As you learned at the beginning of the semester, the history of Egyptology is full of great discoveries made possible in the shadow of colonialism. The great European collections are full of cultural objects from the ancient Near East and Egypt. Amongst the most famous objects is the Bust of Nefertiti, long considered to be one of the most beautiful masterpieces produced by the Egyptians. It is, however, housed in the Neues Museum in Berlin, Germany. Egypt has been involved in protracted efforts to repatriate it to Egypt.
Read the articles provided and write a considered argument about where the bust should be housed: Egypt or Germany?
List of Readings
Archival photograph
Unknown. 1912. German excavation in Amarna, presentation of the bust of Nefertiti. December 6, 1912. Estate of Prince Johann Georg, Universitätsarchiv Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg, Germany.
Consider: who is shown in the photo? What is shown? How are the people represented? Whose heritage is on display here?
Articles/book chapters
Anderson, M.L. 2016. “2. Cultural Ownership. Past and Present”. In Antiquities. What Everyone Needs to Know, 19–33. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cuno, J. 2014. ‘Culture War. The Case Against Repatriating Museum Artifacts’. Foreign Affairs 93 (6): 119–24, 126–29.
Ikram, S. 2011. “Collecting and Repatriating Egypt’s Past: Toward a New Nationalism”. In Contested Cultural Heritage. Religion, Nationalism, Erasure, and Exclusion in a Global World, edited by H. Silverman, 141–55. New York: Springer.
Kersel, M.M. 2010. “The Changing Legal Landscape for Middle Eastern Archaeology in the Colonial Era, 1800-1930”. In Pioneers to the Past: American Archaeologists in the Middle East, 1919–1920, edited by G. Emberling, 85–90. Oriental Institute Museum Publications 30. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.
Virtual exhibition
Neues Museum. N.d. “An Audience with Nefertiti. Questions To A Queen”. Google Arts and Culture, last accessed: January 4, 2024, https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/an-audience-with-nefertiti/ZQKiSnxV4cRAIw?hl=en.
Format
The assignment should be 2,500-2,800 words, double spaced, 12-point font, with one-inch margins.
Citations
Any material that is cited should follow the Chicago style of citations (Author-Date). For this assignment, you have to use in-text citations. For more information, see: https://learn.library.torontomu.ca/citationhelp/.
The use of websites as sources for your evidence is greatly discouraged (e.g., Wikipedia). If the student wishes to use an internet resource, it must be discussed with the instructor.
It is highly encouraged that students familiarise themselves with TMU’s Policy No. 60 on Academic Integrity as well as the section on Citations and Academic Integrity in the course syllabus (see p. 6).
