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Items from the Egypt Centre collection: the new display will feature objects from Egypt, Greece, Rome, Cyprus, Mesopotamia, and Nubia.
An expert in ancient history and Swansea’s Egypt Centre have been jointly awarded £1100 to develop a new display on Egypt and its neighbours, which will be used for the Centre’s education programme on issues such as identity, racism and xenophobia in the ancient world.
The award was one of two announced by the Institute of Classical Studies, with the aim of supporting public engagement work relating to the ancient world.
The successful entry was submitted by Dr Ersin Hussein of the Department of Classics, Ancient History and Egyptology, in partnership with the Egypt Centre’s Collection Access Manager Dr Ken Griffin.
The funding will help to develop a new display in the Egypt Centre museum, entitled Egypt and Its Neighbours, which will feature objects from Egypt, Greece, Rome, Cyprus, Mesopotamia, and Nubia.
The Institute for Classical Studies recently hosted an online awards event, where Dr Hussein and Dr Griffin shared more detail about their projects.
Dr Ersin Hussein, an expert in Roman Cyprus in particular, said:
“The Egypt and its Neighbours display will be a catalyst for student and public engagement with a number of topics at the heart of today’s world, such as racism, cultural diversity, self-presentation, and identity formation. The ancient world is rich with material to encourage meaningful discussion around these issues.
Several lecturers across the department of Classics, Ancient History, and Egyptology already offer modules discussing these themes in the ancient world.
Swansea University is one of the few places in the UK offering specialist modules on Egypt, Greece, Rome, Cyprus, Nubia, and the ancient Near East. We really wanted the display to bring together the research that we do in the museum setting not just for our students, but for our visitors, from schoolchildren to the general public.”
Dr Ken Griffin of the Egypt Centre added:
“Our educational programme is at the heart of the Centre’s work. The award will allow us to develop the programme to include topics such as identity, diversity, racism, and xenophobia in the ancient world. In doing so, it will hopefully open up discussion on current issues.
In line with the museum’s core aim of widening participation, various groups and individuals have been consulted throughout the planning process, thus making this a co-creation project.”
Find out more about the Egypt Centre
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