Nubian treasures at the Clay Center
- Image via Wikipedia
“Lost Kingdoms of the Nile” at the Clay Center in Charleston, West Virginia features more than 200 objects on loan from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The exhibit, which continues through April, made only one other stop on this tour — at the Michael C. Carlos Museum in Atlanta.
A colorful sarcophagus dominates one room, while the accessories of burial add to the display. There’s an alabaster vessel that held the deceased’s organs, a replica of an ivory inlaid bed on which the deceased would have been carried, shawabtis, or statues, that were buried with the dead to represent the servants they’d need on their journey to the afterlife and gold tips that covered the ends of their fingers and toes. The statues were a big improvement over the actual servants who were buried with earlier rulers in the Kerma Period.
The Clay Center staff constructed a templelike entrance to the exhibit as well as special display cases for the artifacts. Creative services manager Bridgett Turley copied ancient wall paintings and hand-painted them on the exhibit walls.
Staff members developed student and adult programming and activities to showcase and to maximize the exhibit’s impact for visitors.
The Nubians settled in Africa, south of Egypt on the Nile River. Nubia was not professionally excavated until 1913, partially because Nubia is not easily accessible by river. It’s six treacherous sets of rapids upriver from Egypt. Many of the sites were lost or destroyed when the river flooded.
Located in modern-day Sudan, Nubia was the gateway to the African interior. Nubians and Egyptians later traded goods and influence. Egyptians valued Nubian goods such as gold, ivory, ebony and exotic animals. Nubians invented pottery and the concept of kingship. They were skilled goldsmiths.
“Lost Kingdoms of the Nile” features imposing stone statues, intricate gold and silver jewelry, hand mirrors, pottery and stone vases and pitchers, oversized historic photos and a wealth of pieces associated with the afterlife.
Excerpted from an article by Julie Robinson for The Charleston Gazette
