The Kelsey Museum of
Archaeology debuted a new
exhibit titled “Graffiti as
Devotion along the Nile:
El-Kurru, Sudan” on August
23. The exhibit focuses on
approximately 600 graffiti
artifacts found at the site of
El-Kurru in ancient Kush,
located in modern day Sudan.
Geoff
Emberling,
co-curator of the exhibit,
said the project began when
a
group
of
researchers
traveled to Sudan in 2015,
expecting to find an ancient
royal city.
“We found a temple and
started seeing these graffiti
and that was not what we
went looking for at all,”
Emberling said. “But that’s
what archaeology is all about:
finding the unexpected.”
The exhibit also features
information
about
the
graffiti and the culture of
ancient Kush. Visitors can
read about how the graffiti
relates
to
the
region’s
religion, trade and tradition
of pilgrimage.
There
are
various
multimedia
elements
in
the
exhibit,
including
a
soundscape
of
ancient
Kush
and
an
interactive
simulation of the reflection
transformation
imaging
researchers used to analyze
the graffiti. This technology
compiles approximately 30
photos taken of the graffiti
with different amounts of
light and creates one file.
Using this file, researchers
can
examine
how
light
affects the visibility of the
graffiti. The exhibit also
features a map of the region
printed on the floor.
Rackham students Caitlin
Clerkin and Shannon Ness
explained how they believed
multimedia impacts visitors’
experiences
and
deepens
their
connection
to
the
exhibit.
“We
think
that
these
elements help to bring a
visitor a little closer to the
reality of a place,” Clerkin
said.
“For
us,
the
map
provides a sense of geography
as well as a reminder that the
Nile ties some of these locales
together.
The
soundscape
gives a little sense of human
activity, and brought us, as
visitors, into the site and
village.”
Emberling
said
he
hopes
visitors
will
gain
a
deeper
knowledge
and
understanding
of
ancient
African civilizations.
“I think the ancient
civilizations of Africa
don’t
get
as
much
attention in the public
eye as they deserve,”
Emberling said. “I hope
people will become a
little more aware of
their complexity and
cultural achievements.”
He
also
compared
ancient Kush to the
modern-day
United
States,
explaining
that understanding a
culture solely through
its elites is problematic.
“Most of our ideas
about
history
come
from
the
elite
and
that’s not a satisfactory
way
to
understand
any
culture,
even
our own,” Emberling
said. “The graffiti art
are
important
and
interesting in the sense
that they are marks left
by individual people.”
LSA junior Madeline
Topor, president of the
Student
Archaeology
Club, said she believes the
study of ancient civilizations
is especially relevant today.
“Studying things from the
past is a way to learn about
where we came from,” Topor
said. “How it shaped the
world we are living in today
and how traditions from the
past are still carried on in
the present.”
This winter, researchers
will
be
continuing
the
project, relocating to the
capital of ancient Kush. The
Kelsey Museum is hosting
various events related to this
exhibit, including an opening
lecture on Sept. 5, a curator’s
tour on Sept. 8 and a half-day
symposium on Sept. 20.
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Kelsey Museum of Archaeology hosts 600 artjfacts found at El-Kurru site relating
to area’s religious, trading, and historical movements across North African region
Ancient Sudanese graffiti exhibit opens
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Studying the past
is a way to learn
about where we
came from. How
it shaped the
world we live in
today and how
traditions from
the past are still
carried on in the
present.