Winged Isis pectoral (538-519 BC). Harvard University--Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition. Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Used with permission.
by Angela Magnotti Andrews
This golden pectoral ornament has to be one of the most spectacular pieces in the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) Boston's upcoming exhibition Gold & The Gods: Jewels of Ancient Nubia. Found in 1916, near the Nubian pyramids in present-day Sudan, in the tomb of Amaninatakelebte, in a cemetery at Nuri, this exquisitely carved golden jewel features the winged goddess Isis kneeling with her arms outstretched.
She holds in her right hand an ankh, and in her left hand she grasps what appears to be the hieroglyph for a sail. The ankh represents 'life', and the sail represents 'the breath of life'. Upon her head she wears a throne-shaped crown, the symbol for her hieroglyphic name. The goddess Isis appears to have debuted as a Nubian goddess, who was also worshiped in Egypt and the Hellenestic lands. She was revered most as the goddess of motherhood and fertility, known to heal and confer wisdom to her devotees.
This relic from Ancient Nubia is a superb example of the nearly 100 Nubian jewels the will be on display in Gold & The Gods, which opens July 19, 2014. Every one of these artifacts was discovered by archaeologists in expeditions led by a joint partnership between the MFA and Harvard University from 1905-1942.
This expedition extended from the banks of the Nile to the Mediterranean coast and to Sudan, and a majority of the hundreds of artifacts brought back from these important digs are housed in the museum's Egyptian and Nubian collections. This particular exhibition of Nubian artifacts will feature a number of foreign imports (acquired by Nubian royals through trade routes established between the peoples of central Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Red Sea), as well as a number of truly unique Nubian pieces fashioned with advanced techniques in goldwork, beadwork, and enameling.
According to the show's co-curator, Denise Doxey, who curates the Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art at the MFA, the "highly sophisticated and dynamic" Nubian culture produced Nubian artists who designed and manufactured "spectacular jewelry demonstrates technical skill and aesthetic sensitivity."
Since this particular body of artifacts spans 2,000 years of Nubian civilization (1700 BC to AD 300), visitors will have the opportunity to witness the evolution of the many highly skilled techniques used by Nubian artisans. Many of these techniques, including granulation, repousse, and champlevé enameling, continue to be used by modern jewelry artisans. However, given the crude tools used in ancient Nubia and their primitive methods of controlling temperatures with fire, the results they achieved are absolutely astonishing.
Museum curators, Denise Doxey and Yvonne Markowitz (the MFA's Rita J. Kaplan and Susan B. Kaplan Curator of Jewelry), believe that visitors will "discover the wonders" of this ancient culture which is only now beginning to take its place on the timeline of ancient history. They also hope that visiting jewelry artists will be inspired to incorporate Nubian motifs and techniques into their own pieces.
If you're planning to be in Boston later this summer, you will not want to miss this amazing exhibition. We invite you to visit the MFA's website for more information. 10 years ago
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