Research: Roman and Late Antique Artefacts from Egypt

Research summary

• June 2017 – May 2019

The project aimed to improve understanding of the social and cultural lives of people living in Egypt between 300 BC and 650 AD.

While UK museums have many artefacts from Roman and Late Antique Egypt most of these objects have never been studied systematically from a social perspective.

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the project was a collaboration between Manchester Met and the University of Kent, Canterbury.

Researchers examined the collection of UCL’s Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology in Bloomsbury, London - one of the largest in the UK with more than 8,000 objects from Egyptian history, including the Roman and late antique periods.

They examined artefacts to understand how they were used in daily life and what this revealed about social experiences and relationships of the time.

In particular they investigated how experiences differed between children, adults, slaves, women, men, and people of different social and ethnic groups. Family life and the lives of children have been under-represented in many histories of the period.

Among the techniques used was examining objects such as dress accessories, shoes, toys and musical instruments for signs of wear and repair, revealing how they were used and any personal and sentimental meanings that may have had.

Researchers also used 3D scanners and printers to create replicas of musical instruments to use in teaching in schools and universities.