BallantinesPR

Santa Fe, NM–Excavating for treasure in Egypt at the turn of the 19^th century was akin to gold mining in the Wild West of the US – digs had to be kept secret and guarded from locals and Europeans alike.

Image courtesy Michael C. Carlos Museum Emory University, Atlanta Coffin of Neskashuti Dynasty 25, 760-656 BC Wood, pigment, gesso, linen 1999.1.9A,B Charlotte Lichirie Collection of Egyptian Art Neskashuti was a priest of Min at the temple of Coptos, later excavated by Petrie.

Egypt had caught the romantic imagination of Europeans and Americans. Egyptomania swept both continents – art, architecture, and the design fields all reflected the style of the riches found in royal Egyptian tombs. Grave sites that had remained undisturbed for hundreds of centuries were plundered by local Egyptians for sale to greedy European collectors flocking to this exotic land. 

One explorer braved these dangerous conditions and was the first to systematically record his labors. He dared to travel and work throughout Egypt where others did not. Protected from marauders by armed guards and keeping the location of his digs a secret from all except his patrons, he amassed the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in England. In fact, the adventurous film character Indiana Jones was modeled after this brave man. His name: Sir William Flinders Petrie (1853-1942).

Excavating Egypt: Great Discoveries from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, University College will feature more then 220 of the Petrie Museum’s finest objects, including one of the world’s earliest surviving dresses (circa 2400 BC), decorative art from the palace-city of the “heretic pharaoh”  Akhenaten and his beautiful wife Nefertiti, gold mummy masks and funerary trappings, jewelry, sculpture, and objects of daily life. Excavating Egypt traces the development of Egyptian archaeology from its beginnings in the 1880’s to the present day through spectacular artwork and rare archival materials – most have never been seen outside of London before. There will also be two stunning coffins on loan, one from the Bolton Museum in London and the other from the Carlos Museum in Atlanta.

Petrie, known as the “father of modern archaeology,” began his long career when he was a young man. His father was a surveyor who taught his son how to use the most modern equipment of the time. This early training instilled in the young Petrie a respect for measurement and accuracy which would inform and influence his life’s work in archaeology – and the work of those he trained, including Howard Carter, discoverer of the tomb of Tutankhamen.

A pioneer in the field of Egyptian archaeology, Petrie developed the first scientific excavation techniques. He was unique for his time, recording the position and arrangement of every artifact found in a site, rather than simply digging as others did for valuable objects as if a treasure hunt. Petrie was keenly aware of the scientific value of every object, no matter how humble, as well as the critical importance of context in archaeology.

The fundamental unit, the “tomb group,” will be highlighted in the exhibition by assemblages from a variety of periods, including Petrie’s original notes and sketches. He developed “seriation,” a method for establishing the historical chronology of a site based on identifying stylistic changes through time, a cornerstone of archaeology today.  Excavating Egypt explores this method through a sequence of pots that inspired his technique of ceramic sequence dating. 

The Petrie Museum’s history begins not with Petrie, but with his patron, the traveler, popular author, and journalist Amelia Edwards (1831-1892). Her passion for Egypt led her to establish the Egypt Exploration Fund (known today as the Egyptian Exploration Society), which supported Petrie’s early excavations. In 1892, Edwards bequeathed her fortune to University College, London (UCL), funding a chair in Egyptology for Petrie. In addition, she gave to UCL her library and personal collection, including jewelry, scarabs, statuary, funerary tablets, pottery, and writings on linen and papyrus. Her bequest was intended to promote the teaching of Egyptology. Petrie and his students expanded her collection through years of excavation in Egypt. With 80,000 objects, it became the largest teaching collection to be found in any university and one of the most important Egyptian collections in the world.

After the discovery of King Tut’s tomb the publicity shifted away from Petrie and he retired from exploring in Egypt to training his students at University College and to exploring sites in ancient Sumaria. He died in Jerusalem in 1942, leaving behind a formidable legacy of scholarship and achievement in the fields of archaeology, philology, and Egyptology.

There will be a free public lecture given by Peter Lacovara, PhD, Senior Curator of Ancient Egyptian, Nubian and Near Eastern Art from the Michael C. Carlos Museum of Emory University in Atlanta entitled; “Great Discoveries from Ancient Egypt: Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie” on August 24, 2007 at 5:30 p.m. in the St. Francis Auditorium. For more information on the lecture call 505-476-5068.

The public opening for the exhibition will be from 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. Saturday, September 1, 2007. The Woman’s Board for the Museum of New Mexico will host an opening reception from 12:00 to 2:30 p.m.

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The New Mexico Museum of Art was founded in 1917 as the Art Gallery of the Museum of New Mexico. Housed in a spectacular Pueblo Revival building designed by I. H. and William M. Rapp, it was based on their New Mexico building at the Panama-California Exposition (1915). The museum’s architecture inaugurated what has come to be known as “Santa Fe Style.” For more than 90 years, the Museum has collected and exhibited work by leading artists from New Mexico and elsewhere. This tradition continues today with a wide-array of exhibitions with work from the world’s leading artists. The Museum of Fine Arts strives to bring the art of New Mexico to the world and the art of the world to New Mexico.

The New Mexico Museum of Art is a division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.

INFORMATION FOR THE PUBLIC
The New Mexico Museum of Art is located on Santa Fe’s Plaza at 107 W. Palace Avenue. Information: 505-476-5072 or http://www.mfasantafe.org.

Hours/Days:
Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Open Free on Fridays, 5:00-8:00 p.m., with the exception of major exhibition openings.

Admission:
School groups free. Children 16 and under free. New Mexico residents with ID free on Sundays. New Mexico resident Senior Citizens (age 60+) with ID free Wednesdays. Museum Foundation members free. Students with ID $1 discount. Single visit to one museum: $8.00 for non-state residents, $6.00 for New Mexico residents. Four-day pass to five museums including state-run museums in Santa Fe plus The Museum of Spanish Colonial Art $18.00. One-day pass for two museums (Museum of International Folk Art and Museum of Indian Arts and Culture OR Museum of Fine Arts and Palace of the Governors) $12.00. Group rate for ten or more people: single visit $6.00, four day pass $16.00.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Joe Traugott, Curator of Twentieth Century Art
505-476-5062
joe.traugott@state.nm.us

Steve Cantrell, PR Manager
505-476-1144
505-310-3539 – cell
steve.cantrell@state.nm.us

Jennifer Hoffman
jenniferh@ballantinespr.com
Telephone: 505 216 7669
Cell: 505 603 8643
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