Did you know that the Egypt Centre at Swansea University has items which are not Egyptian? Yes most of the objects are Egyptian but we also have one or two which are not. I thought it might be good to highlight a few of these. As I am not an expert on them, I would be glad of any additional information.
So, to start we have this. A marble slab with cuneiform
inscription written in Babylonian of Nebuchadrezzar II. It
reads: Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
provider for Esagila and Esida, eldest son of Nebopolassar, King of Babylon am
I. Esagil and Ezida were the temple complexes of Babylonia and neighbouring
Borsippa.
The same
inscription can be seen on many of the thousands of bricks found at Babylon
(now southern Iraq) which was excavated in the 19th century and upon
stone slabs also used in building projects. King Nebuchadnezzar used such
bricks in his official building projects.
The piece is
set in plaster and is 20cm high. On the back of the plaster is written 'Encased
by J.J. Sexton, London A.D. 1885/ Victoria Queen'.
Babylon is
described by the Greek Historian Herodotus in about 485-425 BC. At the writer
Berosus credits Nebuchadnezzar with the building of the ‘Hanging Gardens’ for
his homesick Iranian wife. Nebuchadnezzar ruled
from 605 to 562 BC.
The script on
this is ‘cuneiform which was used to write a number of different languages.
‘Cuneiform’ means wedge-shaped’. Different versions of the script were used at
different times.
Our volunteers get to handle this object next Tuesday on a session organised specially for them by Egypt Centre staff and led by volunteer Dulcie Engel.
If you want to see more of our objects, Egyptian and non-Egyptian, we have an online catalogue here: http://www.egyptcentre.org.uk/
And a few more non-Egyptian items here.
Left: GR9: Female figure from Beoetia. Board-like body, truncated, pointed arms. Big curl over nose. Polos (truncated cone) on head. Black paint. 125mm high. 6th century BC. Such figures were placed as gifts in temples or could be put in tombs.
Right: GR28: Black polished red-figured jar with handle(NOICUS). This is an oinochoe (wine jug). This piece was made in southern Italy c 400 B.C. The mouth is trefoil (in the shape of a clover leaf) and the figure represents a seated Dionysaic figure with tail holding an offering plate and a plant. A wave pattern runs around the foot of the vase and egg moulding occurs above the figure. The item was purchased by the Department of Classics and Ancient History(Professor Kerford) in the 1960s. Height 24mm.
