TUESDAY 12 MARCH: 18:00 FOR 18:30 in the SAAO AUDITORIUM, OBSERVATORY  

 

SPEAKER: DR FRANZISKA NAETHER

 

TITLE: “EGYPTIAN ARTIFACTS IN SOUTH AFRICAN COLLECTIONS: THE CASE OF THE IZIKO AND DITSONG COLLECTIONS”

 

ABSTRACT: This talk gives an overview of Egyptian artefacts housed within South African collections, particularly spotlighting the Iziko and Ditsong Collections in Cape Town and Pretoria. Among these are human and animal remains (“mummies”), amulets, statues, pottery, and more. Often, there is an intriguing narrative of how these artifacts found their way to the Cape. Central to the discussion is ongoing research at Stellenbosch University and in the museums, in collaboration with partners such as Stanford University. Notable endeavors include the development of an online database and the publication of documenting these artifacts. Moreover, the integration into pedagogical practices, including 3D modeling, underscores their significance in shaping educational discourse. In general, documenting provenance is an important part of the research, and the talk will also offer insights in the complex debates surrounding questions of ownership, repatriation/restitution, and the interesting question of the position of Egypt within the African and Middle Eastern contexts.

 

BIO: Franziska Naether is an Egyptologist and Papyrologist with a focus on religion, magic and literature in classical Egyptian, Graeco-Roman, and Late Antique Periods with deep professional experience in Digital Humanities and museum curation. She has conducted research and teaching mainly in Germany, the US, and South Africa. Currently, she is working at the Saxon Academy of Science and Humanities in Leipzig, preparing her habilitation thesis on Egyptian cult practices for publication and wrapping up the “Digital Rosetta Stone Project”.

For more details and photos, see: https://franziska-naether.net .