The mention of Ancient Egypt usually conjures up dramatic views of pyramids, sarcophaguses and architecture on a grand scale. But the tiny details of the civilisation are often forgotten.
This is not the case at the Egypt Centre at the University of Wales Swansea. The small scale of the institution - it is packed into two galleries attached to the university's arts centre - belies the richness and depth of the collection, but it does mean that the centre can focus on the smaller objects.
The collection is made up of more than 4,000 artefacts, most of which were acquired by Henry Wellcome, and it is reckoned to be the sixth most important grouping of Egyptology in the UK. So how did it end up in Swansea?
A combination of luck and gumption seems to be the answer. In the 1970s Kate Bosse Griffiths, an Egyptologist, whose husband worked in the classics department, simply wrote to the trustees of the Wellcome collection asking if items could be loaned to the university.
A short while later 100 crates of material turned up on the doorstep. A small museum was set up in the classics department, and in the 1980s the university decided to create a purpose-built space to house the collection and make it publicly accessible.
The material on show covers a timespan of more than 4,000 years, and objects range from amulets that were made to protect the wearer, to canopic jars designed to hold the organs of the dead. The centre is split into the House of Death, dealing with funerary items, and the House of Life, which covers domestic and social aspects of ancient Egyptian society.
Most museums with an Egyptian collection have their fair share of objects dealing with death and its associated rituals, and the centre is no exception. Rows of shabtis (funerary figurines) line a display case in descending order of size, the blue-green glaze fading slightly, and the carving becoming cruder, as manual labourers and servants are represented (the figures were buried with the deceased to serve them in the afterlife).
The scale of some of the objects on display means that you have to get up pretty close to appreciate them. This is the case with the amulets, which range from a tiny frog to a delicate fly. Some are scarcely bigger than a thumbnail but the fine craftsmanship repays the scrutiny.
Upstairs is the House of Life where visitors can find the paraphernalia of everyday life, from papyrus sandals to carved furniture legs and a paintbrush. Although these objects don't have the subtle qualities of the amulets their domestic purpose makes them intriguing. But not all the objects are commonplace.
The beaded collars on display are fascinating, not just for their beauty and the intricacy of the workmanship but also because of the mystery that surrounds them. Their provenance is uncertain - they may have been found in the grave of an Amarna princess - and even what is depicted on some of the tiny amulets is disputed: is it an oyster shell, is it a flower or is it fan?
Also covered in this gallery are the stories of Egyptologists connected to Swansea, including John Gardner Wilkinson who wrote the Manners and Custom of the Ancient Egyptians in 1837 - this helps bring the local connection alive as well as providing inspiration for a new generation.
The Wellcome collection has been supplemented by the long-term loan of 42 objects from the British Museum (BM), ranging from a gold vulture amulet to an ivory wand. Wendy Goodridge, the assistant curator at the centre, likens having access to the BM's Egyptian collection to being allowed loose in a sweetie shop.
The museum appears to be ticking all the right boxes: as well as the loan agreement with the BM it organises touring exhibitions, community outreach and education work. It also has an impressive and longstanding volunteering programme that encompasses child as well as adult volunteers.
Which is all the more amazing considering that it operates on a shoestring. While I was visiting, the raffle tickets had just arrived for the Grand Easter Draw (first prize a luxury Harrods Hamper donated by the Al Fayed Charitable Foundation) and until recently volunteers were baking cakes to help fund the work of the centre.
If it is to continue the work that it does and expand (extra space for storage and teaching is badly needed) a more stable and reliable source of income is needed.
Goodridge said that the last time the centre got a mention in Museums Journal it was described as 'quaint' and 'homespun'. The labelling and text has a tendency to be over wordy and some of the displays look a bit cluttered but none of that detracts from the splendour of the objects and the stories they tell.
This is not the case at the Egypt Centre at the University of Wales Swansea. The small scale of the institution - it is packed into two galleries attached to the university's arts centre - belies the richness and depth of the collection, but it does mean that the centre can focus on the smaller objects.
The collection is made up of more than 4,000 artefacts, most of which were acquired by Henry Wellcome, and it is reckoned to be the sixth most important grouping of Egyptology in the UK. So how did it end up in Swansea?
A combination of luck and gumption seems to be the answer. In the 1970s Kate Bosse Griffiths, an Egyptologist, whose husband worked in the classics department, simply wrote to the trustees of the Wellcome collection asking if items could be loaned to the university.
A short while later 100 crates of material turned up on the doorstep. A small museum was set up in the classics department, and in the 1980s the university decided to create a purpose-built space to house the collection and make it publicly accessible.
The material on show covers a timespan of more than 4,000 years, and objects range from amulets that were made to protect the wearer, to canopic jars designed to hold the organs of the dead. The centre is split into the House of Death, dealing with funerary items, and the House of Life, which covers domestic and social aspects of ancient Egyptian society.
Most museums with an Egyptian collection have their fair share of objects dealing with death and its associated rituals, and the centre is no exception. Rows of shabtis (funerary figurines) line a display case in descending order of size, the blue-green glaze fading slightly, and the carving becoming cruder, as manual labourers and servants are represented (the figures were buried with the deceased to serve them in the afterlife).
The scale of some of the objects on display means that you have to get up pretty close to appreciate them. This is the case with the amulets, which range from a tiny frog to a delicate fly. Some are scarcely bigger than a thumbnail but the fine craftsmanship repays the scrutiny.
Upstairs is the House of Life where visitors can find the paraphernalia of everyday life, from papyrus sandals to carved furniture legs and a paintbrush. Although these objects don't have the subtle qualities of the amulets their domestic purpose makes them intriguing. But not all the objects are commonplace.
The beaded collars on display are fascinating, not just for their beauty and the intricacy of the workmanship but also because of the mystery that surrounds them. Their provenance is uncertain - they may have been found in the grave of an Amarna princess - and even what is depicted on some of the tiny amulets is disputed: is it an oyster shell, is it a flower or is it fan?
Also covered in this gallery are the stories of Egyptologists connected to Swansea, including John Gardner Wilkinson who wrote the Manners and Custom of the Ancient Egyptians in 1837 - this helps bring the local connection alive as well as providing inspiration for a new generation.
The Wellcome collection has been supplemented by the long-term loan of 42 objects from the British Museum (BM), ranging from a gold vulture amulet to an ivory wand. Wendy Goodridge, the assistant curator at the centre, likens having access to the BM's Egyptian collection to being allowed loose in a sweetie shop.
The museum appears to be ticking all the right boxes: as well as the loan agreement with the BM it organises touring exhibitions, community outreach and education work. It also has an impressive and longstanding volunteering programme that encompasses child as well as adult volunteers.
Which is all the more amazing considering that it operates on a shoestring. While I was visiting, the raffle tickets had just arrived for the Grand Easter Draw (first prize a luxury Harrods Hamper donated by the Al Fayed Charitable Foundation) and until recently volunteers were baking cakes to help fund the work of the centre.
If it is to continue the work that it does and expand (extra space for storage and teaching is badly needed) a more stable and reliable source of income is needed.
Goodridge said that the last time the centre got a mention in Museums Journal it was described as 'quaint' and 'homespun'. The labelling and text has a tendency to be over wordy and some of the displays look a bit cluttered but none of that detracts from the splendour of the objects and the stories they tell.
