Elephantine. Insel der Jahrtausende

In the organizer's words:

Elephantine

Island of the millennia

26.04.2024 until 27.10.2024

James Simon Gallery

The Nile island of Elephantine in southern Egypt was a trading and frontier center with an extraordinarily diverse population. Different languages, cultures and religions came together here. Only at this unique location can cultural history be relived through written sources spanning a period of 4,000 years. Thousands of texts are written on papyrus or pottery shards in ten different languages and scripts. Today, they are preserved in 60 collections in 24 countries and have been deciphered, interpreted and digitally indexed in Berlin as part of a major European research project.

In this first comprehensive exhibition on Elephantine worldwide, outstanding objects from the Berlin collections are shown together with selected top international pieces. The diverse content of the texts is explained by archaeological finds and interpreted by contemporary artists. What can we learn today from the past of this cosmopolitan island? In dialog with the members of the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA), current perspectives were gained for the exhibition. It was developed in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities

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www.smb. museum/jsg

Price information:

16.00 EUR, concessions 8.00 EUR; free admission for children and young people up to and including the age of 18