This is a
blog highlighting some of my favourite pieces in the Atkinson.
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| The Atkinson (Southport) holds a museum, gallery, theatre, library, café and shop. |
For a small
town, and a small museum, the Atkinson has one of the best Egyptological
galleries I have seen. It is full of everyday pieces from everyday people. There
is so much to see in this gallery, but I am going to be highlighting five of my
favourite pieces.
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| The front of the Egyptology gallery on the second floor |
Little is known of Mrs Goodison, who was born Anne Padley in
West Derby, Merseyside, in 1845. She married George Goodison, who is known for
laying a sewerage system in the Everton area. You may recognise the name Goodison
Park? It is named after him! Mrs Goodison was a self-taught Egyptologist who
purchased most of the objects with the advice of clergyman Revd Greville J
Chester, who assisted in purchasing Egyptian antiquities for the British
Museum in
London. She displayed them in her home until her death in 1906 when her husband
approached Bootle Museum with the purpose of selling his wife's collection, as
he didn’t share her passion. The museum could not afford the £400 asking price,
but Thomas Davies, a retired businessman who had spent most of his working life
in Egypt, bought and gifted the collection to the museum. The collection stayed
in Bootle until the 1970s when the museum closed. The objects were then
transferred to the Botanic Gardens Museum in Churchtown, and then to the
Atkinson Art Gallery in Southport in the 1990s where they have remained in
storage until the gallery opened in October 2014.
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| Shabtis in the first case in the gallery |
So, of
course, I have to talk about the shabtis. For those who don’t know, these are
my favourite Egyptological pieces, and the topic of my dissertation. Shabtis
are mummified figures that would belong in tombs. Some have spells written on
them and others identify the owner of the tomb. They would come to life in the
afterlife and would do everyday domestic tasks, such as the washing clothes and
agricultural work. As you can see in the image above, there are shabtis made
from wood, pottery, and faience (a type of ceramic). Wooden ones were carved,
but faience ones were made using a mould, like the one below. They would be
stored in containers, like the jar, with a reis shabti (an overseer). These can
be identified by the kilt that pokes out by the legs. An overseer would
supervise the other workers in the afterlife.
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| Paddle doll example, with a mirror to show you the back of the doll |
Paddle dolls
are so cool, and not very common, and the Atkinson have three on display. They are in the form of women, and most that have been found were from as early as the Old Kingdom to the Middle Kingdom. They are made of thin pieces of wood which show the torso of a woman with no arms or legs. Thick “hair” is represented by small beads strung along string, which are often made from black mud. The necks are often painted jewellery. Toward where the feet would be can sometime show deities, like the goddess Heket (a frog) house in Swansea's, The Egypt Centre.
Some Egyptologists believed them to be fertility dolls, that would guarantee them an eternal birth in the afterlife. Others believe they may have been part of rituals with the priestesses of Hathor.
To find out more about paddle dolls, check out this lecture by expert Megan Clark, who used to work at the Atkinson before she furthered her studies (click here)
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| A headrest with hieroglyphs carved on it |
I love headrests!
The Egypt Centre (where I volunteered at university) had a replica that people
could test out. It was very comfortable to lie on. The ancient Egyptians would
not sleep with the back of their heads resting on it, they would sleep on their
cheek. It would also be wrapped with linen or some fabric to cushion it. They could
get them where there would separate, to make it easier to travel. Sometimes
deities, like Bes or Taweret, would be painted on the necks. If you were to see
an image where they were lying on their backs with a headrest, they are dead.
It may be in a mummification scene.
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| Senet was a game played by everyone in ancient Egypt |
These are
senet pieces on a reconstructed board. It was a board game that would be played
by everyone. Tutankhamun even had four in his tomb. There is a famous scene of
the princess, Nefertari, who seems to be playing the game alone. What is actually
happening is she is aiding her ancestors on their journey through the afterlife.
There is even some belief that it was used as a Ouija board. The aim of the
game is to move all of your pieces off the board. There are special spaces
(identified by painted hieroglyphs), and special moves called a wall. It is so
much fun to play! You can play this game as an activity listed on my services
page (click here for more information).
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| Colourful, painted coffin piece |
This coffin
piece is roughly 3000 years old and has some incredible painted scenes still in good condition.
Towards the right side of the piece is a woman who is transparent with a red outline.
She is the owner of the coffin. The scene seems to link to her journey into the
afterlife and has her for of a ba bird (part of her soul). It also has a
variety of deities, including Osiris, Isis, and Sekhmet. There is an argument
of the two figures Duamutef and Hapi (a jackal headed being and a baboon headed
being) stood above Sekhmet are gods or demons (a modern, convenient term for a liminal
being). My favourite being is Ammit seen below. She has the head of a crocodile,
the body of a lion and back end of a hippopotamus, which are the three most
dangerous animals in Africa today and in ancient times. She is called the “devourer”,
as she would eat the hearts of those who did bad deeds, so the deceased would
not get into the afterlife.
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| Ammit (the devourer) |
The Atkinson
has some great activities for children, including a dress up, and a hieroglyph
puzzle. If you put the pieces into the correct space, a small video will appear
with some interesting facts about ancient Egypt.
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| This is the hieroglyph puzzle activity |
Please go and
have a wander around. Don’t forget there are some children’s activities that I
am leading. There is more information on the calendar (click here for calendar). There will be more blogs on the northern Egyptological collections,
and I hope to do more on some bits you have read in this blog, especially on
certain deities, like Osiris and Ammit. I hope to post every Friday afternoon, so keep an eye out!
For the Atkinson website, click here
If you are interested in the history of northern Victorian women collecting Egyptian objects, click here
Looking for the contract or education specification, click here
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