DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.47598#0031
Carl E. DeVries
Communication concerning the work of
the Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition
Early this morning, while most of you were still sound asleep, I recast some of the communication I
had prepared, in order to accommodate it to the time format of today’s schedule and to include
relevant material suggested by previous presentations and by private conversations as recent as last
night’s stimulating visit to the Nieborow palace. The purpose of this communication is to acquaint
you with what has been done and with what is currently being done by the Oriental Institute of the
University of Chicago concerning the finds made by the Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition during
the seasons of 1962-1964. In the compelling interests of time, it is not possible today to give you
even a much abbreviated account of the various cemeteries which were dug and of the more
significant objects which those produced. Furthermore, a paper with that specific aim was presented
last year at the Symposium in Cairo, a conference which some of you attended. Perhaps for today
it will suffice to say that in our concession we were fortunate to discover things of significance from
practically all periods, ranging from early A-Group to Christian times. At this stage of our study
I feel that our A-Group material includes some of the finest objects in the Oriental Institute Nubian
collection and that among those things are some items of great interest and importance for our
knowledge of the culture of that period. From the C-Group cemeteries there are several pieces
which are nearly unique, such as the beautiful red and black bowl with incised decoration showing
horned cattle. The large New Kingdom cemetery which was named with the letter “V” stretched
nearly two kilometers in length. From it came several intact tombs with stratified multiple burials;
among the finds was the exquisite bronze mirror which the “Unesco Courier” spoke of as “perhaps
the most graceful object to come out of Nubia”. We have an abundance of Meroitic finds from
cemeteries on both sides of the Nile and considerable X-Group material. Unfortunately, especially
from the standpoint of this colloquium, our Christian period discoveries are not so numerous,
though from conversation with various ones of you I know that our work at Kasr el-Wizz is of
interest to you.
These sketchy mentions have been made in order to fill in some information for those of you who
were not present at the Cairo symposium and to provide a background fo the main thrust of this
present paper.
As I wrote for the current annual report of the Oriental Institute, the most significant happening in
terms of our project during the past year has been the loss of our distinguished director, Prof. Keith
C. Seele, who was the main inspiration for our field expedition, who served as the director of that
expedition, and who worked on the materials for some years. We have sorely missed him, but we
have tried to continue the work with the same intensity and interest which he so vividly
demonstrated.
At this point, I may comment too that during the past year we have also experienced the loss of
one of the other Egyptological members of the expedition staff of the final season of our dig.
Mr. Boleslaw Marczuk, who had a keen interest in Nubian studies and contributed much to the
success of that season’s work, passed away suddenly last summer.
Those of you who were present at the symposium in Cairo in February of last year may recall that
on that occasion I represented the Oriental Institute and Dr. Seele and read at that conference
a highly condensed version of a long report which Dr. Seele had submitted. Several weeks after
those sessions I received a letter from Dr. Seele, in which he invited me to assist him with the work
18
Communication concerning the work of
the Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition
Early this morning, while most of you were still sound asleep, I recast some of the communication I
had prepared, in order to accommodate it to the time format of today’s schedule and to include
relevant material suggested by previous presentations and by private conversations as recent as last
night’s stimulating visit to the Nieborow palace. The purpose of this communication is to acquaint
you with what has been done and with what is currently being done by the Oriental Institute of the
University of Chicago concerning the finds made by the Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition during
the seasons of 1962-1964. In the compelling interests of time, it is not possible today to give you
even a much abbreviated account of the various cemeteries which were dug and of the more
significant objects which those produced. Furthermore, a paper with that specific aim was presented
last year at the Symposium in Cairo, a conference which some of you attended. Perhaps for today
it will suffice to say that in our concession we were fortunate to discover things of significance from
practically all periods, ranging from early A-Group to Christian times. At this stage of our study
I feel that our A-Group material includes some of the finest objects in the Oriental Institute Nubian
collection and that among those things are some items of great interest and importance for our
knowledge of the culture of that period. From the C-Group cemeteries there are several pieces
which are nearly unique, such as the beautiful red and black bowl with incised decoration showing
horned cattle. The large New Kingdom cemetery which was named with the letter “V” stretched
nearly two kilometers in length. From it came several intact tombs with stratified multiple burials;
among the finds was the exquisite bronze mirror which the “Unesco Courier” spoke of as “perhaps
the most graceful object to come out of Nubia”. We have an abundance of Meroitic finds from
cemeteries on both sides of the Nile and considerable X-Group material. Unfortunately, especially
from the standpoint of this colloquium, our Christian period discoveries are not so numerous,
though from conversation with various ones of you I know that our work at Kasr el-Wizz is of
interest to you.
These sketchy mentions have been made in order to fill in some information for those of you who
were not present at the Cairo symposium and to provide a background fo the main thrust of this
present paper.
As I wrote for the current annual report of the Oriental Institute, the most significant happening in
terms of our project during the past year has been the loss of our distinguished director, Prof. Keith
C. Seele, who was the main inspiration for our field expedition, who served as the director of that
expedition, and who worked on the materials for some years. We have sorely missed him, but we
have tried to continue the work with the same intensity and interest which he so vividly
demonstrated.
At this point, I may comment too that during the past year we have also experienced the loss of
one of the other Egyptological members of the expedition staff of the final season of our dig.
Mr. Boleslaw Marczuk, who had a keen interest in Nubian studies and contributed much to the
success of that season’s work, passed away suddenly last summer.
Those of you who were present at the symposium in Cairo in February of last year may recall that
on that occasion I represented the Oriental Institute and Dr. Seele and read at that conference
a highly condensed version of a long report which Dr. Seele had submitted. Several weeks after
those sessions I received a letter from Dr. Seele, in which he invited me to assist him with the work
18