The unexpected Orientalists
Annual Governor James Albert Noe and Mrs Anna Gray Noe Lecture

Thursday 15 October, 18.00
BP Lecture Theatre
Admission free, no pre-booking

Professor Janet Soskice, Jesus College, Cambridge, tells the fascinating story of Agnes and Margaret Smith who journeyed to St Catherine's monastery at Mount Sinai in 1892, and found a priceless Gospel manuscript.

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RGS-IBG Collections Showcase

Yemeni Showcase
9th October 2009, 2.30pm - 4.00pm

The Royal Geographical Society' (with IBG), 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 has a collection of over 2 million items in its Collections which have been designated status as a UK Collection of National Importance.

Whether for personal or academic research, pre-travel planning or simply for pleasure, the Society’s Collections together illustrate the world’s people and places, the history of exploration and the development of geography as a discipline.

On the 9th October, the Society is holding an afternoon showcase focusing on a display of rare books, maps, photographs and artefacts relating to the geography of the Yemen in the Society’s Foyle Reading Room, the display will include many items unique to the Society.

Places are limited to a maximum of 30 people. If you would like to book a ticket, the cost (including refreshments) is £5.00 per person for non-members and free for Fellows and Members of the Society.

To book, please contact Julie Cole on 020 7591 3044 or e-mail showcase@rgs.org to reserve a place.

My sincere thanks to the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG): The Head of Enterprise and Resources; the Foyle Reading Room: Librarians, Archivists; Map Librarians; Picture Librarians and so many others for their friendly and marvellous support and very much including Julie Cole above.

Leila Ingrams

ANGLO-ISRAEL ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

REPORT FROM JERUSALEM 12 - APRIL 2009

The Ancient Canaanite gate at Tel Dan has been extensively restored by the National Parks Authority of Israel. It was reopened to the public at the end of March and presented as 'Abraham's Gate', a name that was chosen against the advice of the archaeologists.

The 7 m high gate was first uncovered in 1979 as part of the excavations at Tel Dan directed by the late Avraham Biran, so in that sense it is Avraham's Gate, but the publicists are trying to link it to the biblical patriarch, who rode as far as Dan to rescue his nephew Lot (Gen. 14:14). Be that as it may, the gate consists of a triple mud-brick arch, the earliest known arch in Israel, and is dated to about 1750 BCE, though some claim that the parabolic entry arch at Ashkelon, also of mud-brick, may be earlier.

The view of the gate and the steps leading up to it is most impressive and the whole complex is covered by a huge, fan-shaped structure of steel and transparent sheeting, very necessary to give protection from the weather but which rather overshadows the object it has been built to protect, which is a pity.

Preceding work on the new railway line from Ashkelon to Netivot, in southern Israel, a massive (20 x 20 m) Byzantine bath-house was uncovered in a rescue dig by the IAA, directed by Gregory Serai, at Kibbutz Gevim, near to Sderot, the town that was under fire from Gaza for some years. The bathing complex consisted of six rooms, including a frigidarium and caldarium, with changing rooms, heated by an underground hypocaust system on the Roman model. It served an ancient village on the road from Beersheba to Gaza, which was a busy trade route in the Roman and Byzantine period. It seems that the bath-house suffered from subsidence, fell out of use and became an easy target for stone robbers. The excavation started in January and is still ongoing.

The 'Jesus Ossuary Forgery Trial', which started in the Jerusalem District Court in September 2005, has recommenced after a recess of several months. The IAA and police case has been presented and is now being refuted by the chief defendants, Robert Deutsch and Oded Golan, against charges of forging, among other items, the inscriptions on the James-brother-of-Jesus Ossuary and the Jehoash Tablet. The prosecution has alleged that some of the forgeries were perpetrated by an expert Egyptian craftsman, but he has refused to come to Israel to attend the court and the prosecution are having difficulty proving their case to the judge, who presides over the court on one day a week.

Stephen Rosenberg,
W.F.Albright Institute, Jerusalem

We are delighted to announce our second lecture of the Summer term:
HENRY TIMBERLAKE - MERCHANT ADVENTURER AND TRAVELLER: A JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM IN 1601

Dr Joan E. Taylor (University College London)
Monday, 18th May 2009
LECTURE COMMENCES AT 6 P.M.
AT THE STEVENSON LECTURE THEATRE, CLORE EDUCATION CENTRE IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, GREAT RUSSELL STREET, LONDON WC1B 3DG
Admission free - no ticket required

See poster

EXHIBITIONS

"Banks of the Nile" by Sayed Mahmoud.
The Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre is the home of a unique experiment in tapestry weaving that has produced extraordinary works admired and collected by museums and galleries around the world. The life work of its founder Ramses Wissa Wassef (1911-1974) was dedicated to releasing the innate creativity of young Egyptian villagers freed from the constraints of a formal education...
Click here for more

www.wissa-wassef-arts.com

Tim Scott Bolton Exhibition: “Travels in the Middle East” 9 – 26 June 2009

To be opened by HH Princess Lalla Joumala Alaoui, Moroccan Ambassador to the United Kingdom

The Mathaf Gallery is delighted to be holding a one-man show of Tim’s most recent works – the results of his travels to Egypt , Oman , Morocco and Jordan . Most paintings will range from £500 to £1,500. Amongst the oils and watercolours on view will be landscapes capturing the vibrant local scenery at different times of day – from remote mountains, wadis and deserts to bustling souks and citadels. Tim also documents the human element of these places such as fishermen mending their nets, boat building, goat herding, palm stripping, as well as depicting the nomadic life of Bedouin in the desert.

An established artist, Tim studied at the Hammersmith College of Art and the Heatherley School of Art. He travels extensively, painting in the Middle East, India and America , and prefers to paint from life. He gains inspiration from what he sees, enjoying the challenge of finding the right view from often remote places.

For further information, please contact:
Mathaf Gallery, 24 Motcomb Street , London SW1X 8JU
Tel: +44 (0)20 7235 0010 Fax: +44 (0)20 7823 1378
Email: art@mathafgallery.demon.co.uk
Web: www.mathafgallery.com

The Gallery specialises in paintings of the Arab world, both contemporary and 19th century. The Gallery in London is on the corner of Motcomb Street, very near the Carlton Jumeirah Hotel off Sloane Street.

Please click here to see paintings from the exhibition.

Victoria & Albert Museum, 28 March–22 November 2009. This year the V&A is celebrating the centenary of one of the most influential, but lesser known, decorative artists of the Victorian period. Owen Jones was born in 1809 and following a student tour through Europe, Egypt, Turkey and Spain, became a pioneering advocate of Islamic design. Trained as an architect, Jones rose to fame with his controversial scheme to paint the interior of the 1851 Great Exhibition building in the primary colours, based on his observation of ancient Egyptian tomb paintings and the interiors of the Alhambra. Jones’ reputation now rests on a book, The Grammar of Ornament, continuously in print since 1856. Considered a classic of its type, the Grammar also betrays Jones’ unusual bias in favour of Islamic ornament. This and other elements of his busy career is the subject of the V&A exhibition, which runs until November; admission is free. In recognition of his role in the founding of the museum, there will be a Study Day on Saturday, 12 June, at which ASTENE members Charles Newton and Kathryn Ferry will be speaking. The fee is £45, and bookings can be made online at http://www.vam.ac.uk/activ_events/courses/courses/study_days_seminars/study_days/index.html or by phone on +44 (0)20 7942 2211.

Unearthing the Truth: Egypt’s Pagan and Coptic Sculpture, Brooklyn Museum, New York, until 10 May. The Brooklyn Museum boasts the second largest North American collection of Coptic art – but is it? The Museum suspects that about one-third of its pieces (dated from the fourth to seventh century AD) may be forgeries, with other pieces recarved and repainted. The genuine and the fakes are shown together in this intriguing exhibition. Those who have read A Thousand Miles up the Nile will remember Amelia Edwards’ visit to the forgers at Luxor. By a curious coincidence it is suggested that the fakes seem to have originated near Sheik Ibada (ancient Antinopolis), founded by the Emperor Hadrian in AD 117. This all brings Coptic art into the arena of exciting new research – and many of the dealers were, of course, travellers.

Shah ‘Abbas: The Remaking of Iran, London, British Museum, until 14 June. The third in the British Museum’s series of four major exhibitions on great rulers of the past opened in mid-February and continues until 14 June. The exhibition is in partnership with the National Museum of Iran and the Iran Heritage Foundation. Although strictly outside the ASTENE area, it will be of interest to many of us. The exhibition is open daily from 10 am to 5:30 pm, and until 8 pm on Thursdays and Fridays. Admission is £12, and the museum recommends advance booking: see http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/all_current_exhibitions/shah_abbas/shah_abbas-2.aspx, telephone +44 (0)20 7323 8181.

Constantinople: Views of Nineteenth-century Istanbul and Russian Orientalism: Central Asia and the Caucasus, both London, Sphinx Fine Art Gallery, until 25 June. Both exhibitions of Orientalist paintings are being held at the gallery premises at 125 Kensington Church Stree, London W8 7LP. Online catalogues may be viewed at www.sphinxfineart.com, or ordered from the gallery (tel. +44 (0)20 7313 8040).

David Roberts: Lithographs of Egypt and the Holy Land, London, Mathaf Gallery, 15 April–1 May 2009. This exhibition of Roberts’ lithographs (which range in price from £250 to £1250) will be of great interest to ASTENE members, as Roberts ranged across so much of the area covered by the Association. Who among us has not recognised where we stood at Sinai or Baalbec or in Cairo and known that Roberts had stood there before us? The gallery is located at 24 Motcomb Street, London SW1X 8JU, and is open weekdays and Saturdays by appointment (tel. +44 (0)20 7823 1378; www.mathafgallery.com).

Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs. Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, until 17 May. This exhibition includes 130 works from the Egyptian National Museum in Cairo, including 50 spectacular objects from Tutankhamun’s tomb. The exhibition is more than twice the size of the 1979 ‘King Tut’ exhibition. Booking recommended on 877-888 8587. For more information, see http://www.dm-art.org/Dallas_Museum_of_Art/View/Tut/ID_198987.

Wonderful Things: The Harry Burton Photographs and the Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, until 25 May 2009. An exhibition of 50 of Harry Burton’s photographs explained. For more information, see www.carlos.emory.edu/wonderful-things.

The V&A travels to Damascus and Istanbul. An exhibition of 160 ceramic masterpieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London has been travelling. It started in Damascus, opening from late November to early January at the Khas As’ad Pasha in the wonderful souk. It then travels on to the Pera Museum in Istanbul from May to July, before returning to the newly refurbished V&A ceramic gallery in London.

The exhibition reflects the cross-currents of trade between Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Among the highlights is a two-metre high turquoise-glazed sceptre from dynastic Egypt, a life-sized porcelain goat from Dresden, Sevres busts of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, and Picasso’s famed 1954 vase, ‘Artist at His Easel’. If you are in Istanbul this summer, try not to miss these masterpieces at the Pera Museum.

Shrunken Treasures: Miniaturisation in Books and Art highlights small-scale manuscripts and rare books, ranging from Books of Hours and copies of the Koran to almanacs and books of poetry, and explores the many reasons for minituarising art. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, until October 2009.

Evet: I do! German and Turkish Wedding Culture and Fashion, 1800 to Today
This exhibition juxtaposes the customs and clothing of what is a most important occasion, when a simple ‘I do’ changes lives – from the 19th century to today. Museum fur Kunst und Kulturgesschiichte, Dortmund, Germany.

Wonderful Things: The Harry Burton Photographs and the Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun
An exhibition of 50 of Harry Burton’s photographs explained. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. Opens 15 November.

Beyond Boundaries: Islamic Art across Cultures
The long awaited opening exhibition of Qatar’s new Museum of Islamic Art, Dohar, from 22 November.

National Museum, Athens: the Egyptian Collection
The National Archaeological Museum in Athens, long famous for its world-class collections of Mycenaean gold and Classical sculpture, now adds to its glister with a new permanent exhibition. For only the second time since WW2, its virtually unknown collection of Egyptian antiquities reappeared to public view on 14th May, in a remarkable and remarkably in-depth exhibition of 1125 of its total 8350 artefacts, ranging from the Predynastic through the Roman periods. The shortlived earlier exhibition displayed only 310 objects.

Although small, the NMA collection is choice. Its majority stems from the donations of two discerning expatriate Greek collectors: Ioannis Demetriou of Alexandria in 1880 and Alexandras Rostovich of Cairo in 1904, supplemented by several Ptolemaic coffins presented by the Egyptian government in 1894 and other smaller donations over the years.

Many artefacts are virtually unknown in the literature and some are unique: a nearly half-metre long Predynastic granite statue of a hippopotamus, an almost metre-long Dynasty V wooden statue of a servant-woman grinding grain (a single piece of sycamore), a pair of Middle Kingdom copper-alloy ships, mast finials, and solid sheet-gold Ptolemaic mummy trappings. The Greek press' favourite is a bread-loaf dating to the New Kingdom - with a single bite gone. Whilst many objects have no provenance beyond 'Egypt', others derive from specific and sometimes well-known locations such as the Dynasty 19 tomb of the artist Sennedjem at Deir el-Medineh.

ASTENE members will be interested also in the related biographical research of Vassilis Chrysokopoulos documenting the lives and travels of some 80 early Greek collectors and Egyptologists , most previously unrecorded. I am trying to persuade him to present a paper on Demetriou and Rostovich at next year's ASTENE conference in Durham.

Jacke Phillips

The Ancient Egyptian Gallery, Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow re-opened last year after extensive restoration and redisplay. Much of the material was excavated in the 1890s.

Zagreb Archaeological Museum, Croatia has a newly opened Egyptian collection including the renowned 'Zagreb mummy'.

Babylon A fascinating interpretation of the history and legend of the ancient city in about 2300BC and to evaluate its influence on later ages. Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin from late June.

Ancient Cyprus a new permanent display at the A.G. Leventis Gallery of the Danish National Museum, Copenhagen.

Three Faces of Monotheism considers the similarities and contrasts of the shared symbols of Christianity, Islam and Judaism represented in antiquities and the development of monotheism in the ancient world. Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem.

The Archaeological Museum, Bologna has reorganised the Greek section of its collections. Among much else part of the collection was assembled by the artist Pelagio Pelagi (1755-1860).

Roman Ships In 1989 Roman ships were discovered almost intact near Pisa. Following restoration they can now be visited by appointment three days a week at the Centro del Restauro del Legno Bagnato. See www.navipisa.it.

‘Pearls to Pyramids: British Visual Culture and the Levant, 1600-1830.’ Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut,
The exhibition, which is currently showing at the Yale Center, is complementary to the Orientalist exhibition but unfortunately, will not be coming to Britain. The exhibition examines the development of British
trading interests in the Mediterranean and introduces the geographical and historical context of the Mediterranean trade with paintings by Sir Peter Lely and the William van de Veldes (father and son), and through early travel accounts that expressed and inspired fascination with Eastern societies. The impact of commodities such as coffee and silk is examined through prints, broadsides, and illustrated books. Selections from the Center’s diverse holdings reflect the burgeoning interest in the classical and biblical sites of the Near and Middle East that took hold in the eighteenth century, including works by Benjamin West and J. M. W. Turner to architectural drawings made on scholarly expeditions. The exhibition concludes with an examination of the increasingly militaristic cast to the British presence in the Levant in the nineteenth century, beginning with visual responses to Admiral Nelson's victory over Napoleon in Egypt.

‘Delicacies from Cairo! The Egyptian collection of the confectioner and coffee house owner Achille Groppi (1890-1949).’
At the Museum August Kestner, Hannover, until the 4th May 2008. From the 16th October 2008-15th May 2009 the exhibition moves to the joint-organiser in Basel: the Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig.

In 1890 the Swiss Patissier and Chocolatier Giacomo Groppi (1863-1947) opened his first private business in Alexandria. Although Groppi soon made enough money to retire, he lost much of his fortune in the financial crash of 1907. So, in 1909, the company was re-established in Cairo under the name ‘Maison Groppi’. In 1925 Giacomo and his son Achille Groppi (1890- 1949) opened the famous shop and coffee house on Soliman Pasha Square (today Midan Talat Harb) in the middle of Cairo. The House and parts of the former interior of the cafe in the Art Deco style have been preserved – and are nodoubt well-known to ASTENE visitors to Cairo. From the early 1920ies Achille Groppi acquired a considerable number of ancient Egyptian objects, many of mosaic glass from the Ptolemaic Period (4th-1st Centuries BC). Although some important pieces were sold – as the ‘Per-Neb Collection’ – during the 1990ies at Christie’s in London, the Groppi Collection is still an outstanding collection of Egyptian small objects. Many of the 160 objects in this exhibition have never been shown in public previously.

There is an exhibition catalogue by Christian E. Loeben and André Wiese, Köstlichkeiten aus Kairo! Die ägyptische Sammlung des Konditorei- und Kaffee-haus-Besitzers Achille Groppi (1890-1949). 179pp; 262 plates; price: 30.00 Euros.

Objects of Instruction: Treasures of the School of Oriental and African Studies: Islamic manuscripts, ceramics, African textiles, and archaeological finds. Brunei Gallery, SOAS, London..

Lear's View of Jerusalem at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. In 1858 the writer and artist, Edward Lear (1813-88) visited Palestine - achieving a lifetime ambition. There he made careful studies of Jerusalem from the surrounding hills. These were the basis of five paintings of which the largest and most magnificent (1865) was allocated by H.M. Government in 2006 to the Museum from the estates of Captain and Mrs Walthall.

The Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art: If you have not yet seen the newly opened gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, try to be sure you make time for it.

Treasures from Olana opens at Princeton (New Jersey) University Art Museum on 27 January.

Ancient Egyptians is an ongoing free exhibition featuring mummies and treasures at the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester.

Egypt Reborn: Art for Eternity at the Brooklyn Museum, New York is wide ranging in time and themes, and considers Egypt and its relationship to the rest of Africa.

Arts of the Islamic World Gallery houses a magnificent collection of tiles, textiles, jewellery and paintings reflecting secular and religious life. Honolulu Academy of Arts, Hawaii.

The Tradescant Collection goes home: During the redevelopment of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, the original objects from the Museum Tradescantianum, which formed the core of the Ashmolean in 1683, returns to its original home, in the present Museum of the History of Science. Items in that wildly eclectic collection were gathered in the Near East.

Nubian Gallery is a new permanent installation of artefacts including never-before exhibited works and 2000-year-old textiles. Oriental Institute Museum, Chicago.

The Louvre Theme Tours, Paris are organised around 10 subjects, considering period, artefact or location. "The Palaces of the Ancient Near East" was offered on Monday afternoons in November. Other cycles look at Egyptian antiquities, society and nature or the arts of Islam. There is a very reasonable charge.

THE OTHER TUTANKHAMUN EXHIBITION
In Bulletin 19, page 10, I confessed that the lure of the seaside on a summer's day was stronger than my curiosity about Dorchester's Tutankhamun Exhibition. However, during a recent visit to the Dorset Record Office (now being renamed the Dorset History Centre, a title presumably intended to make it more 'user-friendly', but in fact obscuring its function), I made time to see the Exhibition.
The inspiration for this ambitious enterprise was the once apparently immutable decision of the Egyptian Government not to let Tutankhamun's treasures leave Egypt again. Various skilled craftsmen, with detailed reference to the originals, and using wherever possible the same techniques, recreated a selection of artefacts in perfect facsimile. The museum opened in 1987.
Having walked through two rooms devoted to descriptions of the circumstances and people involved, from Tutankhamun to Howard Carter, and extensive coverage of that perennial media-fodder, the 'Was Tut murdered?' controversy, one came upon the life-sized facsimiles of Lord Carnavon and Lady Evelyn Herbert watching Carter, wearing an unfortunate wig, holding a candle to look through a hole in a wall, rounding which one entered the ante-chamber, to see just what Carter saw that day in 1922. Next door, Carter was to be found on scaffolding above the huge sarcophagus, in the act of separating the outer gold coffin from the inner ones. The warm scent of ancient unguents and aromatic oils suffused the air. Lastly, one reached the Treasures - jewellery, exquisite small figures and the Golden Funeral Mask itself. And so out into the shop. I really enjoyed it all.
Dorchester is replete with eclectic cultural treats. The Mummies Exhibition (on when I was there) was a touring one, but further down the main street one can "gaze in awe at the huge Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor of China", complete with multimedia sound and video. Close by are the Dinosaur and the Teddy Bear Museums. Sadly, I didn't have time to visit all these. I had an urgent date with the Dorset Records.

Peta Rée

The Tutankhamun Exhibition is on High West Street, Dorchester; all the others are nearby. All are open seven days a week, 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

June 05

The Ancient Egyptians (and The Mighty Dinosaurs)
Two exhibitions offering everyone's favourite subjects: 'Mummies, coffins, gods and treasures' and 'The power of the great dinosaurs' at New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester. Telephone 0116 225 4900 for opening times - daily except Fridays.

September 05

SCHOLARSHIPS and AWARDS

• British School of Archaeology in Iraq Appeal
  The British School of Archaeology in Iraq is working on its own and with other bodies and agencies to safeguard Iraq's world famous heritage.
  The School in Iraq 1932-1990 cannot return there yet, but is assisting its Iraqi colleagues with scholarships, short-term fellowships and material resources to museum and university staff to train in archaeology or related fields and to supply books, materials and equipment for both museums and universities. The first scholars have taken up their awards, using funds already raised. They are now appealing for £500,000. BSAI Appeal, 10 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH, UK. and bsaiappeal@britac.ac.uk
  

April 06

STUDY DAYS, LECTURES & CONFERENCES

Bloomsbury Summer School, University College London. During the summer a number of five-day courses (mainly focused on Egyptology) are held at University College in Bloomsbury. Courses of interest to ASTENE members this summer include: • 13–17 July Hieroglyphics for Beginners • 20–24 July Ancient Egypt and Nubia: A Dynamic Relationship (led by Robert Morkot, of ASTENE) • 27–31 July Flinders Petrie and His Heritage: Exploring the Petrie Museum. For further information and booking, telephone 0207 679 3622 or e-mail bloomsbury@egyptology-uk.com.

Study Courses in Cambridge. The Institute of Continuing Public Education has a new programme of residential courses at Madingley Hall near Cambridge. Residential weekends cost about £350; non-residential, about £215. Courses of interest to ASTENE members include: • 18–20 September Egypt from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra (332–30 BC) • 5–7 February 2010 The Architecture of Islam: The First 1000 Years • 19–21 February 2010 Cities of the Eastern Adriatic. For further details visit www.cont-ed.cam.ac.uk.

Melville and the Mediterranean. Ecole Biblique, East Jerusalem, 17–21 June 2009. This conference is devoted to understanding the place of the Mediterranean and the Holy Land in Western consciousness. While one focus is concerned with Herman Melville’s epic Clearel: A Poem and Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, the conference aims to open up discussions related to travel, literature, other humanities and the sciences, aesthetics, anthropology, archaeology, ethnography, and religion. Papers and panels are welcome on a range of international writing about the region. There is a particular interest in a panel or panels from ASTENE members on travel writing and other fields relating to knowledge of the region and its significance in the 19th and 20th centuries. For further details of the conference, see www.unc.edu/~marr/jerusalem/.

British Museum Study Programme
Through the autumn and winter 2008–09 the British Museum is offering a series of study days and courses. Those of special relevance to ASTENE members include:

• David Roberts and the Holy Land, 14:00–17:00 on Saturday, 21 February 2009. To mark the bicentenary of Roberts’ death.
• Certificate of Higher Education Programmes: Is not this great Babylon? 11 Thursday evenings from 2 October.
• Isis and Aphrodite in Cleopatra’s Egypt. 11 Thursday evenings from 2 October.
• Byzantine Palestine: The Art and Architecture of Coexistence. 11 Monday evenings from 27 April.
• Beauty and Magnificence: The Imperial Arts of the Ottoman Court. 11 Monday evenings from 27 April.
  

For information and booking, see
www.britishmuseum.org or telephone 020 7323 8000.

Egypt Exploration Society Cairo Lectures and field visits.
Lectures are held in the auditorium at the British Council. For details contact Mrs Faten Saleh, EES Cairo Office, c/o British Council, 192 Sharia el-Nil, Agouza, Cairo.
Phone + 20 (0)2 3001 1886, e-mail: ees.cairo@britishcouncil.org.eg

The International Qajar Studies Assocation - IQSA
Jennifer Scarce draws ASTENE members' attention to IQSA, an educational and cultural organisation which is a forum for discussion, research and publication on topics relating to the period when Persia/Iran was under the rule of the Qajar Shahs (1785-1925). European and Indian diplomats, military and technical experts, teachers, archaeologists and artists visited Iran in increasing numbers during the 19th century. Their journeys by the overland route took them through regions of direct interest to ASTENE's members and were recorded in their memoirs, official reports and drawings. Here the programmes of IQSA offer a valuable resource.

Membership of IQSA is open to scholars, institutions and the general public ($60). There are annual conferences (most recently in Paris on Diplomats and Travellers in the Qajar Era and a journal, Qajar Studies. See the IQSA website: www.qajarstudies.org

The Frontiers of the Ottoman World: fortifications, trade, pilgrimage and slavery
Dr Robert Morkot reports: The Frontiers of the Ottoman World is an initiative supported by the British Academy. It was launched at a packed two-day symposium held at the British Academy 15-16 February 2007 that was organised by the British Institute in Ankara, the British Institute in Eastern Africa, the British School of Athens, the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, the Council for British Research in the Levant, the Egypt Exploration Society and the Society for Libyan Studies. Papers covered the entire region from Sudan to the Balkans, Libya to the Black Sea.

The longer-term project aims to bring together the research findings of the different schools and institutes that relates to the subject, and to relate archaeological work to the textual evidence.

Institute of Continuing Education, Cambridge
The Institute runs a number of part-time courses which might interest ASTENE members at various regional sites. See more on their web site www.cont-ed.cam.ac.uk

We list a few briefly:
Byzantine Art and Architecture - Cambridge; Medieval Architecture in the Mediterranean World - Cambridge; Beginner's Guide to Family History - Burghley House; Christianity and Islam -Bedford; The Religions of Iraq - Burgate; The World's Great Religions - St Albans.

And there are many more fascinating courses on other subjects.

British Travellers and Equestrian Enthusiasts in Great Syria and Arabia Conference
This was held at the new Centre for Studies in the Long 18th Century at the University of Kent in May. Naturally many ASTENE members were involved among the 60 academics, independent scholars, travellers and travel writers, blood stock experts and horse-breeders and others from seven countries who took part.

The papers and the discussion ranged through Anglo-Arab and Anglo-Ottoman relations of trade, diplomacy and artistic reciprocity. The historic range covered early pilgrimage to present day travel - on horseback.

Professor Donna Landry reported to us that "Many unexpected and useful connections were made and exchanges begun across disciplines, specializations, livelihoods, and areas of interest. Many of those attending remarked that it was the most enjoyable and the most multi-disciplinary conference they had ever attended…. and hoped that this will be the first of a series of related events on East-West relations, travel and re-enactment, animal studies and other multi-disciplinary perspectives on the long 18thcentury. A volume of essays based on the conference papers will be forthcoming and will be reviewed in these pages.

Contact D.E.Landry@kent.ac.uk for further information.

EXHIBITION REVIEW
An Illuminated Manuscript of the Heavenly Ladder: Spiritual Ascents through Art
Those of us who visited the Holy Monastery of St Catherine's at Sinai in 2006 will remember the delightful icon of a ladder, upon which some monks climb upwards, while others fall from grace into the power of etiolated but lively black devils. The inspiration for this icon was the representation by St John Climacus, a sixth century Abbott of Sinai, of the spiritual ascent to heaven as a ladder of thirty rungs, each a sin that must be renounced.

To complement the exhibition at the Getty Centre, Los Angeles, 'Holy Image, Hallowed Ground: Icons from Sinai, on 6 February, Father Justin Sinaites, Librarian of the monastery, used another work of art, a 12th century manuscript, to illustrate St John's theme. Each sin was pictured simply and lucidly, in sumptuous gold leaf and tints of red and blue.
Reflecting the great success of the exhibition, there had been such a demand for reservations for Father Justin's talk, that the venue had to be changed to a larger hall - and that was all but full.

Father Justin also spoke of the decision taken by the last two Abbots of Sinai that the wonderful sacred art of the monastery, previously unseen by any but those who penetrated to this remote place, should be opened up to the world.

Of the greatest advantage to the survival of the art at Sinai was this very inaccessibility, for it was spared not only the early iconoclasts, but also the work of the early restorers. Now, new, less invasive techniques and more humble attitudes prevail among restorers. The unique collection of manuscripts is to be recorded in high resolution digital photography, so that scholars need not handle (and slowly destroy) the originals, the most fragile of which can be sealed away in boxes from light and (in contrast to most places) the lack of humidity at Sinai.

An inevitable result of the new open attitude is the influx not only of pilgrims but of more tourists like us. Even the three hours a day the monastery opens its doors to them - and its new gallery of sacred art - has to compromise the calm and solitude the monks have sought. We must indeed be grateful to their generosity.

April 06
Peta Ree

Interior and Backdrop, 1865 by E.H. Palmer
One of the travellers to the monastery in the 19th century wrote of his impressions ...
The whole effect of the interior of the convent is peaceful and picturesque, and the background is simply magnificent. On the left is Jebel el Deir, with its rugged, pathless sides, and upon a ledge, where the green markings of the smooth surface of the rocks indicate the presence of water, there springs up from a heap of stones (the ruined convent of St Episteme) a solitary cypress, anywhere else this would look an imposing tree, but here it seems a mere dark-green thread against the glowing grey of the mountain-side. On the right rises the shoulder of the Jebel Musa block, stern and gigantic as its neighbour, and in the opening between these wondrous walls the green round summit of Jebel Moneijah stands out in bold relief against the sky.

BOOK FAIRS

ASTENE members tend to collect books on their subject, and many may know of the Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association (PBFA) Calendar of Book Fairs. This is an annual list of book fairs throughout the country, which you can receive free from the PBFA, The Old Coach House, 16 Melbourn Street, Royston, Herts SG8 7BZ; tel. 01763 248921, email info@pbfa.org. The PBFA website (www.pbfa.org) carries up-to-date information on fairs, plus lists of exhibitors and an online directory of members. Some of the book fairs this year will be:

• 26 April Travel and Exploration, Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7, from 11 am to 5 pm
• 17 May Natural History and Gardening, Capel Manor Gardens, Bullsmoor Lane, Enfield, from 10 am to 4 pm
• 31 May Summer International Fair, Hotel Russell, Russell Square, London WC1, from noon to 6 pm
• 5 and 6 June Summer International Fair, Novotel London West, 1 Shortlands, Hammersmith W6, from 2–7 pm on the 5th and 10 am to 4 pm on the 6th.

A new fair site this year is at the traveller W.J. Bankes’ home, Kingston Lacy House near Wimborne in Dorset, to be held from 10:30 to 4 on Sunday, 5 June. Normal fee for National Trust entry, fair free.

The largest book fair of the year is on Friday and Saturday, 11–12 September, in the Knavesmire Suite, York Racecourse. Hours are Friday from noon to 7 pm, and Saturday from 10 to 5. For details see www.yorkbookfair.com.

Of interest to Scottish members will be the book fair in the Assembly Rooms, George Street, Edinburgh, on Saturday 13 June, from 10 am to 5 pm. For Irish members there is the Dublin Book Fair at Freemasons Hall, Molesworth Street, on Friday and Saturday, 18–19 September, noon to 7 (Friday) and 10–5 (Saturday).

THE ASSOCIATION OF MALTESE COMMUNITIES OF EGYPT
We remind readers of this Association which has allowed us to publish an article from their newsletter. The Association has its origins in Egypt in 1854 when a small number of Maltese workers grouped themselves around their local church in Alexandria and formed The Confraternity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Through the years it expanded its activities to mutual help, benevolent societies, clubs, philodramatic and philoharmonic groups, ladies' unions, Scouts, Guides, football teams etc. in Alexandria, Cairo, Port Said and Suez.

When in 1956 the Maltese, as British subjects, left Egypt, they transferred their welfare and social activities to England and joined into the continuing Association of Maltese Communities in Egypt. The Association continues its work and has a regular AMCOE Newsletter.
Further inquiries to the Hon. Treasurer, Mt Herbert Magri-Overend, 34 Mills Rd, Melksham, Wilts SN 12 7DT.

April 04