Exhibit 2: Africa

1.

The Great Sphinx of Giza is one of the most famous sculptures of the Ancient Egyptian civilization. Built from limestone and measuring about 240 feet long and 66 feet high, this mythical figure has a lion’s body and a human head with a royal headdress. It is generally believed that its face depicts pharaoh Khafre who ruled over Egypt around 2500 BCE. Some however believe it represents King Khufu, Khafre’s father. Damage to the Sphinx has been remedied by a series of conservation projects which started in 1400 BCE. This image was taken in 1913 before the excavation of the Sphinx in the 1930s.

2.

From 1947-1949 Dr. H. Basil S. Cooke, a South African-Canadian geologist and paleontologist, participated in a University of California African Expedition that travelled from Cairo to Cape Town. The images depict Dr. Cooke’s personal experience during the voyage. They are a unique testimony of the Expedition itself, of some of Africa’s most important historical monuments, and of the African population.

3.

This mortuary temple was built at Deir al-Bahari on the West Bank of Luxor. It was commissioned by Queen Hatshepsut, a pharaoh who ruled Egypt between 1479-1458 BC. Also called Djeser-Djeseru (the Holy of Holies) the temple is mostly devoted to Hatsepsut (as Osiris), to her father Thutmose I, the goddess Hathor and the funerary god Anubis.

This picture was taken during the restoration works of the Upper Terrace by The Polish-Egyptian Archaeological and Conservation Mission which started in 1961. The first stage of the reconstruction was concluded in 2000.

4.

Deir el-Medina is an ancient settlement between the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. It was the home of the workmen who built the tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs of the 18th to 20th dynasties of the New Kingdom (ca. 1550–1070 BC). Its ruins contained many inscribed papyri fragments and ostraca that span almost 400 years and shed light on the major events of the time, the living conditions of the labourer, their religion, economic situation and much more.

5.

The Mortuary Temple of Ramses III lies at the centre of the ancient town of Medinet Habu in Western Thebes. It was built during the New Kingdom by Ramses III, the second pharaoh of the 20^th dynasty. Its walls incorporated the smaller temple of Amon that was built during the 18^th Dynasty. The mortuary temple resembles the nearby mortuary temple of Ramses II. It is best known for its reliefs depicting Ramses’ wars against the Libyans, Nubians and Sea Peoples and for its well-preserved colossal statues of the pharaoh as Osiris. Since 1924 the Egyptian Department of Antiquities and the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago have been working together to excavate, restore and preserve the site.

6.

The Temple of Hathor is the main temple of the Dendera temple complex and one of the best preserved temples in Egypt. Although the site originally dates from the Middle Kingdom, the existing temple was mainly constructed in the late Ptolemaic period. It was frequently modified by later rulers including the Roman emperors Trajan and Tiberius. As the name indicates, the temple is dedicated to Hathor, the goddess of the sky, of women, fertility and love. It contain typical Ptolemaic Egyptian artwork including depictions of Cleopatra as the goddess Isis and her son, Caesarion. During recent restoration work spectacular turquoise paintings were revealed on the ceilings, walls and Hathor-headed columns of the great hall.

7.

The temple of Philae was constructed on an island in the Nile River between today’s Aswan Low and High Dam. It was seasonally submerged by water after the construction of this first dam in 1902. As can be seen on the image, these frequent inundations caused considerable damage to the site. In order to save it from destruction after the construction of the Aswan High Dam in the 1960s, the UNESCO Nubia Campaign dismantled and relocated the temple complex to the nearby island of Agilkia. It was admitted into the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites in 1979.

8.

This relief shows pharaoh Ramses II during his victorious battle against the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BCE. It is located at the Temple of Abu Simbel, built shortly after the battle as a monument to the pharaoh and to commemorate his victory. Together with other Nubian monuments nearby, this temple was salvaged in the 1960s from the rising waters of the Nile River following the construction the Aswan High Dam. An international salvage campaign led by UNESCO World Heritage and the Egyptian government relocated the entire site to higher grounds. The temple was admitted into the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites in 1979.

9.

Pharaoh Thutmose III of the 18^th dynasty ruled over the Egyptian empire between 1479-1426 BCE. He is considered as one of the greatest rulers of Ancient Egypt since he transformed the empire and expanded its borders from Northern Syria to modern Sudan. This 90 cm tall greywacke statue was found in 1904 in the Karnak Cachette in the courtyard of the Karnak Temple in Luxor. It portrays the pharaoh as eternally youthful and confident. Today it stands in the Luxor Museum.

10.

Following the start of the construction of the Higher Aswan dam in 1960 and the subsequent rising of the waters of Lake Nasser, several Sudanese villages and archaeological sites were threatened by flooding. Under permit from the Sudan Antiquities Service and with funding from the National Science Foundation Roy Carlson, Gordon W. Hewes, and Peter Robinson of the University of Colorado Museum undertook archaeological surveys on the west bank of the Nile in 1964-1966. During this expedition four Nubian sites (Wadi Karagan, Awandi, Khor Shiba, and Magendohli) and one site in Omdurman (Khor Abu Anga) were excavated.

11.

The fortress of Shali was built in the 12^th century in the Siwa Oasis in the western Egyptian desert, about 50 km east of the Libyan border. It was strategically placed on the highest hill of the oasis in order to defend it from attacks by nomadic desert tribes. It is characterized by peculiar buildings made out of kershif (salt blocks from a nearby lake and mud-bricks). The fortress was abandoned in the 20^th century due to erosion and gradually fell into ruins.

12.

Paleoanthropologists Mary and Louis Leakey are known for their discoveries of early hominins and for their great contribution to the science of early human evolution. Their findings showed the human family was much older than originally believed and that Africa was the birthplace of our species. Many of their excavations and discoveries took place at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Our collection contains several original images of these ground breaking scientists.

13.

The Australopitecus boisei is an extinct species of hominid that lived on our planet around 2.3 to 1.2 million years ago. This skull - also called OH5, Zinj or Nutcracker Man - was found in 1959 by Mary Leakey at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. It was originally classified as Zinjanthropus boisei.

14.

The South African-Canadian H. Basil S. Cooke was one of the pioneering geologists and paleontologists of the 20^th century. He was best known for his work with fossil African pigs, as is illustrated in this image. He was part of major expeditions and associated with other leading scientists, such as Louis and Mary Leakey at the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania and Richard Leakey at Koobi Fora in Kenya.

15.

This 3-year-old child’s skull of an Australopithecus africanus was found in 1924 in Taung, South Africa and was first described by anthropologist Raymond Dart. It has been dated to 2 million years ago and was one of the first early hominid fossils to be found in Africa. The Taung area contains many archaeological caves with traces of human evolution dating to 3.3 million years ago. According to UNESCO “the fossil evidence contained within these sites proves conclusively that the African continent is the undisputed "Cradle of Humankind”. This image was taken during the Taung Diamond Jubilee Symposium in 1985 which commemorated the 60^th anniversary of the discovery of the skull.

16.

In the context of the Taung Diamond Jubilee Symposium in 1985, co-organiser Phillip V. Tobias showed visitors some of the early artifacts that were found in archaeological sites nearby Sterkfontein.

17.

This traditional Ethiopian thatch house belongs to the Hamar tribe and is made out of mud, wood and straw. In this pastoralist community cattle and goats form a very important aspect of their lives. Children start helping their families by herding the goats around the age of eight. In order to become a man Hamar boys have to go through a rite of passage and show their value and bravery by running multiple times on the backs of seven to ten bulls without falling.

18.

The Maasai are a semi-nomadic, pastoralist tribe who mainly live in the Great Lakes region of Kenya and Tanzania. They are known for their extensive body adornments, colored robes and jewelry and for their fearless warriors. For several decades the Tanzanian and Kenyan governments have tried to integrate the Maasai into the mainstream societies and modern economies, albeit with considerable reluctance from the Maasai.

19.

This ‘fanesy’, meaning `your eternal place`, is a traditional tomb from the Antandroy people from Southern Madagascar. It is decorated with colorful paintings, which – unlike the similar and neighbouring Mahafaly tombs – do not necessarily represent scenes from the deceased person’s life. During the funeral ceremony the zebu herd of the deceased is sacrificed and the meat is given to the community. After the coffin is being placed in the tomb, the tomb is filled with stones and topped with the zebu skulls as a symbol of the deceased’s wealth.