“The relations between Egypt and Nubia were incredibly complex,” says Oriental Institute director Dr. Gil J. Stein in ceremonies opening the new gallery. “To the Egyptians, at various times, Nubia represented a trading partner, an enemy in war, a supplier of troops, a conquered colony and even a conqueror.”
The Oriental Institute has been involved in Nubian studies since 1905, when its founder, University of Chicago archaeologist Dr. James Henry Breasted, led the first of his two expeditions into the area and began the scientific study of Nubia. Previous visits by Europeans and Americans had focused on looting pyramids for gold.
The permanent exhibition is accompanied by a temporary exhibit of photographs from Breasted’s expeditions, titled “Lost Nubia: Photos of Egypt and the Sudan 1905-1907.” That display will run until May 7 and then travel to Egypt’s Nubia Museum of Aswan.
— Associated Press
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