Death on the Nile: Uncovering the Afterlife of Ancient Egypt
- Submitting institution
-
University of Cambridge
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 8901
- Type
- M - Exhibition
- Venue(s)
- Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
- Open access status
- -
- Month of first exhibition
- -
- Year of first exhibition
- 2016
- URL
-
-
- Supplementary information
-
-
- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- Yes
- Number of additional authors
-
1
- Research group(s)
-
-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- "The Death on the Nile exhibition is lead output in this multi-component item, which includes the catalogue alongside contextual information enabling the reviewer to visualise the exhibition. The exhibition was co-curated by Strudwick and Dawson, who also edited and wrote chapters of the catalogue, alongside contributions from other specialists, and co-authored all catalogue entries.
The exhibition showcased the results of research into the Fitzwilliam Museum’s collection of coffins, which melds together the results of Dawson’s extensive technical examination (X-radiography and CT scanning of structural elements, imaging and analytical work on the decorated surfaces) with Strudwick’s specialist Egyptological study to build up a comprehensive understanding of the development of coffins and their production over time in Egypt. Other institutions have usually approached this by studying discrete aspects of each coffin: Egyptological investigations (textual and iconographic evidence) are usually undertaken separately from technological studies (construction/decoration) but this integrated investigation has yielded richer results than would be obtained by maintaining a disciplinary separation.
The research results formed the exhibition’s story. While presenting background about the Egyptians’ belief systems, which is the usual focus of such exhibitions, the exhibition explored the practice of burial and the production of coffins and related funerary equipment from c. 4000 BC to c. AD 300, by evaluating individual coffins from different periods to show changes over time, and by comparing examples of a similar date, evaluating how the economic and political structure of the period may have dictated the choices available. The exhibition and catalogue showcased the significant quantifiable data the project had amassed about ancient economics, social situations, and craft specialisation over thousands of years, taking this beyond a focus on religious aspects into new areas of interest and study. The exhibition included a working conservation lab, allowing the public to interact with researchers."
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -