The Wrapped Body: Linen, Concealment, and Mummification in Ancient Egypt

这个项目调查了亚麻纺织品作为包装材料的使用--从木乃伊绷带到裹着衣服的神像，从寺庙面纱到皇家服装。在古埃及，包裹和包裹身体--无论是活着的还是死亡的，人类的还是神圣的--是一种文化习俗，揭示了埃及人是如何看待人体的，他们是如何体验神圣的。包裹还能帮助我们理解埃及人关于“秘密”知识和启蒙的思想，以及秘密在一个复杂社会的组织中所扮演的角色。包裹身体既隐藏了它们，又赋予了它们力量。包裹的行为与埃及社会的其他特征相似；例如，寺庙、陵墓和宫殿内的物理空间被设计为限制进入。寺庙里的祭品或放在坟墓里的物品，包括镜子或雕像，通常都会被包裹起来，神像每天早上和晚上都会用新鲜的亚麻布包裹起来。学习的几个方面被描述为“秘密”，比如阅读和写作(不到5%的人口识字)，艺术和制造技术，以及木乃伊本身。埃及人还用精美的图像和文字装饰建筑物的表面，将其包裹起来，而包裹在医疗(如包扎伤口)和魔术中发挥了关键作用，在魔术中，人们可以在亚麻布上说咒语，并将其打结以帮助它们工作。虽然人类木乃伊是埃及最著名的木乃伊包裹方式，但欧洲人对木乃伊的兴趣主要集中在它们的拆开上，这在物理上颠覆了古埃及的仪式。考古学家经常记录雕像或其他物品在发现时是如何被包裹的，但考古学家通常会打开这些物品并丢弃包裹。在这方面，还必须评估19世纪和20世纪古代遗骸的揭开与欧洲对埃及的殖民之间为什么以及如何联系起来。这种破坏性的做法，以及在博物馆里展示未包装的木乃伊，是这一历史时期的持续遗产，因为在殖民时代，拥有和拥有古代遗骸的权力有助于证明拥有和控制埃及本身是合理的。通过分析古埃及的包裹和隐藏，以及我们自己的文化拆开埃及人的做法，这个项目从古埃及人的积极角度出发，认为埃及木乃伊不是可怕的好奇对象。以这种方式研究木乃伊和其他包裹着的预兆，为我们提供了对古埃及文化和我们自己文化的重要新见解。

This project investigates the use of linen textiles as the material for wrapping - from mummy bandages to shrouded gods, and from temple veils to royal costumes. In ancient Egypt, wrapping and shrouding the body - whether living or dead, human or divine - was a cultural practice revealing how the Egyptians thought about the human body and how they experienced the sacred. Wrapping also helps us understand Egyptian ideas about 'secret' knowledge and initiation, and the role secrecy plays in the organization of a complex society.The wrapping of bodies both concealed them and gave them power. The act of wrapping parallels other features of Egyptian society; for instance, the physical space inside temples, tombs, and palaces was designed to restrict access. Offerings in temples, or objects that were placed in tombs, including mirrors or statues, were often wrapped up, and the statues of gods were wrapped in fresh linen every morning and evening. Several aspects of learning were described as 'secret', such as reading and writing (fewer than 5% of the population were literate), art and manufacturing techniques, and mummification itself. The Egyptians also 'wrapped' the surfaces of buildings by decorating them with elaborate images and texts, and wrapping played a key role in medical treatments (e.g. bandaging wounds) as well as magic, where spells could be spoken over linen and knotted up to help them work. Although human mummies are the best-known example of Egyptian wrapping practice, European interest in mummies has focused on their unwrapping, which physically reverses the ancient Egyptian ritual. Archaeologists often recorded how statues or other objects were wrapped when they found them, but the archaeologists usually unwrapped the objects and discarded the wrapping. In this context, it is also important to evaluate why and how the 19th and 20th century unwrapping of ancient remains relates to Europe's colonization of Egypt. Such destructive practices, and the display of unwrapped mummies in museums, are an ongoing legacy of this historical period, because owning and having power over the ancient remains helped justify owning and having power over Egypt itself in colonial times. By analyzing wrapping and concealment in ancient Egypt as well as our own culture's practice of unwrapping the Egyptians, this project considers Egyptian mummies from the positive viewpoint of the ancient Egyptians, not as macabre objects of curiosity. Studying mummies and other wrapped bodes in this way offers essential new insights into both ancient Egyptian culture and our own.