More than 150,000 visitors have already seen the special exhibition ‘Elephantine. Island of the Millennia’ in the James-Simon-Galerie and Neues Museum, which has been running since 26 April 2024. Due to the overwhelming popularity, the opening hours have been extended until 1 September 2024 from Tuesday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Elephantine is an island on the Nile in the south of Egypt. This trading and border centre was home to a uniquely diverse population. Different languages, cultures and religions came together here. It is the only place in the world where cultural history can be ‘read’ from written sources over a period of 4,000 years. Thousands of texts are written on papyrus or clay fragments in ten different languages and scripts, including hieroglyphics, Aramaic, Coptic and Arabic. They are now held in 60 collections in 24 countries and have been deciphered, translated and digitally catalogued in Berlin as part of a major European research project. In this first comprehensive exhibition worldwide, outstanding Berlin artefacts are shown together with selected top international pieces. The diverse content of the texts is contextualised by archaeological finds and interpreted from a contemporary perspective.
The exhibition is organised in three languages – Arabic, English and German – and was created in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The first part of the exhibition in the James Simon Gallery is dedicated to the theme of ‘Time’ on Elephantine. The special dimension of 4,000 years of cultural history is illustrated with a large timeline and Elephantine is brought to life in seven walk-in themed islands. From the third pre-Christian millennium to the period after the Arab conquest, the sources bear witness to the diversity of social coexistence, religious beliefs and scientific achievements, for example in the field of medicine. Letters, contracts, birth certificates, wills, tax receipts and medical prescriptions provide unique insights.
The second part of the exhibition in the Neues Museum focuses on the ‘space’ of Elephantine. The dimensions of the island in its region are staged with a large model. Hands-on science is presented in a papyrus thicket behind it: After seven years of research, funded by the European Research Council (ERC Grant) under the title ‘Localising 4000 Years of Cultural History. Texts and Scripts from Elephantine Island in Egypt’, more than 10,000 papyri and ostraca from the island have been digitally catalogued for the first time by an international research team. This project is presented to visitors interactively, for example through a comprehensive papyrus puzzle. The interdisciplinary collaboration with mathematicians and physicists, which made it possible to ‘virtually’ uncover closed papyri and papyrus packets and make them legible for the first time in the history of papyrus research, is also made tangible.
The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive educational and mediation programme. An accompanying publication in German, English and Arabic has been published by Kulturverlag Kadmos.
‘Elephantine. Island of the Millennia’ is a special exhibition of the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection – National Museums in Berlin in cooperation with the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA), funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the State of Berlin and the Capital Cultural Fund. Media co-operations: ARTE, Der Tagesspiegel and tipBerlin.
WHEN?
Until Sunday, 01 September 2024: Tuesday – Saturday, 9 am – 8 pm; Sunday, 9 am – 6 pm
WHERE?
James-Simon-Galerie + Neues Museum
Bodestraße 1-3
Museum Island, 10178 Berlin
