How did Auckland Museum get its Egyptian collection?

Auckland War Memorial Museum houses nearly 2000 artefacts from Egypt. Their ages range from Palaeolithic (> 10,000 years ago) to modern, and many of which are attributed to Dynastic Egypt. The artefacts came to the Museum from purchases, subscriptions, and donations. Here we will outline some of the ways they were acquired. All objects were obtained prior to 1979, as since then the removal of objects from Egypt has been restricted to only those authorised by the Egyptian Antiquities Service.

Blog by Dr Josh Emmitt, Curator Archaeology

Purchases

Until 1970 Cairo Museum had a sales room where artefacts from excavations could be bought. It was through this method that Thomas Cheeseman (curator at Auckland Museum 1874-1923) organised the purchase of objects from the Cairo Museum. After delays due to World War I, a hold-up at the Suez Canal, and the Australian Maritime Strike in 1916, 100 artefacts arrived at Auckland Museum in 1918. Amongst them were objects such as pots, amulets, and ushabti figures, aimed at providing a foundation for an Egyptian Collection. The particular interest of the Museum in obtaining material from Egypt came from involvement of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Egypt. The Museum Council at the time considered it “a matter of duty”[1] to obtain a small Egyptian collection in order for the citizens of Auckland to be able to view some of the history of the country where its citizens were serving.

[1] Annual Report of the Auckland Institute and Museum 1916-1917: 11

_{Coffin figure, Egypt, Collection of Auckland Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, 13065}

30023 Ceramic vessel by Auckland Museum on Sketchfab

Post-World War II there was another influx of objects from Egypt to Auckland Museum. This came from the purchases and donations of Colonel Fred Waite (1885-1952). Waite served in World War I, and during his secondment during World War II as the overseas commissioner for the National Patriotic Fund Board he was stationed in Cairo. During his time in Egypt he amassed a wide range of antiquities from Egypt from both purchases and from connections with archaeologists working in Egypt at the time such as Guy Brunton, Walter Emery, and Flinders. King Farouk of Egypt also gifted him 100 ceramic vessels from Helwan, which are now distributed throughout New Zealand Museums.

Waite had originally sought to obtain objects for the Otago Museum, but upon learning of the wider interest from other New Zealand museums also acquired objects for them as well. Objects were first shipped to Otago for ease, from which representatives of other museums could visit and select the items they would like. This also ensured that Waite’s home museum of Otago had the first pick. Waite had a particular interest in predynastic pottery, which is why Auckland and other New Zealand Museums have such a large collection of pottery from this period. On his return to New Zealand Waite became an honorary keeper of Middle Eastern Archaeology at Otago Museum.

Subscriptions

In the early twentieth century, individuals and organisations could subscribe to a society which would undertake excavations. These subscriptions would ensure the receipt of objects from the excavations. One of the most well known at the time was the Egypt Exploration Society (EES), which still exists today. Auckland Museum purchased a subscription from 1926 to 1935, with a £10 subscription each year, the equivalent of about $6,000 today. Over the subscription period material was sent to Auckland from Predynastic and Ptolemaic excavations at Abydos, and from the 18^th Dynasty at Amarna. Many of the objects received are currently on display in the Te Onamata Ancient Worlds gallery, including a number of bead necklaces which were sent as part of the first shipment.

Also from the EES, Auckland Museum received three blue-painted pots, from the 1923-24 excavation season at Amarna. According to archived distribution lists from the Egypt Exploration Society, Auckland Museum should have only received one!

_{Ceramic vessel, Egypt, Collection of Auckland Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, 2013.x.40}

Soldier collectors

Soldiers in both World War I and World War II stationed in Egypt returned to New Zealand with artefacts, many of which have subsequently been donated to Auckland Museum. These artefacts are often a mix of real and forgeries and were mostly collected by soldiers visiting archaeological sites or visiting the markets. Auckland Museum took donations of objects from soldiers after the wars as a service to them regardless of the authenticity of the artefacts because many soldiers did not want the items upon their return. The exact reasons why varied, but for many they were a reminder of a time that people wanted to leave behind them.

Some objects obtained were certainly not forgeries but were also not obtained by the most official means. One example of this is some beads from Heliopolis. They were obtained when two soldiers requested some shovels from the quartermaster and started to dig at the site, whereupon they found some beads before being told of the French excavations occurring there and being moved on by a guard.

_{Beads, Egypt, Collection of Auckland Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, 1984.295, 51224}

The Egyptian Collection at the Auckland War Memorial Museum

The Egyptian collection is now part of the Te Onamata Ancient Worlds gallery, but part of it has always been on display somewhere in the Museum since the objects arrived. While the original reason for the active solicitation and acquisition of the Egyptian collection has largely passed from public memory, it still is something that people are excited to see when they visit the Museum. The collection though serves a purpose more than just educating about the history of Egypt. It also it represents the connection that New Zealanders serving in the First and Second New Zealand Expeditionary Forces had with that country.

_{Pot, 3300 BC-3200 BC, Egypt. Collection of Auckland Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, 1932.559, 18718}

For more information about the Egyptian collection at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, Tāmaki Paenga Hira have a look at the open-source article by the current and former Curators Archaeology.

Emmitt, J. and L Furey. 2018. ‘A matter of duty’: the Egyptian collection at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Records of the Auckland Museum 53: 1-15. https://doi.org/10.32912/ram.2018.53.1