Roman and Late Antique Artefacts from Egypt: Understanding Society and Culture

The research project will be the first in-depth study of the society and culture of Roman and Late Antique Egypt that uses everyday artefacts as its principal source of evidence. In this way it will transform our understanding of social experience and social relations in Roman and Late Antique Egypt.

UK museums hold significant collections of artefacts from Roman and Late Antique Egypt (c. 30 B.C. to A.D. 700) as a result of archaeological excavations carried out in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Yet because scholarly interest has focused on the Egypt of the Pharaohs, and on evidence about Egypt from ancient texts, most of these objects have never been studied. This situation is likely to continue, since most UK museums and universities do not have any specialists with relevant expertise.

We will focus on the collection of UCL's Petrie Museum, one of the largest and best-documented in the UK, designated by the UK govt. in 1998 as of 'outstanding importance'. The collection contains more than 8000 objects dating to the periods under study, most of which have not been the subject of any research. Moreover, the collection includes many objects that rarely survive elsewhere, and so is very important in terms of our overall understanding of Roman artefacts across the empire.

By examining the features of artefacts, the materials they were made from, evidence of modification that shows how they were used in daily life, and associated texts that provide further information, we will investigate aspects of social behaviour and experience and shed new light on daily life in Roman and Late Antique Egypt. We are particularly interested in investigating how experiences may have differed among people with varying status in society (children, adults, people of different social class), which can be investigated by examining objects that can be associated with these particular groups. By examining aspects such as wear and repair, we will also investigate the personal and sentimental meanings that may have been attached to objects. The categories of objects that we will study will comprise ordinary everyday artefacts such as dress accessories, shoes, toys, simple musical instruments such as bells, clappers and rattles, and other domestic items.

The potential of the material to transform understanding is amply demonstrated through pilot studies of selected artefact categories from Roman and Late Antique Egypt (baskets, dice, reed pens, and feeding bottles) already undertaken by the investigators and researcher on the project. These studies show that the research value of Roman material culture from Egypt is immense, and that similar approaches to a much wider data-set of everyday artefacts are likely to yield extremely significant results.

The research will bring together specialists in the interpretation of ancient Egyptian texts, and archaeological artefacts, drawing on new methodologies and interpretative approaches including the experimental recreation of objects using new technologies. It will result in a co-authored book that will be a significant departure from extant previous studies of the social history of Roman and Late Antique Egypt in its focus on artefact evidence. Further outputs will include a journal article on the 3D scanning and recreation of objects, online teaching and research resources for schools and universities, a workshop for museums and academics, and a museum display at the Petrie Museum open to the general public.

The museum display will present our research on the simple musical instruments in particular, displaying the originals from the Petrie collection, prototypes & replicas made via 3D scanning/printing technology (which may be handled and played by visitors), the sounds that can be made using the replica artefacts, and our interpretation of how the artefacts would have been used to create particular experiences, for instance in religious and ritual activities.

In addition to academic beneficiares (see separate section) the following groups will benefit from the research project: Petrie Museum, other UK museums, UK schools and the wider general public, university students.

Petrie Museum
The project will contribute to the Petrie Museum's documentation of objects through the new research on the collections. Additional information will be added to the museum's current online database of artefacts. Most of the objects in the database have not been the subject of any research, and the current information generally comprises only basic identifications. In some instances one record covers 50+ individual objects. The research project will transform our knowledge of many objects, and thus the quality and quantity of information available on the online database.

The project will also facilitate a new display on artefacts from Roman Egypt which will take place at the museum and address the remit of the museum to present its material to the wider public and encourage public engagement with research. Associated web materials will enhance the Petrie Museum web site. A number of replica objects will also be donated to the Petrie Museum for future use in educational and outreach activities. The museum will therefore benefit from considerable enhancement of its records, from the opportunity to showcase materials from Roman Egypt in its collections in an innovative museum display and from additional project-generated impact activities and materials.

UK Schools and General Public
Since Dynastic Egypt is dominant in public perceptions of the region, the general public has very little knowledge or understanding of Roman and Late Antique Egypt. The museum display and associated online materials that are part of the project will foster greater understanding and knowledge of the period and region, for instance illuminating similarities and differences with the wider Roman world, and enhancing understanding of the complex cultural interactions of the period. The museum display will also provide information that will educate visitors on the history of musical instruments and the diverse contexts in which music was used in the ancient world. Schools will additionally be provided with a Learning Resource Pack with material related to coverage of the Roman period and of Egyptian civilization at Key Stage 2. The project will thus directly bring benefits to schools teaching the national curriculum by providing appropriate teaching materials.

University Students
Students across the UK will benefit from resource materials available via the Petrie Museum's Digital Egypt pages, aimed at students in higher education, which can be used in their studies. The enhanced information on the Petrie Museum online database of artefacts will be also useful to undergraduate students researching their dissertations, and to research students as a resource for M.A. and PhD. level research, who will have access to more accurate and complete information than previously available.

Other UK Museums
UK museums with collections pertaining to Roman Egypt will benefit from the increased documentation of comparable material in the Petrie Museum online database, and from a workshop presenting project results and the innovative methodologies used for the study of Roman/Late Antique Egypt. The workshop and associated exhibition private view will encourage future museum displays on artefacts from Roman/Late Antique Egypt at other UK museums by setting out new approaches, making clear the value of UK Roman/Late Antique Egypt artefact collections, and transforming research information available on artefacts from the period and region.