The Ancient Near East in the Nineteenth Century: Appreciations and Appropriations. II. Collecting, Constructing, and Curating (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781909697669)

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, little was known of the ancient Near East except for what was preserved in the Biｬble and classical literature. By the end of the nineteenth cenｬtury, an amazing transformation had occurred: the basic outｬline of ancient Near Eastern history was understood and the mateｬrial culture of the region was recognizable to the general pubｬlic. This three-volume study explores the various ways that non-specialists would have encountered ancient Egypt, Mesopotaｬmia, and the Holy Land and how they derived and conｬstructed meaning from those discoveries. McGeough chalｬlenges the simplistic view that the experience of the ancient Near East was solely a matter of 'othering' and shows how differｬent people claimed the Near East as their own space and how connections were drawn between the ancient and contempoｬrary worlds. Volume II examines the different ways that non-specialists encounｬtered the materiality of the ancient Near East over the course of the nineteenth century. During this time, people colｬlected artifacts while traveling in the region or paid to see the colｬlections that others brought back. The public experienced the ancient world in museum exhibits that privileged 'real' artiｬfacts in a new context or in hyper-real displays (like the Crystal Palace) where whole buildings from the ancient Near East were reconstructed. Men and women dressed as biblical charac-ters in travelling fairs or spent an evening unwrapping a mummy. Individuals bought Assyriological souvenirs and emｬployed Egyptian styles in their design, first in higher quality deｬsigner products and later in novelty items. Egyptian temples proｬvided the architectural inspiration for buildings in London and the ancient use of colour was a strong argument for reimaginｬing Victorian style. The adoption of Egypt, especially, in the world's-fair phenomenon linked the ancient Near East with a global future in which change was naturalized and consumｬers were taught not to be afraid of the transformations brought by the industrial age.

Author: Kevin M. McGeough
ISBN-10: 1909697664
ISBN-13: 9781909697669
Publisher: Sheffield Phoenix Press Ltd
Language: English
Published: 05/18/2015
Pages: 450
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.77lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 1.00d