Our Best Connectionswith Baobab

Sphinx , Ptolemaic Period (332 BCE-30 CE)51.307

New Year’s Bottle, Saite Period (664-525 BCE), 51.200

The God Osiris as a Mummified Man, Third Intermediate Period to Late Period (1069-332 BCE)51.116

The God Horus as a Falcon, Saite Period (664-525 BCE) 53.44

Jar in the Shape of a Human Head

28.497

King Ny-user-ra, 2390—2360 BCEOld Kingdom, Fifth Dynasty, 42.54

Ancient Civilizations: Egypt

The Age of the Pharaohs (about 2649—1070 BCE) represents the height of Egyptian civilization. The arts of stone-carving, metalwork, and pottery all supported and recorded the Egyptians’ daily lives, religious practices, and funerary beliefs.

Standing Male Figure, 2680—2258 BCE, Old Kingdom, 40.66

Relief from the Tomb of Metetu,ca. 2400—2250 BCE

Old Kingdom, 73.64

Oil Lamp, Carthaginian;Punic Period,

before 146 BCE20.73

Oil Lamp, Carthaginian;Punic Period,

before 146 BCE20.75

Bombylios (Baby Feeder), Carthaginian;Punic Period, before 146 BCE25.51

Ancient Civilizations: Carthage

Cinerary Urn, 700s BCE Carthaginian, 25.42

Askos in the Form of a Horse,before 146 BCE

(Carthaginian, Punic Period), 25.41Askos in the Form of a Horse, Carthaginian;Punic Period, before 146 BCE25.41

CarthaginiansEtruscansGreeks

The Carthaginians (650—146 BCE) ruled the seasand coastlines of the western Mediterranean Sea and northwest Africa. The city of Carthage, founded as a Phoenician colony, became the center of an empire that competed with the Greeks for economic control. Led by a series of powerful generals including Hannibal, the Carthaginiansfought three wars against the Roman Republic.

Ancient Influences: Greece and Rome

Vase with Acanthus Design, Roman, made in Egypt51.198

Female Head with Wreath, 200s BCENile River clay(Egyptian, Ptolemaic Period), 28.92

Grotesque Heads: Theater characters :

200s BCEEgyptian, Ptolemaic

Period, Nile River clay28.84.7, 28.84.19

Dupondius of Emperor Augustus and Proconsul Agrippa, 10-14 CE

Roman, Reign of Augustus95.32Reverse: Egypt Conquered

Mummy Mask, Roman Period (30 BCE-350 CE)15.2003L

Inner Coffin of Pa-debehu-Aset (detail),Egyptian, Ptolemaic Period, (332—30 BCE)200.11.2

The economic and agricultural wealth of Egypt made the land attractive to rulers of new empires. Greek Ptolemies and the Roman emperors held political power in Egypt after 332 BCE. However, these conquerors admired,adopted, and translated many Egyptian artistic forms.

Medieval North Africa: Islam & Christianity

Sharaf al-Abawani. Egyptian, active 1293—1341Sgraffito Ware Vessel, 1300s CE Egyptian,.Mamluk Dynasty (1250—1517 CE)51.350

Section of a Qur’an endowed by Sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri, Cairo, Egypt, ca. late 1400s CE

Egyptian,.Mamluk Dynasty (1250—1517 CE)51.350

Leaf from a Manuscript of Poetryby Umar Ibn al-Farid (Egyptian, 1181—1235)Iranian, 1600s28.317

Standing Female Figure, 700sEgyptian, Coptic28.264

Border Fragment from a Garment: A Female Saint, 500s CE

Egyptian. Coptic28.296 (not on view)

By 1500, the Islamic Empire stretched across North Africa, encompassing the modern nations of Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco. The Iberian Peninsula had been dominated by Islamic rulers since 711. When Christians re-conquered the region (around 1250 in the north, and 1492 in the south), Muslims were forced to convert to Catholicism or expelled back into North Africa.

The Coptic Church, the Christian Church of Egypt, traditionally dates back to the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt. Always a minority population in Egypt, the Copts survived the Islamic invasions and maintain their practices today.

African Trade Routes

Many highly organized states existed in Africa long before the European colonial period. They maintained lucrative Saharan trade routes for gold, slaves, and kola nuts from the south, exchanged for salt, glass trade beads, and cowrie shells from the north. Many of these goods passed on to Europe and the Islamic East.

Spread of Religions (via trade routes!)

The major world religions of today — Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — spread via missionaries, traders, and travelers,as well as warfare and colonization.

Traditions & Encounters:

Traditions & Encounters:

Traditions & Encounters:

Traditions & Encounters:

Continued African Influence in Europe –Inspiration and Materials

Madonna and Child, 1300sFrench , made in Île-de-FranceIvory45.38

Panel Fragment with Figure of a SaintByzantine. IvoryR. T. Miller Fund, 49.41

Leaf of an Ivory Diptych with the Crucifixion and Nativity

French, 1300s 49.19

Antoine Louis Barye, French, 1796 - 1875African Elephant Running, ca. 1830sBronzeMarion Stratton Gould Fund, 63.4

Capital with Crouching Lion, 1150-1199Northern ItalianMarble49.10 (not on view)

Marriage Chest (Minnekastchen), late 1400sGerman Fruitwood with traces of polychromy2008.2 Detail -- monkeys

African-American Historyin the Gallery’s Collections

Hale Woodruff, 1900 --1980Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln

Discussing Emancipation, 1942-19432002.20

Margaret Taylor Burroughs, 1917-Harriet Tubman, ca. 1950Linocut print97.24 (not on view)

Alison Saar, American, 1956 -Maquette for "Swing Low", 2007bronze2008.15

Harriet, 1975Linocut print95.47 (not on view)

Elizabeth Catlett, 1915---In Phillis Wheatley I Proved Intellectual Equality in the Midst of Slavery, 1947Linocut print95.11 (not on view)

Jacob Lawrence, 1917 – 2000The 1920's... The Migrants Arrive

and Cast Their Ballots, 197475.120.8 (not on view)

Andy Warhol, 1928 - 1987Birmingham Race Riot, 1964Serigraph on paper75.335.10 (not on view)

Based on a photograph by Charles Moore in "Life" magazine, May 17, 1963.

Augustus Saint-Gaudens, 1848 - 1907Shaw Memorial, Soldier Heads, ca. 1897Bronze on wood base2006.9

John Steuart Curry, 1897 --1946Negro Head [Cuban Sugar Cane Worker], 19272005.31

Faith Ringgold, 1930---Seven Passages to a Flight, 1995Quilted fabric96.92.1

Current African-American Artists

Willie Cole, 1955--Sears Ross tji wara (mother and child), 20022006.40

Jacob Lawrence, 1917 - 2000Summer Street Scene in Harlem, 194891.5

Alison Saar, American, 1956 -Maquette for “Swing Low", 2007bronze2008.15