARTHENWARE JAR.  (42K) Predynastic Period. Earthenware, 10.8 cm (4.25 in) high. From the Naqada Cemetery, Upper Egypt. Excavated by W. M. Flinders Petrie, 1895. Loaned by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. This handmade vessel, with a narrow, flat, painted rim, is a variation on typical types produced during the Gerzean Period, circa 3500/3400-3200 BC. Pottery was generally for food even in the tomb.
DEIR EL-BAHRI		HATHOR CHAPEL - CAIRO MUSEUM. Sepia-toned silver print by Berthaud.  (41K) The intact chapel (New Kingdom, Dynasty XVIII), 10 feet long and 5 feet wide, is brightly painted. The side walls bear scenes of Tuthmosis III before Amen-Re and Hathor as both a woman and as a cow. In front of the chapel is a painted and gilded limestone statue of Hathor as a life-size cow. The chapel was found in 1906 by Edouard Naville and Henry R. Hall during excavations at Deir el-Bahri.
KARNAK		BUST: Goddess SEKHMET.  (30K) Black Basalt, 75 cm (29.5 in) high. New Kingdom. From the Temple of Mut, Karnak. Loaned by the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology. The lion-headed bust of the goddess Sekhmet, meaning "the powerful one," has the body of a woman. The noble animal wears a lappet wig, detailed broad collar, and a close-fitting dress ornamented by a rosette on each breast. A large sun disk with uraeus once surmounted her head to symbolize the warlike quality of the fiery sun and its devastating strength that destroyed enemies of Egypt. This figure is one of numerous seated images of the goddess carved during the reign of Amenhotep III.
LUXOR		LUXOR TEMPLE. Albumen print by Zangaki.  (68K) The colonnades of the Temple of Amenhotep III (New Kingdom, Dynasty XVIII), a group of 32 clustered papyrus-columns with bud-capitals, loom in the Second Court with their architraves, capitals, and shafts intact. Egyptian guides pose on a fallen block, awaiting visitors to the site.
PHILAE		TEMPLE OF ISIS - GENERAL VIEW. Albumen print by J. Pascal Sébah.  (99K) The temple of Isis (left) and the Kiosk of Trajan (right) -- dating from the Ptolemaic-Roman Period -- are seen before the site was cleared. The gateway between the 60-foot pylon was built by Nectanebo I in Dynasty XXX. Reliefs on the towers depict Ptolemy XI (99-80 BC) in battle and making offerings to various deities.
ABU SIMBEL		SEE ABOVE.
KERMA		BED FRAGMENT: LEG.  (30K) Wood, 41.8 cm (16.5 in) high. Classic Kerma Period: Second Intermediate Period. From Kerma, Grave K-1085. Excavated by George A. Reisner, 1915. Loaned by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. This wooden leg, shaped like an ox leg, had been part of the common type of bed (angareeb) upon which the deceased was placed. The bed was probably webbed with rawhide straps to support the body. The carpentry of the furniture material found at the site reflects the typical work of Egyptian artisans working in an Egyptian colony located in Nubia.

EXHIBITION CURATOR AND SPONSORS

• CURATOR: The exhibition was produced by the Frank H. McClung Museum and curated by Elaine A. Evans.

• SPONSORS: Aletha and Clayton Brodine Museum Fund, Regal Corporation, and Mr. and Mrs. W. Michael Conley

EXHIBITION CATALOG

A catalog of the exhibition has been prepared by curator Elaine A. Evans, and is available for sale in the Museum Shop.

Photographs, clockwise from top left, are: Top left -- Mr. and Mrs. Louis Bailey Audigier of Knoxville, Tennessee, at Giza, 1913. Photographer unknown. McClung Museum: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Bailey Audigier, 1934. Top right -- An Egyptian Necklace Merchant. Photographer: Rudolf Lehnert, Cairo. Postcard by Lehnert & Landrock, Cairo, 1924. Anonymous lender. Bottom -- American Egyptologist James Henry Breasted at Wadi Halfeh, 1906. Photographer unidentified. Museum Archives, Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago.

Click on the above image for a full-size view (139K) of the catalog cover.

EXHIBITION-RELATED LECTURES

In conjunction with this exhibition, the McClung Museum is presenting several lectures by noted scholars in the field of Egyptology. All lectures, like the exhibition itself, are FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

EXHIBITION ARCHIVE

The Website versions of other McClung Museum special exhibits are available at our Exhibition Archive.

  ANCIENT EGYPT WEBPAGE

Additional information concerning ancient Egypt's Predynastic Period, the Narmer Palette, the Rosetta Stone, daily life, tools and crafts, religion, writing, funeral customs and practices, scarabs, and other aspects of ancient Egypt is available on the McClung Museum's permanent exhibit Webpage, ANCIENT EGYPT: The Eternal Voice.

  SELECTED WEB RESOURCES

	Abu Simbel - The Great Temple - Centre for Computer-Aided Egyptological Research
	Alexandria - University of South Florida
	Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards - University of Pennsylvania Digital Library
	Carnegie Museum of Natural History - Homepage
	Detroit Institute of Arts - Homepage
	Egypt - Oriental Institute Photographic Archive
	Gavin's Egyptomania Pages - Homepage Links to A Thousand Miles Up the Nile by Amelia B. Edwards (in 4 parts; abridged, profusely illustrated) -- and several other pages relevant to this exhibition
	Giza - Pyramids and Sphinx - NOVA/PBS
	The Griffith Institute, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford - Homepage The Archive, the largest specialized Egyptological archive in the world, contains a 4-part Checklist of 19th Century "Studio Photographs" of Egypt
	Karnak - Temple Complex - by Grisel Gonzalez
	Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology - Homepage
	Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology - Homepage
	Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie - University of Lethbridge, Canada
	Step Pyramid, Saqqara - Trinity University, San Antonio
	Thebes Photographic Project - by Tom Van Eynde, Oriental Institute
	University of Chicago Library - Middle East Photograph Archive - Homepage
	University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology - Homepage
	Valley of the Kings - Theban Mapping Project

McClung Homepage		Exhibition Archive Page