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ADVISORY
ATTENTION:
Editors
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4/11/00
- File #15308 Contact: Patricia McBroom (510) 643-7944
pmb@pa.urel.berkeley.edu
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WHAT: |
A
new Egyptian exhibit, "Sites along the Nile: Rescuing
Ancient Egypt," at the University of California, Berkeley.
The exhibit at the Phoebe Apperson Hearst Museum of Anthropology
is the first since 1984 to display some of the campus's
valuable collection of Egyptian artifacts. The 600 selected
objects cover 5,000 years of cultural development in ancient
Egypt, from the Predynastic through the early Christian
era known as the Coptic Period. |
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WHEN: |
The
exhibit formally opens on Friday, April 14, at 10 a.m. and
runs through the year. On Thursday, April 13, at 6:30 p.m,
a gallery talk, "The Hearst Museum Ancient Egyptian
Collections: History and Highlights," will be held
by curators and museum staff. |
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WHERE: |
UC
Berkeley's Hearst Museum of Anthropology is located in Kroeber
Hall on Bancroft Avenue, on the south side of campus. |
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WHO: |
The
exhibit was developed by faculty and students from the Department
of Near Eastern Studies. They collaborated with the Hearst
Museum to display the photographs and objects excavated
by UC Berkeley's famed early archaeologist George A Reisner
from four sites along the Nile. |
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BACKGROUND:
Exactly one hundred years ago, in the spring of 1900, Reisner
excavated these objects - burial objects, crocodile mummies,
sculpture, jewelry and other items - under the auspices
of the University of California Expedition, which was supported
by museum founder Phoebe Apperson Hearst from 1899-1905.
Most of the sites were being looted at the time, and Reisner,
practicing an early form of salvage archaeology, preserved
the ancient objects in their context for cultural interpretation.
Together with Hearst, Reisner amassed a systematic collection
of more than 17,700 objects that ranks among the largest
Egyptian collections in North America. This exhibit is the
first of a series leading up to the museum's centennial
celebration in fall 2001. |
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