Sunday, March 05, 2006

More re Nubian Gallery at the Oriental Institute

http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/14018554.htm
A nice review of the new permanent Nubian exhibition at the Oriental Institute in Chicago: "Some of the works on display, culled from the museum's 15,000-piece Nubian collection, are solemn and ceremonial. Others are utilitarian, like a leather quiver, still glossy and supple-looking, that dates from the time of Christ. But a surprising number, particularly among the ceramic pieces, use animal images in a surprisingly whimsical way. A smiling frog ('a symbol of rebirth,' Teeter said) gazes heavenward. Cartoonish crocodiles march around one pot, and friendly looking cobras dance around another. What at first seem to be limp flowers in the snakes' mouths prove on a second look to be Egyptian religious symbols. The liveliness of the Nubian pots couldn't be further from the stiff religious art of Egypt. They hint at the strange relationship between the two civilizations.
For several millennia, Nubia served as the conduit through which the riches of sub-Saharan Africa - precious metals, animal hides, spices and incense - reached Egypt and the Mediterranean world."
See the above article for the entire review.

A sample of some of the items on show can be found at the OI website:

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