The Ancient Near East in the Nineteenth Century by Kevin M. McGeough
Brand: Sheffield Phoenix Press Ltd
Product Description
At the beginning of the nineteenth century little was known of the ancient Near East except for what was preserved in the Bible and classical literature. By the end of the nineteenth century an amazing transformation had occurred the basic outline of ancient Near Eastern history was understood and the material culture of the region was recognizable to the general public. This threevolume study explores the various ways that nonspecialists would have encountered ancient Egypt Mesopotamia and the Holy Land and how they derived and constructed meaning from those discoveries. McGeough challenges the simplistic view that the experience of the ancient Near East was solely a matter of othering and shows how different people claimed the Near East as their own space and how connections were drawn between the ancient and contemporary worlds. Volume II examines the different ways that nonspecialists encountered the materiality of the ancient Near East over the course of the nineteenth century. During this time people collected artifacts while traveling in the region or paid to see the collections that others brought back. The public experienced the ancient world in museum exhibits that privileged real artifacts in a new context or in hyperreal displays like the Crystal Palace where whole buildings from the ancient Near East were reconstructed. Men and women dressed as biblical characters in travelling fairs or spent an evening unwrapping a mummy. Individuals bought Assyriological souvenirs and employed Egyptian styles in their design first in higher quality designer products and later in novelty items. Egyptian temples provided the architectural inspiration for buildings in London and the ancient use of colour was a strong argument for reimagining Victorian style. The adoption of Egypt especially in the worldsfair phenomenon linked the ancient Near East with a global future in which change was naturalized and consumers were taught not to be afraid of the transformations brought by the industrial age. show more
Condition : New
Author : Kevin M. McGeough
Weight : 925.13
Publisher : Sheffield Phoenix Press Ltd
Language : English
EAN : 9781909697669
ISBN10 : 1909697664
Format : Hardback
Date of Publication : 20140306
Place of Publication : United Kingdom
Pagination : 450 Pages Illustrations Unspecified
Dimensions : 167 X 243 X 32