Howard Carter was born in London on 9 May 1874. His father was an artist and young Howard inherited his talent for drawing. This brought him, at the age of 17, to Egypt to help with the recording of the tombs in Middle Egypt. From then his Egyptological career took off in a spectacular fashion. Between 1893 and 1899 he was in charge of epigraphy in the mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri. From 1899 until 1905 he was employed as Chief Inspector of Antiquities, first of Upper Egypt, then of Lower Egypt. Continue Reading…
Before we turn to the question of the function of replicas in a museum environment, it may prove useful to reflect briefly on the terms ‘original’ and ‘replica’. An original museum object can be seen as having the following characteristics: distinctive physical properties, a historical heritage, and a particular context. The informative value of a museum object thus presents itself on three levels; it is not limited to pure materiality, but also includes a conceptual dimension that must be revealed through scholarly interpretation.
A replica, on the other hand, has a purely imitative character, since it borrows both its informational content and outward appearance from the original object. The value of a replica lies in its surface similarity to the original.
The fact that originals are to be simultaneously preserved and displayed in museums gives rise to a permanent conservation contradiction that replicas sidestep, since they exist solely to be displayed. Even if they lack the special aura of ‘authenticity’, replicas can achieve similar results to an original object in a museum by illustrating forgotten contexts and by reconstructing bygone historical situations in three dimensions, such as the site of an archaeological find. Replicas are already used in museums for this purpose, and thus are much like models, the material reconstructions of lost, partially destroyed, or oversized objects or ensembles.
Aside from the visitor’s direct communication with the object, the exhibition itself serves as a line of communication with visitors (e.g., through choice of subject matter and design) and the information carriers in the exhibition serve to communicate about the object. Every exhibition can therefore be viewed as a communication structure in which objects are used as a medium and are prepared in a scientifically rigorous manner in an aesthetically pleasing environment for the viewer, with whom they thereby enter a communicative dialogue. An object’s appearance can be enhanced via the ‘scenographic composition’ of an exhibition. While an increase in educational value and a higher degree of communication through dramatic staging (communication about the object) may seem possible with a replica exhibition, communication with the object is naturally reduced to the aspects mediated by the replicas, such as their crafted surfaces or dimensions.
A visit to an exhibition is not just about gaining awareness and accruing knowledge; it is also about the visitor’s experience, entertainment and relaxation. Since the latter three phenomena have a direct positive impact on the viewer’s readiness to learn, additionally increasing learning possibilities through emotional means is a legitimate approach. In the ‘Tutankhamun – His Tomb and His Treasures’ exhibition, this is achieved by means of dramatic reconstructions, in which integrated films not only make up the essential part of the historical introduction, but lead directly to the ‘discovery site’. The reconstructions of the discovery site presented in this exhibition – the main chambers of Tutankhamun’s tomb and the subsequent museum-quality presentation of central object groups – are emblematic of the two key elements of the educational strategy. Here, experiencing the larger picture (context) fosters a sense of understanding: The main axis of the exhibition, along which the shrines and sarcophagi are arranged as they were found at the burial site, leading up to the mask, has a monumental as well as illuminating effect. The content is presented on the one hand via the traditional method of didactic illustrations, and on the other by means of a dramatic audio guide.
A significant educational advantage of a replica exhibition is the ability to reconstruct the full context of an archaeological find. The site as it was found is almost impossible to conserve anywhere using the delicate original artefacts. A replica show also has the important advantage of presenting a complete collection of a particular group of objects, which is simply not possible on this scale, given the generally small selection of originals found in conventional special exhibitions. Moreover, the same object can be shown several times in different contexts.
The academic integrity and the quality of the objects’ presentation are crucial to a replica exhibition’s value from a museological perspective. The former optimizes the ‘communication about the object’, while the latter shapes the ‘exhibition itself as a means of communication’. Both, however, should also be ensured for exhibitions with originals, since pure ‘communication with the object’ is often not enough for a complete exhibition experience and often remains bound solely to the viewer’s subjective perception of the object. This is why, as with the gathering and study of exhibition items, the act of selecting and arranging should be the reserve of academics – in this case Egyptologists – who have the necessary skills to make such decisions. Ultimately, it is the productive interplay between the design and content of an exhibition that dictates its success.
Museums of cultural history, as institutions, are required to combine the collection, preservation, and study of objects with educational communication about them. While the first three tasks necessarily require original objects, they are not absolutely necessary for pure educational communication. Consequently, museums do not have an exclusive monopoly on exhibitions with cultural and historical content: Temporary exhibitions are often held in regular exhibition halls and are initiated by governmental or commercial clients external to the museum. It therefore makes no sense when cultural history museums, including Egyptian museums, doggedly insist on a carousel of special exhibitions, allowing collection, preservation and study to slip into the background.
Replica exhibitions open up new dimensions for the educational task of academics in that the intensity of the experience can be enhanced by the immediacy, completeness, arrangement and various dramatic presentations of the objects shown. If during their educational efforts cultural history museums refuse the experience-rich, didactic possibilities of replica exhibitions out of misguided purism, they could find themselves behind the latest trends, rather than setting them.
It would not be the first time.
“What’s the use of all this copied stuff?” a colleague asked recently in response to the increasing hype surrounding the touring Tutankhamun exhibition. Of course, between the lines, this served to show that copies still have a rather poor image in the arts. They continue to be seen as second-class items, reproductions of questionable value, creations without a spirit of their own, to say nothing of the unstated comparisons to theft and forgery. For now, the absolute ruler in this area remains the original. Worshipped ecstatically, its aura is exulted beyond all others. The copy remains in the shadows. This isn’t fair, or better said, it isn’t fair to the copy.
Firstly, copying is a primordial human activity, or, one could almost say, a divine force within us. Even God famously created us in his own image and was as such a great copier. Has anyone ever condemned him for it? And how can we humans do otherwise if the urge to copy is virtually pre-programmed into us? For a good reason too, is all one can say, and cast a glance back at the past, such as at medieval monastic writing rooms. There the scribes – the copyists – were held in high esteem. They not only effectuated the mere reproduction of cultural goods, but, in spreading them, also ensured their survival and continued development. The famous C manuscript of the Nibelungenlied can be found in the Baden State Library in Karlsruhe. It is a treasure, one of the pillars of our culture.
It is granted the highest conservation status even though it is ‘only’ a copy of the original – which, by the way, no longer exists. When it was made it probably was just a copy, but now it has the aura of the original. In other words, this copy has undergone an immense increase in value. This is why one should never be too quick to dismiss a copy.
The famous Lascaux cave is situated in central France and contains the most comprehensive examples of early human painting. It had to be closed down because the works of art didn’t react too well to so many visitors breathing on them. It was replaced by a copy, by the Lascaux II cave with its tracings. These are by no means of equal value to the originals, to be sure, but without them this authentic evidence would have disappeared before our very eyes, to be gone forever. Originals are fragile. Copies protect.
Now, when the original tomb treasures, which consist of about a thousand objects, were recreated for the huge Tutankhamun exhibition, it was done with added value, with the third advantage inherent in replicas: The creators wanted to bring together that which has never been seen in context since the discovery of the tomb in 1922, namely Tutankhamun’s burial chambers with all of the accoutrements that a pharaoh needed for his journey into the afterlife – each detail in relation to another detail, every grain sack, every pitcher, every diadem in its original place. The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, with its scattered preserved originals, doesn’t offer this panorama and will never be able to. But is this abundance of dazzling gold replicas just marketing a bunch of kitsch, or a pseudoscientific Disneyfication of eminent archaeological goods?
Such accusations always abound with the kinds of project that involve copying. But this criticism doesn’t apply here. Not only because the objects in question have been duplicated largely by hand, to scale and with meticulous detail, but also because this show literally opens a door. A door to an overwhelming experience. It’s true that the replicas don’t preserve the unique moment of discovery of this world-famous treasure. But they do give us an impression of the impact of this moment and allow us to convey it to others. All thanks to copies.
We should learn to appreciate them and see them for what they are at heart, namely a cultural achievement.
Incidentally, that last thought is not mine. It’s a complete copy. I took it from a book written by the cultural theorist Dirk von Gehlen. It’s called ‘Mash-Up’. And further: ‘In Praise of Copying’! And I couldn’t agree more.
This text is the transcript of a radio essay which was broadcasted on hr2-Kultur on the occasion of the Tutankhamun exhibition in Frankfurt in 2011/2012.
Feierliche Vorstellung der Renovierungsfortschritte am Montag, 15. Dezember, unter
Beteiligung von Premierminister H.E. Eng. Ibrahim Mahlab, Antikenminister Prof. Dr.
Mamdouh Eldamaty und dem Gouverneur von Kairo Prof. Dr. Galal Said Continue Reading…
Vor wenigen Tagen ist es der Menschheit gelungen, eine Raumsonde nach gut zehn Jahren Flug durch das All punktgenau auf dem Kometen Tschurjumov Gerassimenko („Tschuri“) zu landen. Das Licht, das etwa 300 000 km pro Sekunde schnell ist, braucht bis dorthin knapp eine halbe Stunde. Dies bedeutet sage und schreibe eine Entfernung von etwa 500 Millionen Kilometern!
Der Name des Raumschiffes leitet sich ägyptischen Hafenstadt Raschid (Rosetta) her, die Landefähre wurde nach der Nilinsel Philae benannt. Diese beiden Namen sind nicht zufällig engsten mit der Entzifferung der Hieroglyphenschrift durch den jungen französischen Gelehrten Jean-François Champollion verbunden. Damit stieß er eine Tür auf, die uns den Weg zum Verständnis für das Alte Ägypten und seine grandiose Kultur endgültig öffnen sollte.
Die Entzifferung der Hieroglyphen gelang erst aufgrund eines Fundes. Im Jahr 1799 entdeckten Soldaten von Napoleon Bonaparte beim Bau einer Festungsanlage während ihres Ägyptenfeldzuges in Raschid den berühmten Stein von Rosette oder Rosettastein. Er enthält zwei ägyptische Inschriften, demotisch und hieroglyphisch, und dazu eine griechische Übersetzung. Ausgehend von den Königsnamen „Ptolemäus“ und „Kleopatra“, die auf diesem Stein stehen, entzifferte Champollion die ersten Schriftzeichen. Zur Kontrolle zog Champollion noch einen steinernen Obelisken heran, der auf der Nilinsel Philae gefunden wurde und dieselben Königsnamen in zwei Sprachen enthält. Dieser Obelisk befindet sich heute auf dem Gut Kingston Lacy in England.
Nachdem zu Beginn der 20. Jahrhunderts der alte Staudamm von Assuan gebaut wurde, versank die Insel Philae – und mit ihr der Tempel – im Wasser des Nils. Erst in den Sechziger Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts wurde ein Rettungsplan für den Tempel in Angriff genommen. Man baute einen wasserdichten Damm um die Tempelanlage, zerlegte das Heiligtum komplett und verbrachte sämtliche Steinquader und Säulenteile an das Ufer des Nils. Inzwischen wurde mit vielen Tonnen Dynamit die Insel Agilkia, die Nachbarinsel von Philae, so zurechtgesprengt, dass sie in etwa die geologische Form der versunkenen Insel Philae erhielt. Nun konnte man dort den alten Tempel wieder neu aufbauen. Aufgrund dieser Zusammenhänge hat man die Landestelle der Raumsonde schließlich „Agilkia“ benannt.
Auf der neuen Rosetta-Mission ruhen sehr große Erwartungen. Man erhofft, dass auf den Kometen, die unsere Sonne umkreisen, Hinweise auf die Entstehung des Lebens zu finden sind. Ob die Mission zur Entschlüsselung des Lebens gelingen wird, so wie vor 200 Jahren das Abenteuer der Entschlüsselung der Hieroglyphenschrift gelang, dies wird sich in den nächsten Monaten zeigen. Wir vom Tut-Team wünschen dem Unternehmen jedenfalls viel, viel Erfolg!
Herzlichst,
Euer
Dr. Wolfgang Wettengel
Im Jahr 1939 wurde das Griffith Institute in Oxford eröffnet. Zum 75 jährigen Jubiläum eröffnet nun am 24. Juli das mit dem Institut verbundene Ashmolean Museum eine für alle Tut-Freunde und Ägyptenfans interessante Sonderausstellung: Unter dem Titel „Discovering Tutankhamun“ werden archäologische Objekte aus der Amarnazeit präsentiert, also aus der Zeit Echnatons bis zum Anfang der Regierung von König Tutanchamun (ca. 1350 bis 1330 v. Chr.). Continue Reading…
Am 6. März 1930, als Howard Carter immer noch dabei war, die über 5200 Objekte aus dem Grab Tutanchamuns zu bergen, schrieb ein berühmter deutscher Schriftsteller, der sich damals gerade in Luxor aufhielt, voller staunender Bewunderung:
„In den Märchen gibt es, Sonntagskindern erreichbar, Zauberwiesen auf dem Grunde tiefer Brunnenschächte. Solch ein Brunnenschacht ist die menschliche Vergangenheit, und solch eine Zauberwiese ist dies Land…“ Continue Reading…
Tutanchamuns Großvater Amenophis III. war der Herrscher, der nach zahlreichen militärischen Auseinandersetzungen in einer der glanzvollsten Epochen der ägyptischen Geschichte regierte. Nun haben Archäologen unter der Leitung der deutsch-armenischen Ägyptologin Hourig Sourouzian in seinem Totenheiligtum auf der Westseite von Luxor die Teile von zwei bisher unbekannten Steinstatuen von einst etwa 13,5 m Höhe aus hartem Quarzit ausgegraben. Continue Reading…
Als der griechische Reisende Herodot im 5. Jahrhundert v. Chr. Ägypten bereiste, war er von diesem Land so tief beeindruckt, dass er darüber schrieb, hier sei alles völlig anders als in Griechenland und in all den anderen Ländern, die er bereits bereist hatte, viel wunderbarer und erstaunlicher! Continue Reading…
Wo über Jahrzehnte eines der bekanntesten deutschen Versandhäuser seinen Sitz hatte, eröffnete nun Tutanchamun zu einer weiteren Station der Tour seine Pforten. Bis 26. Januar 2014 gastiert die Ausstellung in Nürnberg, im ehemaligen Areal der traditionsreichen Fa. Quelle, an der Stadtgrenze zu Fürth. Die Reaktionen des Publikums und der Presse sind begeistert, was uns natürlich sehr freut! Continue Reading…
Tiere spielen im Leben des Menschen seit Jahrtausenden eine viel größere Rolle als uns bewusst ist. Einst umgaben sie uns nicht nur im Alltag, sondern auch in der Sphäre des Überirdischen. Den alten Ägyptern erschien es sehr wichtig, zahlreiche Gottheiten in Tiergestalt darzustellen. Im Kult konnten Tiere sowohl verehrt, gejagt oder geopfert werden. Continue Reading…
Es gibt manchmal merkwürdige Ereignisse. Als wir vor Monaten unsere First-Friday – Reihe mit den Vorträgen geplant hatten, schlug mir Helge Kranz als Termin für meinen Vortrag über den „Fluch des Pharao“ den 5. April vor. Dieses rein zufällig von Helge gewählte Datum war ein echter Volltreffer! Denn Helge wusste nicht, dass es sich just um den 90. Todestag von Lord Carnarvon handeln sollte. Continue Reading…
Nach langer Suche nach einem Ausstellungsort von geeigneter Größe war es soweit: „Tutanchamun – Sein Grab und die Schätze“ konnte nun endlich in Berlin eröffnen. Da derzeit im Ägyptischen Museum dieAusstellung „Im Licht von Amarna“ läuft, ergibt sich ein großartiger Synergieeffekt, der sicher viele Ägyptenbegeisterte nach Berlin ziehen wird. Continue Reading…
So lange ist es schon her, dass „Tutanchamun – Sein Grab und die Schätze“ am 8. März 2008 in Zürich startete. Fünf Jahre später, fast auf den Tag genau, öffneten wir jetzt in der Arena in Berlin. Da ist es Zeit für einen kleinen Rückblick. Continue Reading…
Nach der Entdeckung des Grabes von Tutanchamun begann Howard Carter sofort den Druck der enormen Verantwortung zu erahnen, die eine sachgemäße Bergung jahrtausendealter Objekte nach sich zog. Niemand hatte bislang ein Unternehmen dieser Dimension in Angriff genommen. Allein die Restaurierungsarbeiten an den hochempfindlichen Funden aus der Vorkammer waren ungeheuer aufwändig. Continue Reading…
Online: www.eventim.de
Ticket hotline: + 49 (0) 1806-570070
At the box office of the exhibition after opening
Group hotline:
Tel. 0421 / 37 67 2000
For groups and school classes