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10
Mar 2023
Harrogate's spectacular Egyptian artefacts go on loan to Swansea University
The Royal Pump Room Museum in Harrogate has sent more than 700 of its finest historical artefacts to Swansea University in a collaboration which should provide deep insights into ancient Egyptian history.
The collection, which has not been fully researched for over a decade, is on loan for three years and will now be studied by experts at Swansea’s award-winning Egypt Centre. Swansea University is one of only a handful of UK universities to offer degrees in Egyptology.
May Catt, visitor and cultural services manager at Destination Harrogate, said:
Harrogate’s Egyptian collection includes a spectacular coffin from the Third Intermediate Period (c. 1000-700 BC); stone stelae; a large collection of pottery; amulets and shabtis (figurines used in ancient Egyptian funerary practices), as well as a renowned Anubis mask, which is the only one of its kind in the world. There are also several Etruscan mirrors and a large collection of cuneiform tablets, bricks, and cylinder seals.
Ken Griffin of Swansea University's Egypt Centre inspects a spectacular coffin from Egypt's Third Intermediate Period (ca. 1000-700 BC).
The loan also offers an opportunity to learn more about the origins of Harrogate’s Egyptian antiquities, whilst raising the profile of the Royal Pump Room Museum. The objects were donated by two local collectors, Benjamin Kent and Harrogate jeweller James Roberts Ogden, whose great-great-grandsons still run Ogden of Harrogate on James Street.
While Kent purchased his at auction, Ogden appears to have obtained his items straight from the source – he acted as an adviser to Howard Carter, who famously discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings in 1922, creating a worldwide sensation.
Egypt Centre curator Ken Griffin said the project, called Rediscovering Egypt, would provide an ideal opportunity for the collection to become better known to researchers.
Dr Griffin said:
Three shabtis (funerary figurines) of Seti I, including a faience example believed to be among the finest ever produced, are included in the artefacts on loan.
The collection held permanently by Swansea University's Egypt Centre is currently on public display online, and Harrogate’s Egyptian collection will be added to the site later this year, with photos and 3D models of the objects, to enable visitors, university students and staff to view the rare Egyptian items, while discoveries about the relics are made and shared.
Read more:
- Harrogate's Royal Pump Room Museum closes for refurbishment
- Ripon museums secure more than £400,000 from Arts Council
- Harrogate's link to the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb, 100 years ago
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