The exhibition “School of Scribes: Writings from Ancient Egypt” is open at the Henri Prades museum in Lattes until January 2, 2017, offering a new perspective on early writing forms in ancient Egypt. It features the latest advances in research. The exhibition also presents, for the first time, an interactive tool that the public can use directly to decrypt hieroglyphs.
“Everyone knows about ancient Egypt’s hieroglyphs, but we often neglect the period’s other two forms of writing, much more widely used.” Diane Dusseaux, curator of the Henri Prades museum in Lattes, is referring to demotic and hieratic, two types of writing adapted from hieroglyphs to write faster, in freehand, on various materials such as flax bands. “School of Scribes” fills this gap by presenting the first exhibition in thirty years (after Paris) dedicated to these various writings.
The 70 objects brought together at the museum cover the history of writing in ancient Egypt, with papyrus pieces, ancient works, funerary stelae, sculptures, school tablets, and even an ink well and a papyrus cutter. Diane Dusseaux explains: “The exhibition ranges from the earliest days, when hieroglyphs had magical powers that were activated when they were read, to Champollion, whose works are on display here.”
These pieces, several of which are very well-known, are on loan from the Louvre museum and other French museums, as well as from individuals and Montpellier Paul Valéry University. They are all accompanied by translations that take into account the latest research. Diane Dusseaux adds: “One of the exhibition’s other goals is to present the potential of applied research.” This notably includes Véga, an interactive online dictionary of ancient Egyptian. Presented here for the first time, this tool was developed by Intactile Design (a Montpellier startup), with the Paul Valéry University’s Archimède Labex (excellence laboratory). Museum visitors can test the dictionary directly to decrypt pieces featured in the exhibition.
Find out more:
In Lattes. Until January 2, 2017.
- Henri Prades Museum, Lattes
- Intactile Design
- Living in Montpellier
The 70 objects brought together at the museum cover the history of writing in ancient Egypt, with papyrus pieces, ancient works, funerary stelae, sculptures, school tablets, and even an ink well and a papyrus cutter. Diane Dusseaux explains: “The exhibition ranges from the earliest days, when hieroglyphs had magical powers that were activated when they were read, to Champollion, whose works are on display here.”
These pieces, several of which are very well-known, are on loan from the Louvre museum and other French museums, as well as from individuals and Montpellier Paul Valéry University. They are all accompanied by translations that take into account the latest research. Diane Dusseaux adds: “One of the exhibition’s other goals is to present the potential of applied research.” This notably includes Véga, an interactive online dictionary of ancient Egyptian. Presented here for the first time, this tool was developed by Intactile Design (a Montpellier startup), with the Paul Valéry University’s Archimède Labex (excellence laboratory). Museum visitors can test the dictionary directly to decrypt pieces featured in the exhibition.
Find out more:
In Lattes. Until January 2, 2017.
- Henri Prades Museum, Lattes
- Intactile Design
- Living in Montpellier
