Baketenhor's Cartonnage (945–715 BC)

            Egypt, human remains, organic

When the mummified remains of Baketenhor arrived in Newcastle in 1821, onlookers eagerly requested an unwrapping. Fortunately, they were denied, saving her beautiful cartonnage – a protective cover made from plastered layers of fibre, papyrus or linen, sometimes coated in resin. In 1823, Champollion identified the inscription as a prayer addressed to several deities for the soul of the deceased. A recent medical scan revealed she died between the ages of 25 and 35.
[British Museum]

Taken in the Exhibition


Hieroglyphs: Unlocking Ancient Egypt
(October 2022 - February 2023)

For centuries, life in ancient Egypt was a mystery.
We could only glimpse into this hidden world, until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone provided the key to decoding hieroglyphs, allowing us to read this ancient script. The breakthrough expanded our understanding of human history by some 3,000 years.  
Marking 200 years since the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs, this major exhibition took visitors through the trials and hard work that preceded, and the revelations that followed, this ground-breaking moment. 
Hieroglyphs were not just beautiful symbols, they represented a living, spoken language. From romantic poetry and international treaties, to shopping lists and tax returns, the hieroglyphic inscriptions and ancient handwriting in this exhibition revealed stories that are fantastically varied. As well as an unshakeable belief in the power of the pharaohs and the promise of the afterlife, ancient Egyptians enjoyed good food, writing letters and making jokes. 
The show charted the race to decipherment, from initial efforts by medieval Arab travellers and Renaissance scholars to more focussed progress by French scholar Jean-François Champollion (1790–1832) and England’s Thomas Young (1773–1829). The Rosetta Stone, discovered in 1799, with its decree written in hieroglyphs, demotic and the known language of ancient Greek, provided the key to decoding the ancient signs. The results of the 1822 breakthrough proved staggering.
Using inscriptions on the very objects that Champollion and other scholars studied, this immersive exhibition helped visitors to unlock one of the world’s oldest civilisations.
[British Museum]
   

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Taken on: December 17, 2022

Tags:

17.12.22

London

Bloomsbury

British Museum

Hieroglyphs: Unlocking Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Rosetta Stone

decoding

hieroglyphs

ancient script

decipherment

Egyptian hieroglyphs

symbols

language

poetry

international treaties

inscriptions

handwriting

medieval Arab travellers

Renaissance scholars

French scholar

Jean-François Champollion

Thomas Young

demotic

ancient Greek

Baketenhor

Cartonnage

Egypt

human remains

organic

mummified remains

Newcastle

plastered layers

fibre

papyrus

linen

resin

inscription

prayer

HieroglyphsExhibition « less

Sets appears in: • Camden • Artworks more » • Galleries & Museums • British Museum « less

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