Not only is Egypt a hot topic in the news following its political upheavals, the country’s ancient artefacts have taken centre stage in several recent exhibitions.
The Book of the Dead show at the British Museum and the revamped Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology (Museums Journal February 2011, p48) have been joined by a modest but noteworthy display at Ipswich Museum.
Ipswich is one of the oldest local authority museums in Britain, having been in existence since 1846 and housed in its current location since 1881. The museum holds a significant Egyptology collection thanks to the Egypt Exploration Fund, which supported William Flinders Petrie’s excavations during the late-19th century.
In return for an annual subscription, donors received a parcel of objects at the end of each season.
Petrie’s collections were some of the first to be properly excavated and systematically recorded, so they are an important historic archive. While these form the bulk of the new display, the collection has been augmented with objects gathered by local dignitaries returning from grand tours at the turn of the last century, as well as with material bought from local country houses.
The curators have also secured some key loans from the British Museum, including an imposing granite statue of the goddess Sekhmet, protector of the pharaohs. Both museums should be complimented on coming to an agreement to have the statue on open display. It attracts visitors and guards the entrance to the gallery.
This is the only significant collection of its kind in Suffolk, so it provides a unique resource for schools, with ancient Egypt a Key Stage 2 subject in the National Curriculum. This fact underlies the interpretive approach to the gallery, which has been devised specifically as a response to the schools market.
In the words of Caroline McDonald, the curator of archaeology at Ipswich Museum, the gallery is “unashamedly targeted at schools and families, with an emphasis on 7 to 11 year olds”.
The overall concept was developed in-house, while Norwich design team Ugly Studios worked up the 3D details and mechanical interactives. Colours are bold, graphics are fun and text is kept to a minimum. Panels and plinths are relatively low and interpretation is multi-sensory, from the background sounds of daily life to the subtle scent of lotus flowers.
There is space for school groups and lots of hands-on activities to keep children interested. I liked the “brass-rubbing”-style hieroglyphics and enjoyed peering into the crawl space with a drawing of a dung beetle inside.
The driving force behind the development was public access. For many years, the room was accessible only by steps. A high proportion of the budget was spent on altering the floor, which will make the space usable for the foreseeable future.
Today, a gentle ramp snakes through the gallery, leading visitors on a journey through daily life, rituals and beliefs, and preparations for the afterlife. The ramp creates a cavity that is used to advantage by inserting a couple of underfloor showcases to display artefacts from an early burial site. A model of a desiccated human body avoids the delicate issue of how, or whether, to display human remains.
These cases are in the final room, which considers the afterlife and contains some must-see objects, including the 2,500-year-old mummy and case of Lady Tahathor from Luxor, and the 2,000-year-old gilded funerary mask of Titus Flavius Demetrius from Roman-occupied Egypt.
This final space is the most successful part of the display thanks to the theatrical lighting and dramatic presentation. It is more reverential and focused than the daily life space, which has the feel of an empty classroom, slightly unkempt with half-completed interactives and dressing-up clothes in a heap.
In comparison, the afterlife gallery literally sparkles with gold leaf, mirrors and lights. It emphasises the wow factor of these remarkable artefacts and the culture they represent.
Although I think the aims of this child-focused gallery are admirable and the team should be applauded for the amount achieved with the budget, I feel the museum has missed a trick by not catering for the needs of adults.
On the sunny mid-week afternoon I visited, the only visitors I saw were adults. They were reminiscing about holidays among the pyramids, but few showcases kept their attention.
Adults are catered for through programming and public events. There are flaps to open in the gallery that reveal additional information, but these are written with teachers and parents in mind who might be seeking help with answering junior enquiries about “ma’at” and “shabtis” (“cosmic justice” and “helpers in the afterlife”).
I was fascinated by the different canoptic jars used for storing specific organs removed during mummification: jars with the baboon head of Hapi were used to guard the lungs, and those with the jackal head of Duamutef guarded the stomach.
I was desperate to find out more and couldn’t help thinking that a simple graphic device of different font sizes (larger for children and smaller for adults) could provide layers of information without turning off the kids.
This is the first major development at the museum for 20 years. The topic was well-chosen and presented. It showcases the enthusiasm and skills of the in-house team.
Walking through the surrounding galleries, I was impressed by the quality of the collections, even though some of the displays look tired and dated.
In spite of my adult-oriented reservations, I hope the Egypt Gallery will act as a prelude for greater things and wish the Ipswich team the best of luck as it considers making a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund to support further development.
Maria Blyzinsky is a freelance exhibitions consultant and co-founder of the Exhibitions Team
The Book of the Dead show at the British Museum and the revamped Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology (Museums Journal February 2011, p48) have been joined by a modest but noteworthy display at Ipswich Museum.
Ipswich is one of the oldest local authority museums in Britain, having been in existence since 1846 and housed in its current location since 1881. The museum holds a significant Egyptology collection thanks to the Egypt Exploration Fund, which supported William Flinders Petrie’s excavations during the late-19th century.
In return for an annual subscription, donors received a parcel of objects at the end of each season.
Petrie’s collections were some of the first to be properly excavated and systematically recorded, so they are an important historic archive. While these form the bulk of the new display, the collection has been augmented with objects gathered by local dignitaries returning from grand tours at the turn of the last century, as well as with material bought from local country houses.
The curators have also secured some key loans from the British Museum, including an imposing granite statue of the goddess Sekhmet, protector of the pharaohs. Both museums should be complimented on coming to an agreement to have the statue on open display. It attracts visitors and guards the entrance to the gallery.
This is the only significant collection of its kind in Suffolk, so it provides a unique resource for schools, with ancient Egypt a Key Stage 2 subject in the National Curriculum. This fact underlies the interpretive approach to the gallery, which has been devised specifically as a response to the schools market.
In the words of Caroline McDonald, the curator of archaeology at Ipswich Museum, the gallery is “unashamedly targeted at schools and families, with an emphasis on 7 to 11 year olds”.
The overall concept was developed in-house, while Norwich design team Ugly Studios worked up the 3D details and mechanical interactives. Colours are bold, graphics are fun and text is kept to a minimum. Panels and plinths are relatively low and interpretation is multi-sensory, from the background sounds of daily life to the subtle scent of lotus flowers.
There is space for school groups and lots of hands-on activities to keep children interested. I liked the “brass-rubbing”-style hieroglyphics and enjoyed peering into the crawl space with a drawing of a dung beetle inside.
The driving force behind the development was public access. For many years, the room was accessible only by steps. A high proportion of the budget was spent on altering the floor, which will make the space usable for the foreseeable future.
Today, a gentle ramp snakes through the gallery, leading visitors on a journey through daily life, rituals and beliefs, and preparations for the afterlife. The ramp creates a cavity that is used to advantage by inserting a couple of underfloor showcases to display artefacts from an early burial site. A model of a desiccated human body avoids the delicate issue of how, or whether, to display human remains.
These cases are in the final room, which considers the afterlife and contains some must-see objects, including the 2,500-year-old mummy and case of Lady Tahathor from Luxor, and the 2,000-year-old gilded funerary mask of Titus Flavius Demetrius from Roman-occupied Egypt.
This final space is the most successful part of the display thanks to the theatrical lighting and dramatic presentation. It is more reverential and focused than the daily life space, which has the feel of an empty classroom, slightly unkempt with half-completed interactives and dressing-up clothes in a heap.
In comparison, the afterlife gallery literally sparkles with gold leaf, mirrors and lights. It emphasises the wow factor of these remarkable artefacts and the culture they represent.
Although I think the aims of this child-focused gallery are admirable and the team should be applauded for the amount achieved with the budget, I feel the museum has missed a trick by not catering for the needs of adults.
On the sunny mid-week afternoon I visited, the only visitors I saw were adults. They were reminiscing about holidays among the pyramids, but few showcases kept their attention.
Adults are catered for through programming and public events. There are flaps to open in the gallery that reveal additional information, but these are written with teachers and parents in mind who might be seeking help with answering junior enquiries about “ma’at” and “shabtis” (“cosmic justice” and “helpers in the afterlife”).
I was fascinated by the different canoptic jars used for storing specific organs removed during mummification: jars with the baboon head of Hapi were used to guard the lungs, and those with the jackal head of Duamutef guarded the stomach.
I was desperate to find out more and couldn’t help thinking that a simple graphic device of different font sizes (larger for children and smaller for adults) could provide layers of information without turning off the kids.
This is the first major development at the museum for 20 years. The topic was well-chosen and presented. It showcases the enthusiasm and skills of the in-house team.
Walking through the surrounding galleries, I was impressed by the quality of the collections, even though some of the displays look tired and dated.
In spite of my adult-oriented reservations, I hope the Egypt Gallery will act as a prelude for greater things and wish the Ipswich team the best of luck as it considers making a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund to support further development.
Maria Blyzinsky is a freelance exhibitions consultant and co-founder of the Exhibitions Team
Project data
- Cost £240,000 (including cost to make the gallery accessible)
- Main funders Colchester & Ipswich Museum Service; DCMS/Wolfson Fund £50,000; Friends of Ipswich Museum £16,000; Foot Bequest to Ipswich Museum £14,000
- Curator Caroline McDonald
- Designer Maggi Hayward
- Education Caroline Hammer, Rachel McFarlane
- Access Sophie Weaver
- Gallery construction Elliston, Steady and Hawes
- Audiovisual production AV Unit
- Original artwork and interactive design and build Ugly Studios
- Architect Hilary Brightman Conservation Architect
- Display cases Click Netherfield
- Lighting design Lighting Design and Technology
