Some Remarks on Bilingual Mummy Labels in the Louvre
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Adrienn Almásy-Martin
Abstract
There are about 1400 Greek, demotic and bilingual mummy labels in the Musée du Louvre. Although they apparently all come from Akhmim, they were not acquired together but from different sources. The majority were purchased at the end of the 19th century through the dealers working for Eugène Revillout and were said to have come from illicit excavations in the Akhmim region. Extensive Ptolemaic and Roman cemeteries had been excavated there by Gaston Maspero between 1881 and 1886, specifically around el-Salamuni and el-Hawawish. However, internal evidence shows that most of the Akhmim labels come from cemeteries on the left bank of the river, in the proximity of Athribis, as Michel Chauveau has pointed out. Akhmim was an anchoring place for tourists travelling on the Nile and as such it gave a good opportunity for travelers to buy antiquities. Objects purchased in this way often ended up in European museums. Other Egyptologists, for example Urbain Bouriant, who bought about 520 labels in Akhmim, also contributed to the acquisition of the Louvre collection. However, a significant proportion (ca. 900 objects) was only registered in the Museum in 1970 and there is no acquisition information. These too were probably acquired towards the end of the 19th century and they all show characteristics that are typical of mummy labels from the Akhmim region. In 1948, when a collection of Egyptian objects was transferred from the Musée Guimet to the Louvre, another 200 labels were added. The origin of these is not known. Around 200 labels were acquired by the archaeologist Robert Forrer, who had conducted excavations in Akhmim. A few of these were first taken to Strasbourg and later formed part of his collection that was donated to the Louvre.
Abstract
There are about 1400 Greek, demotic and bilingual mummy labels in the Musée du Louvre. Although they apparently all come from Akhmim, they were not acquired together but from different sources. The majority were purchased at the end of the 19th century through the dealers working for Eugène Revillout and were said to have come from illicit excavations in the Akhmim region. Extensive Ptolemaic and Roman cemeteries had been excavated there by Gaston Maspero between 1881 and 1886, specifically around el-Salamuni and el-Hawawish. However, internal evidence shows that most of the Akhmim labels come from cemeteries on the left bank of the river, in the proximity of Athribis, as Michel Chauveau has pointed out. Akhmim was an anchoring place for tourists travelling on the Nile and as such it gave a good opportunity for travelers to buy antiquities. Objects purchased in this way often ended up in European museums. Other Egyptologists, for example Urbain Bouriant, who bought about 520 labels in Akhmim, also contributed to the acquisition of the Louvre collection. However, a significant proportion (ca. 900 objects) was only registered in the Museum in 1970 and there is no acquisition information. These too were probably acquired towards the end of the 19th century and they all show characteristics that are typical of mummy labels from the Akhmim region. In 1948, when a collection of Egyptian objects was transferred from the Musée Guimet to the Louvre, another 200 labels were added. The origin of these is not known. Around 200 labels were acquired by the archaeologist Robert Forrer, who had conducted excavations in Akhmim. A few of these were first taken to Strasbourg and later formed part of his collection that was donated to the Louvre.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Contents vii
- Preface ix
- Abstracts xi
- Further Abstracts xix
- Poster Presentations / Posterpräsentationen xxvii
- Overview of the Program / Programmübersicht xxix
- List of Participants / Teilnehmerliste xxxv
- Eugene “Gene” Cruz-Uribe xxxvii
- A Glimpse on the Site of Nagʿ El-Mashaykh through two Demotic Texts 1
- Some Remarks on Bilingual Mummy Labels in the Louvre 15
- Tituli ptolémaïques du désert oriental égyptien 39
- Miscellanies from the Archive of the Theban Choachytes 93
- The Auction of Pharaoh Revisited 107
- “This oath is a true oath”: Family Involvement in the Demotic Temple Oaths 123
- A Re-examination of P. Tor. Botti 34 A 135
- Of Pots, Sherds, and Drachmas 151
- A Persian Estate in Egypt 175
- Did Steindorff know Demotic? 197
- Voices from Late and Graeco-Roman Period Elkab 211
- The “Fayum Library” 249
- Inaros in Iceland and Elsewhere 271
- Donation Stelae 281
- Issues in the Dating of Saqqara Papyri 295
- Der verborgene Name des Gottes Amun in demotischen Texten 303
- Index 311
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Contents vii
- Preface ix
- Abstracts xi
- Further Abstracts xix
- Poster Presentations / Posterpräsentationen xxvii
- Overview of the Program / Programmübersicht xxix
- List of Participants / Teilnehmerliste xxxv
- Eugene “Gene” Cruz-Uribe xxxvii
- A Glimpse on the Site of Nagʿ El-Mashaykh through two Demotic Texts 1
- Some Remarks on Bilingual Mummy Labels in the Louvre 15
- Tituli ptolémaïques du désert oriental égyptien 39
- Miscellanies from the Archive of the Theban Choachytes 93
- The Auction of Pharaoh Revisited 107
- “This oath is a true oath”: Family Involvement in the Demotic Temple Oaths 123
- A Re-examination of P. Tor. Botti 34 A 135
- Of Pots, Sherds, and Drachmas 151
- A Persian Estate in Egypt 175
- Did Steindorff know Demotic? 197
- Voices from Late and Graeco-Roman Period Elkab 211
- The “Fayum Library” 249
- Inaros in Iceland and Elsewhere 271
- Donation Stelae 281
- Issues in the Dating of Saqqara Papyri 295
- Der verborgene Name des Gottes Amun in demotischen Texten 303
- Index 311
