100 TREASURES 100 EMOTIONS The Macquarie University History Museum
Edited by Martin Bommas
Macquarie University History Museum, NSW in association with D Giles Limited
5 POLYCHROME VESSEL, INDUS VALLEY C U R IO SITY
When this vessel was created, it was likely one of many made for ceremonial burials. The vessel was created during the Mature Harappan Period (2600–1900 BCE), when the Harappan civilisation prospered in the area of modern-day Pakistan now known as the Indus Valley. This vessel is made of clay, with a polychrome depiction of a fish on the outside wall. It is highly decorated and a representative example of an early pottery tradition, the so-called Nal pottery. This decoration may indicate what the pot once held or was meant to hold. However, it is hard to verify this, as depicting animals was popular in Nal pottery design, and may symbolise abundance and access to food and provisions the dead wished to enjoy. Studying this vessel opens up a wide variety of research questions about the people of the Indus Valley civilisation’s daily lives and death customs, and how they utilised this kind of pottery. There are significant ethical issues to consider in relation to this vessel.
Before the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (1970), it was not unusual for looting to occur in the Indus Valley area, as well as in other archaeologically significant sites. Valuable, culturally significant items were taken from these areas and sold on the international market to museums around the world. Despite the UNESCO Convention, the immoral practice of looting and illicit trafficking still continues. It is believed that this vessel, along with others from the Indus region, was illegally obtained. These items were smuggled out of Pakistan in the 1980s and then sold to Australian collectors. As part of the Macquarie University History Museum collection, the vessels are appreciated for their historical value. They are similarly understood as representative of the illicit artefact trade and of past unethical museum practices in Australia. AHa
5b: The Indus and Zanskar rivers at Nimmu Valley, Ladakh. Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Didini Tochhawng.
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5a: Indus Valley vessel decorated with fish motif, Mature Harappan Period. MU4672 Dimensions H: 8.1 cm; Diam.: 10.2 cm Further reading J. Hawkes, The First Great Civilizations: Life in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley and Egypt (London, 1973). A. Robinson, The Indus: Lost Civilizations (London, 2015).
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7 MEMI’S WOODEN FACE, EGYPT SU R PRI SED
As Tomb M23 at El-Hawawish mountain was cleared, it became apparent that it belonged to one of the earliest and most important individuals buried in this cemetery. With a huge forecourt, a portico and a magnificently designed and well-cut chapel, the tomb stands out as a masterpiece in architecture, yet its state of preservation was extremely disappointing. Apart from a few hieroglyphic signs and fragmentary figures on the façade and entrance, the only inscriptions recovered were the name Memi on two wooden fragments of a coffin, most probably belonging to the tomb owner. Yet unlike all other tombs at El-Hawawish, the decoration of Memi’s chapel did not focus on scenes and inscriptions, but on statuary. Twenty-four engaged statues are cut in niches into the walls of the chapel. These are all life size, with twenty-one belonging to a male and three to a female, presumably the tomb owner and his wife. Regrettably, all twenty-four statues are very badly damaged, with none retaining its full body shape or any of its facial features. Such consistent damage is unattested elsewhere in the cemetery and was almost certainly deliberate, even though the reasons are unknown.
The large-scale use of engaged statues for the decoration of chapels is found in only a few tombs dated to the 4th and 5th Dynasties (ca. 2613–2345 BCE). Not only did Memi, who probably lived under King Djedkare’s reign (2414–2375 BCE), cover the walls of his chapel with engaged statues, but he also added free-standing statues made of stone or wood (see no. 8). The remains of some of these were discovered at the bottom of his main tomb shaft. Sadly, these too had received damage similar to that of the engaged statues. However, from an apparent attempt to obliterate the facial features of a wooden statue of Memi, one broken piece that was found was from the front part of the head and preserves parts of the eyes and the entire nose, mouth, chin and cheeks, exquisitely modelled. This was very exciting, as finally we were able to see the features of an important man who tried so hard to perpetuate his image. Equally rewarding, however, was the decision of the then-Egyptian Antiquities Organisation to grant the wooden fragment of Memi’s face and other objects from his tomb to the Australian expedition, in one of the last so-called ‘Division Committees’ to be held. This piece will remain very special to me. NK
7b: Forecourts of tombs M23 of Memi (lower level) and M22 of Hesi-Min (upper level). Photo © Australian Centre for Egyptology.
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7a: Fragment of the wooden face of Memi, ca. 2375 BCE. MU1777 Dimensions H: 10.1 cm; W: 7.8 cm; D: 1.7 cm Further reading N. Kanawati, The Rock Tombs of El-Hawawish: The Cemetery of Akhmim, Volume 5 (Sydney, 1985), 45 and Pl. 9b. T. Kendall, ‘An unusual rock-cut tomb at Giza’, in: W. K. Simpson and W. M. Davis (eds.), Studies in Ancient Egypt, the Aegean, and the Sudan: Essays in Honor of Dows Dunham on the Occasion of his 90th Birthday, June 1, 1980 (Boston, 1981), 104–14.
15 KOHL POT WITH NAME OF PHARAOH RAMESSES III, EGYPT C ONFUSION
Giza and Saqqara form the most widespread cemetery mankind has ever established. Today the area is best known for the Pyramids and the Sphinx of Giza, as well as the so-called Step Pyramid of King Djoser at Saqqara, which no tourist can afford to miss when visiting Egypt. According to ancient Egyptian funerary belief, the deceased would visit Giza/ Saqqara to celebrate the Sokar Festival in Ra-setau. Currently thirty-five glorification texts – recitations that transform a dead individual into Osiris – are known to discuss this place, some of them dating to ca. 2000 BCE. During the reign of Thutmose IV (1400–1390 BCE), Ra-setau was regarded as being located next to the Sphinx of Giza. The object shown here is a kohl vessel made of blue faience with decorations in black ink. The vessel’s rim displays black dashes, while the front has an inscription which reads: ‘Lord of the Two Lands, Ramesses III. Osiris, Lord of Ra-setau.’ The inscription also points out that during the
reign of Pharaoh Ramesses III (1184–1153 BCE), a temple was located in Ra-setau, connected with the Sphinx of Giza. This temple has never been found; nor is the provenance of the kohl pot shown here yet known. It shares its fate with now more than 150 vessels of this type covering a period of 1,030 years, nineteen of which date to the reign of Ramesses III alone. During the mid-1990s, kohl pots like the one shown here suddenly started to appear on the art market. While only a small number of museums have acquired pots, mostly as a result of donations, private collectors are still today buying and re-selling these items, some of which have changed hands up to three times. Despite on-going research, the original find spot is still not securely identified. As research into the written sources and the objects known so far shows, they originate from a single area and left Egypt breaching Antiquities laws. So far, research has not identified one piece that has stayed in Egypt. MB
15a: Blue faience kohl pot with the name of Ramesses III written in black ink, ca. 1170 BCE. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program. MU4964 Dimensions H: 5.8 cm; Diam.: 3.7 cm Further reading K. Koschel, ‘Königliche Miniatursalbgefäße eines undokumentierten Fundkomplexes’, in: Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 29, 2001, 235–49. K. Koschel, ‘Salbgefäße ohne Ende? Königliche Miniatursalbgefäße eines undokumentierten Fundkomplexes Teil II’, in: Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 38, 2009, 131–50.
15b: Photogrammetry and cylindrical proception (MU4964), showing all sides of the conical vessel on one image. Photo: Michael Rampe, Macquarie University.
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26 NECKLACES, EGYPT CAUTIOUS
Jewellery permeated every facet of ancient Egyptian society. More than simply ornaments, items of jewellery served as displays of status and wealth, as forms of amuletic protection, and as objects of trade, diplomatic gifts and military awards. Men, women and children from the rich and poor alike wore jewellery, with some pieces for everyday life and others destined for the tomb. Items were worn on almost every part of the body, including the head, neck, ears, arms, wrists, fingers, waist and ankles, and with examples known from the Predynastic Period through the Graeco-Roman Period. The choice of materials and designs was determined by aesthetic, practical and symbolic reasons. In a society where religious beliefs dominated, the symbolism of jewellery was particularly significant. Amulets of deities were commonly worn in life and placed on the mummy in the tomb in order to protect the wearer from any hostile forces.
There are, however, several reasons why we must maintain a feeling of caution when examining ancient Egyptian jewellery. Most surviving examples have originated from tombs, but unfortunately many pieces were not discovered by scientific excavations. We therefore regularly do not know the precise location and arrangement of jewellery in all burials, and the identity of the original owners in many cases has been lost. This is heightened by a long history of tomb robbery in Egypt, with the semi-precious stones and metals used in jewellery manufacture having been a regular target of thieves. Items of jewellery on display in museums, like these bead necklaces in the Macquarie University History Museum, have been re-strung in modern times, often with the intention of enticing a buyer to wear them. This means that their original formation has not been preserved. Caution, therefore, is a necessary emotion to maintain when drawing conclusions from the present appearance of ancient jewellery. GB
26b: Collection of ancient Egyptian beads, date unknown, Diam.: 0.2 cm to 0.4 cm. MU4876
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26a (left to right): Ancient Egyptian beads threaded into three necklaces, date unknown (MU5035, MU4453, MU4595). MU5035 was donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program. Dimensions L: 154.2 cm (MU5035); L: 68.5 cm (MU4453); L: 151.7 cm (MU4595) Further reading C. Aldred, Jewels of the Pharaohs: Egyptian Jewellery of the Dynastic Period (London, 1971). C. Andrews, Ancient Egyptian Jewellery (London, 1990).
66 WORLD WAR I BELT, AUSTRALIA LO SS
World War I was a pivotal moment in both Australian and world history. It was meant to be the war to end all wars but instead became known as Australia’s ‘baptism of fire’. World War I was one of the most horrific wars of the twentieth century, but among those moments of history-making were ordinary people, trying to get through this conflict as best they could. One of these was Hedley Hilton Smith, whose belt is shown here. While Australia did not have compulsory military service during World War I, as the war progressed men faced increasing societal pressure to enlist. This pressure was exerted through propaganda, the mythologisation of the Australian ‘digger’ (see no. 68), and the infamous ‘White Feather’ campaign. This campaign saw women giving white feathers, a symbol of cowardliness, to men who were not enlisted, in order to shame them into joining
the war effort (see no. 63). While many men did enlist during this time, it is unknown whether Smith was coerced into enlisting, or if he went to war willingly, out of a sense of national duty and pride to a country federated only thirteen years before. Little is known about Smith’s life outside of his service, but this object represents the broader story of Australian service during World War I. Smith adorned this belt with the badges of dead soldiers, picked up as the war of attrition raged on. Through this belt, Smith made a living memorial both to his fallen comrades and to the brutality of war. This object shows that, in war, everyone could suffer the same fate. One can only imagine what Smith went through during World War I, but with his death in 1917 this artefact became a memorial not only to every soldier whose badge sits on it but to Smith’s legacy too. AHa
66a: World War I army belt and badges from multiple origins, owned by Hedley Hilton Smith, Australia, 1917. AHM006451 Dimensions H: 8 cm; W: 9.6 cm Further reading J. Beaumont, Broken Nation: Australians in the Great War (Crows Nest, NSW, 2014). D. Gregory, ‘Vernacular Memorialization in the Military: Personal Acts of Remembrance at RAF Thorpe Abbots’, in: Journal of Conflict Archaeology 14, no. 2–3, 2019, 83–98.
66b: Detail from belt AHM006451, showing some of the badges Smith collected.
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