The Mansoor-Amarna Collection

As a direct consequence of the previous article re the Amarna Princess sculpture currently being sold on Ebay, I went to have a hunt around on the Web to find out more about the Mansoor collection mentioned in the auction house Press Release. For those of you who are interested, here is a small selection of links on the subject. The collection consisted 106 limestone sculptures and fragments, dating from circa 1350 B.C., representing Queen Nefertiti, King Akhenaten, and their family. It seems that in the past, the collection has not been without its fair share of controversy.

The official website for the collection can be found at the address below. As well as descritpions and images of the collection, it provides papers of scientific studies in favour and against the authenticity of the collection, and a history of the collection:

http://www.mansooramarnacollection.com/

http://www.mansooramarnacollection.com/docs/

http://www.mansooramarnacollection.com/history.html

A fascinating history of all the arguments for and against is provided by the following article by Edmond Mansoor, from 1971, in English in spite of the paper's title "Je cherche un homme":

http://www.amarnamansoor.com/JeCherche.htm

An article by Gianfranco Nolli in June 1986 (at that time curator of the collection), defending the collection against speculation that "attemtps to descredit the authenticity of the Mansoor-Amarna collection."
http://www.amarnamansoor.com/InDefence.htm

An entire online book dedicated to the controversy by Mansoor family member Christine Mansoor can be found at:

http://www.mansooramarnacollection.com/scandal/

You can find a review of it here:

http://www.mythinglinks.org/afr~egy~amarna.html

All fascinating stuff!