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Update 2023-02-10-gharbsoheil_newaniba.md
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hms12 authored Oct 31, 2024
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Expand Up @@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ images:
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image: news/Angareeb_legs.jpg
caption: This apparently decorative element on the legs of traditional angareeb beds is intended to stop scorpions climbing up.
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image: news/New_Aniba_group_photo.jpeg
caption: :Pop-up museum team with senior community members at New Aniba; right, Abdel Ghani and left, Amm Ibrahim).
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In February 2023, as part of our pop-up museum activities, [Helen Strudwick, Sara Abed and Amr Orensa](https://egyptiancoffins.org/team/) visited
Expand All @@ -40,21 +43,27 @@ Egyptian and Nubian heritage and its display in museums around the world (includ
At Gharb Soheil, we met [senior community members](https://egyptiancoffins.org/images/news/Community_elders.jpg) who generously invited us into their
houses and showed us important objects they had retained to remind them of their traditional homes
in the flooded settlements left behind. One of these, Husein Shellaly, showed us a type of bed (called "angareeb"), typical of beds used in Nubia that
bear a strong constructional resemblence to ancient Egyptian beds but that are now dying out. He also showed us
bear a strong constructional resemblence to ancient Egyptian beds but that are now dying out. He also showed us traditional stringed instruments and
[an old stool](https://egyptiancoffins.org/images/news/Shellaly_stool_broken.jpg), which had been in his family for many generations but was now in
a sorry state of repair. We invited him to bring it along to our pop-up museum the next day with the promise that
[Amr would attempt to repair it](https://egyptiancoffins.org/images/news/Stool_repairs.jpg) using the replicas of ancient Egyptian tools. You can see
in the photos [how successful this was](https://egyptiancoffins.org/images/news/Shellaly_stool_fixed.jpg)! Husein is very active on social media and
was live posting during our pop-up, which was a novelty for us. The pop-up itself was located next to a spice stall, and the stall holder, who
[initially was a little dubious](https://egyptiancoffins.org/images/news/spice_man_investigates_pop-up.jpg) about what we were up to, became our
[was, initially, a little dubious](https://egyptiancoffins.org/images/news/spice_man_investigates_pop-up.jpg) about what we were up to, became our
biggest advocate, urging his customers and any passers-by to come and take a look, and enthusiastically demonstrating and explaining everything on
our tables.

The settlement of Aniba was one of the 44 Nubian villages that were abandoned at the time the High Dam was built. The local people were moved to an
area named Nasr el-Nuba, close to Kom Ombo, where 44 new villages were created to house them. Sadly, the architecture of these villages did not
reflect traditional Nubian houses and the local people we met at New Aniba felt that this had contributed to the disappearance of some social and
cultural traditions, including the layout of interiors and furniture. Younger community members feel that modern furniture is more appropriate for the
new house designs, they said. We met one of the last angareeb makers, Abdel Ghani, who showed us how the traditional beds were made, including legs that are [carved in a particular way](https://egyptiancoffins.org/images/news/Angareeb_legs.jpg) to deter scorpions from climbing up - which sounds like a very good idea. Another senior community member, who identified himself only as Ibrahim showed us an ancient wooden lock and key, and how the position of the key would indicate whether the people inside were "at home" to visitors or not, and a wooden vase with a lid used at weddings, as well as traditional stringed instruments. We in turn showed them the replica tools that we had with us, which they instantly recognised and related to. We all felt that we would like to come back and do a pop-up museum activity for the whole community at some time in the future.
new house designs, they said. We met one of the last angareeb makers,
[Abdel Ghani](https://egyptiancoffins.org/images/news/New_Aniba_group_photo.jpeg), who showed us how the traditional beds were made, including legs
that are [carved in a particular way](https://egyptiancoffins.org/images/news/Angareeb_legs.jpg) to deter scorpions from climbing up - which sounds
like a very good idea. Another senior community member,
[Amm Ibrahim showed us an ancient wooden lock and key](https://egyptiancoffins.org/images/news/Ibrahim_old_door.jpeg), and how the position of the key
would indicate whether the people inside were "at home" to visitors or not, and a
[wooden vase with a lid used at weddings](https://egyptiancoffins.org/images/news/wedding_vase.jpg). We in turn showed them the replica tools that we had with us, which they instantly recognised and related to. We all felt that we would like to come back and do a pop-up museum activity for the whole community at some time in the future.

This morning, we were able to undertake new CT scanning of part of the [coffin set of Nespawershefyt](https://egyptiancoffins.org/coffins/nespawershefyt). Although we
have X-radiographed the mummy board in the past, its construction was not absolutely clear. Colleagues at [Addenbrooke's Hospital](https://www.cuh.nhs.uk/)
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