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Lecture & guided tour of: "Elephantine. Island of the Millennia" (special exhibition)

The Nile island of Elephantine can be experienced with the special exhibition on Museum Island, presented in the James Simon Gallery and in the Neues Museum.



In this first comprehensive exhibition in the world, outstanding Berlin objects are shown with selected international top pieces. The diverse content of the texts is contextualized by archaeological finds and interpreted in a contemporary way.


Elephantine is a Nile island in the south of Egypt. A uniquely diverse population lived in this trading and border center. A wide variety of languages, cultures and religions met here.


It is the only place in the world where cultural history can be "read" through written sources over a period of 4,000 years.


Thousands of texts are written on papyrus or clay shards in ten different languages and scripts, including hieroglyphs, Aramaic, Coptic and Arabic. They are now kept in 60 collections in 24 countries and were deciphered, translated and digitally accessed in Berlin in a major European research project.


Berlin is home to one of the world's largest collections of Elephantine, alongside the Musée du Louvre and the Brooklyn Museum, both of which are cooperation partners of the exhibition. The texts report on plurality, family, religion, trade, law and medicine.

  • Participation is free. No registration required.
  • Meeting point: in front of the auditorium of the James Simon Gallery

Speaker: Dr. Sophie Breternitz
Additional information
Dates
October 2024
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