Faces and Voices

8/22/2019 Faces and Voices

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Faces and Voices,Mummy Portraits, Papyri and Contemporary Egyptian ArtThe John Rylands LibraryFaces and Voices was an exhibition held in The John Rylands Libraryon Deansgate in Manchester City Centre. The exhibition showcasedobjects such as Roman period papyri and mummy portraits which hadbeen excavated in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries fromthe Faiyum area of Egypt, most notably at the site of Hawara by thegreat Flinders Petrie. Through the exhibit of these objects the exhibitionaimed to reconstruct the story of the cultures and people that inhabitedEgypt during the Graeco-Roman Period.HawaraHawara is a cemetery site located at the entrance to the Faiyum oasis inEgypt. Archaeological excavations have revealed graves dating from asearly as the Middle Kingdom (2040-1640BC) and the Graeco-RomanPeriods (332BC-395AD) which are of course the two periods inEgyptian history when the site and indeed the Faiyum area as a wholewas of great royal significance. Most notably, the site is the location ofone the pyramids of the 12th dynasty Middle Kingdom monarch,Amenemhat III (the other pyramid of Amenemhat III being located at thesite of Dahshur).

LocatiofHawaof Amemenhat III at Hawara Map showing location of Hawara(http://www.kendalluk.com/egyptmap.htm)


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Petrie and Hawara

Flinders Petrie(http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-

articles/0709/07091101)

Roman period of Egypts history.


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From Egypt to Manchester

of Petries work asnamed after Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology).


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Enriqueta Rylands and TheJohn Rylands Library

Enriqueta Rylandshttp://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/bulletin/bulletinoffprints/John Rylandshttp://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/bulletin/ng and John Rylands was anextremely generous man,

making donations to aid thepoor of Italy as well asopening orphanages andhomes for aged women.Rylands leisure pursuitsincluded a love of theologyand books which led to hislong held dream of opening alibrary. Sadly in 1888, JohnRylands died at his home inLongford Hall .As a memorial to her husband,Enriqueta decided to realiseher husbands dream and dulypurchased the AlthorpLibrary and with the aid of thearchitect, Basil Champneys

constructed a beautifugothic-themed libraryon Deansgate inManchester. Thelibrary opened in 1899and today holds thelargest collection ofrare books andmanuscripts in BritainInitially the library heldsome 40,000 books(essentially theAlthorp Librarycollection) howeverMrs Rylandscontinually sought toadd to the libraryscollection. Indeed itwas Mrs Rylandsdesire to improve thelibrarys collection andperhapsa visit toEgypt between 190407 that led to thelibrary acquiring one othe great Europeanpapyri collections.Today the libraryremains open to visitorand is free to enter.


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Faces and VoicesExhibitonDivided into themes which dealtwith subjects such as letters, pleasfor justice, loans, marriages andbirths and even teachings onChristianity, display casesstretched through three differentrooms of the John RylandsLibrary. Each display casecontained mummy portraits andpapyri which contained informationrelevant to each theme.

Petries Drawings from his book, HawaraPortfolio: Paintings of the Roman Age(1913)


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Loans, Sales andAgreements

Papyrus recording a contract for a saleand loan, the contract is written both indmeotic and greek which was arequirement of the Roman authorities.

Mummy portrait of anunnamed man dating to 69-96AD.

Mummy Portrait of anunnamed woman dating to98-117AD. The detail onthe portrait is excellent as weare even able to see thecolours of her tunic and evenher jewellery.


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Letters

a variety of subjects including personal correspondence,

and a medical treatise on the reverse (above left) and anto his master concerning an audience with an

Mummy Portrait of a young manwith a moustache. Again thedetail on the portrait is excellentright down to his tunic and redclavus on his shoulder.


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Administration Taxes andCensusAs is to be expected in the running of a large empire, the Egyptiansof the Roman period devoted large amounts of papyri and time to therecording of administrative tasks such as the collecting of taxes. Oneway in which they accomplished this was in the conducting of a censuswhich enabled the authorities to keep track of house sizes, thepopulation and ultimately of course the collection of taxes.

The Mummy Portrait(left) is of a man with abeard dating to 185-195AD whilst theMummy Portrait (right)is of a lady dating to138-160BC.Although it is likelythat these portraitsboth originate fromHawara it is by nomeans certain


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Pleas For JusticeAs is unfortunately the case today,it seems that that the RomanPeriod Egyptians also hadproblems with robberies andfighting. In such a case it seemsthese people would write to thechief of police and plead their casein the hope that justice wouldprevail. In many cases it seems thatwomen were greatly involved inthese pleas and indeed theexhibition displayed papyri in whicha man, Patamouthis accusedanother man, Herais of inflictingviolence on his daughter.On the right can be seen MummyPortraits of a woman (top) and ayoung daughter (bottom) whichPetrie found in the same tomb andwhich have been interpreted byscholars as being portraits of amother and daughter. Thisconclusion has been drawn as aconsequence of the two lookingalike however the identification isfar from conclusive and indeedscholars have even suggested thatthe daughter portrait is actuallythat of a boy due to the traces ofcurly hair or wreath which can justabout be seen on the portrait.


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Christianity

In the early centuries AD, Egypt, like many other countries becameengulfed in the spread of Christianity. By the third century AD,Christianity had become firmly established in Egypt to such a degreethat Christians began to start meeting in groups and debating the growthof the religion. One area in particular that was under debate was the rolein which women played within the religion. Above can be seen papyri,known as the Gospel of Mary in which the apostles, Peter and Leviargue as to whether the teachings that Jesus gave to a woman disciple,called Mary, should be accepted.


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Bibliography and CreditsBibliographyBaines J and Malek J (1980) The Atlas of Ancient Egypt,published by Phaidon Press LtdDrower M (1985) Flinders Petrie, A Life in Archaeology,The University of Wisonsin Press, First published in 1985,republished 1995Illustration CreditsKendal Uk Map of Egypt(http://www.kendalluk.com/egyptmap.htmUniversity College of London, Flinders Petrie(http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0709/07091101)University of Manchester, John Rylandshttp://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/bulletinUniversity of Manchester, Enriqueta Rylandshttp://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/bulletin/bulletinoffprints/All other photographs are copyright of James Parr

Pyramid of Amememhat III at Hawara, photo in public domain

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Faces and Voices