Getty Villa Museum | 'Nubia: Jewels of Ancient Sudan' Exhibition
by Jess Ferguson
Photographed by Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Getty Villa Museum will open its exhibition Nubia: Jewels of Ancient Sudan from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston on October 12, 2022, which will showcase Nubian jewelry and precious objects, many from royal and aristocratic burials, from Sudan.
The collection comes from Nubia, located along the Nile River in what is now Egypt and northern Sudan and home to ancient Africa’s earliest civilizations, who spearheaded advances in religion, culture, and politics. Harvard University and the Boston MFA jointly unearthed these artifacts from 1913-1932. Objects include jewelry and ornaments made of gold, silver, semi-precious stones, and faience (fine glazed pottery) and date back thousands of years ago, as early as 2400 BC.
“Nubia was home to a rich cultural, religious, and artistic tradition, which is reflected in its high-quality jewelry from the Bronze Age to the first few centuries AD, but many people today are not familiar with this remarkable history, and it is rare to see Nubian material exhibited on the West Coast,” Sara E. Cole, assistant curator of antiquities at the Getty Museum, said. “This exhibition provides an opportunity to introduce ancient Nubia to visitors at the Villa through the lens of their exquisitely crafted personal adornments and extraordinary royal burials.”
The Getty exhibition will be on view October 12, 2022 until April 3, 2023.
