INTRODUCTION Ancient Egypt Civilization raises a curiosity since the early times of appearance with its architecture, art, religious, and daily life rituals. Although many secrets revealed about this oldest civilization of history, the...
moreINTRODUCTION
Ancient Egypt Civilization raises a curiosity since the early times of appearance with its architecture, art, religious, and daily life rituals. Although many secrets revealed about this oldest civilization of history, the mystery of it is still remaining. It looks like that this civilization which keeps lots of mystery hidden will go on to be the point of interest for the researchers.
Since my childhood, I remember the sayings of my parents about our roots in Egypt. Afterward, while I was educating Art History at the University of Istanbul Archeology and Art History Faculty between 1990 – 1994, to attend the “Pre Islam Persian and Egyptian Art” lectures of Prof. Baha Tanman made me being interested in this topic and with this appetite, it made me accomplish the master thesis.
As far as we knew, Ancient Egyptian Art had not pointed enough attention at the sphere of our domestic art historians and there were just a few studies on this topic. We thought that there might be some shortage of subjects and sources. But after our written communications with the Ministry of Culture, the Museums of Archeology of Istanbul allowed us to work on a group of shabtis (tomb figurine) kept in the repositories of the Ancient Orient Museum.
At the first stage, we started our works at the warehouses of the museum by being familiar with the artifacts and taking photographs. On the other hand, The possibility to study other shabtis on the private collections of Mr.Baha Tanman and Mr.Turgay Tuna which are registered on museum records is provided to us. But we understood that to find enough sources about ancient Egyptian art, especially about shabtis are extremely hard in Turkey. With the initiative of Mr. Eric Jean who is a friend from the French Anatolian Research Institute and a drafter of a doctoral thesis about Hittitology, I am invited to Paris by famous egyptologist Prof. Dr. Jean Yoyotte.
I went to Paris in 1996 February, and I reached lots of sources at Champollian Library which is focusing on Egyptian Archeology, with the help of Prof. Yoyotte. At the same time, by great luck, some of the shabtis we are working on were the same models in the pre-publishment staged study named Les Statuettes Funeraires de Ia Deuxieme Cachette a Deir el Bahari of Egyptologist Dr. Lilliane Aubert. At the request of Dr. Aubert, the information and visuals about the similar shabtis in Istanbul are presented to her and this circumstance is noted in the published book. I reached the chance to meet with Egyptologist Jean-Luc Bovot who is an official researcher in the Museum of Louvre and to see the magnificent collection consists of vast numbers of shabtis in the repositories of the Museum of Louvre. The artifacts which are preserved by the headtop technologies of today were under repair and preparation for exhibition under the works of reconstitution of famous Egypt section of the Museum of Louvre.
After turning back to turkey, with the great support of my advisor Prof. Dr. M. Baha Tanman, and under the light of oral and written information we collected in Paris, we continued our works. In this presented thesis, only a small part of numerous but less known artifacts of our country is subjected to study. It is known that in museums –in Istanbul and other cities and in some private collections, there are lots of Egyptian inspired artifacts. We wish that the studies about Egyptian art and archeology will increase in Turkey that has commercial, political, and cultural relations with Egypt since ancient times, and reach the desired level in the Egyptology world.
I am grateful for their help and advice in every stage of this thesis, to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Baha Tanman, Mr. Eric Jean, Prof. Dr.Jean Yoyotte, Dr. Liliane Aubert, Jean-Luc-Bovot, Miss Sahika Turan –for her help at my Paris interviews- Mr. Aksel Tibet who is working at French Research Institute, Mr. Turgay Tuna and beloved wife Joseö Tuna, Mr. Turgay Birgili who realized the photo shots at Ancient Orient Museum, Sebahattin Yenici who is responsible for laboratories of photography at Faculty of Arts at the University of Istanbul, Serhan Yılmaz who took the photographs of shabtis at Turgay Tuna Private Collection, my parents for their spiritual support, and my beloved husband Tuncay Tekdal for his patience and supports.
Hülya Ataşçıoğlu Tekdal
28th of September, 1998
