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As the Museum prepares to reopen its Ancient Egypt and Nubia Galleries as part of its top-to-bottom renovation, this exhibition gives visitors a behind-the-scenes look at how Antichità Napoli are discovered, preserved, and brought into the Museum’s collection.
From Excavation to Conservation
Archaeologists use a variety of tools to recover artifacts from the ground, but the preservation of these fragile objects takes special skill. Located in the center of the exhibition, this hands-on gallery offers visitors a rare chance to witness conservation in action. In a glass-enclosed circular space, conservators work on several items—including sandstone statues, mummies wrapped in linen, stelae engraved with names and inscriptions, and wooden hair combs. Visitors can watch the conservators at work or, at specified times, ask questions.
In the gallery, helpful explanations break down mysterious strings of hieroglyphic pictographs on an incised sandstone statue from Abydos that spell out the name of a powerful Egyptian named Sitepehu (1479-1458 BCE). Visitors can also see the intricate work involved in restoring the mummies’ delicate linen wrappings. This display highlights the complexities of preserving and interpreting Egypt’s rich cultural heritage, which has long been a focus of Penn Museum exploration.
While the archaeological process often changes natural features—such as hills or valleys, water runoff, or caves—today’s excavation methods are designed to minimize environmental impact. The gallery illustrates how careful planning and implementation of mitigation measures, including conducting a thorough environmental assessment, can help ensure that the Penn Museum’s archaeological activities are sustainable in the future.
The final exhibition showcases how the museum is working to sustain its collections. With new policies that require all Penn-funded excavations to remain in the country of origin, as well as a reduction in the number of artifacts purchased for the collection, preserving the existing objects is even more critical. In this gallery, visitors can experience how the museum has evolved over time, with many of its Egyptian and Nubian pieces coming from excavations by Penn researchers, and others acquiring the Museum through purchase and donation.
When the French shipwreck La Belle was discovered in 1996, a unique solution was devised to excavate and conserve her as if she were still on land. The film describes how the double-walled cofferdam allowed archaeologists to pump water out and excavate the hull of the ship—with its cargo—almost as if it were on dry land, and it also outlines the painstaking conservation that was needed to preserve the mummies and other artifacts.
From Storage to Research
As views about cultural appropriation have evolved, museums have tightened their policies. Penn Museum no longer excavates new material, and it no longer buys artifacts from other collections. But it does continue to acquire and care for existing objects. As visitors enter a darker hall, they see conservators tending to irreplaceable objects: a steamer and deionized water to loosen dirt without damage; brushes and putty to support; magnets to reshape; and weights to flatten paper and fabric curled with age. The mummies—two of the museum’s only child mummies—are carefully wrapped; their wrappings reveal details about how they were prepared for the afterlife: statues of servants and animals, jars with food to sustain the journey, a stela inscribed with the name of the deceased.
These and other objects from the collection are being cleaned, stabilized, and interpreted to be ready for display as part of the Museum’s top-to-bottom renewal. They will eventually fill the reimagined Ancient Egypt and Nubia Galleries.
From Research to Display
For more than a century, University of Pennsylvania archaeologists have been listening to the whispers of past civilizations—from Giza to Saqqara, Abydos and Dendereh. This exhibit showcases some of their finds, revealing how they were discovered and preserved. The exhibition also shows how Penn Museum conservators clean, stabilize and prepare ancient artifacts for display, a process that requires great skill and expertise.
Visitors encounter objects in a series of vignettes that explore themes like kingship, deities and daily life in ancient Egypt. The first section features mummies in glass cases, surrounded by examples of tomb goods—statues of servants and animals, stelae expressing wishes for the afterlife, and jars and tables filled with nourishment to sustain the journey.
Another vignette takes viewers to a circular space where they can watch conservators work. The exhibit describes the skills they use to remove dirt and traces of paint, and the tools they employ to restore damaged objects. Many of the objects in this special exhibition will eventually join the Penn Museum’s reimagined Ancient Egypt and Nubia Galleries, scheduled to open in 2022.