Workshop The lost-wax technique as cultural technique in Ancient

Workshop
The lost-wax technique as cultural technique in Ancient Egypt.
The artifacts from the Qubbet el-Hawa necropolis and current research
Friday/Saturday March 6-7 2015
Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
Institut für Archäologie und Kulturanthropologie
Abteilung für Ägyptologie
Regina-Pacis-Weg 7
53113 Bonn, Germany
Tel: +49 (0)228 / 7397187 o. 739710
Fax: +49 (0)228 / 737360
[email protected]
[email protected]
The lost-wax technique is arguably the most sophisticated cultural rechnique in antiquity. Multiple
transformations of form and matter lead to the creation of bronze figures based on wax models. And yet, this
technique was able to shape and determine a whole era: the Bronze Age. The mastery of the complex
casiting procedure with a 'lost mould' can be called 'high-tech' even by today's standards. This technology
not only provided an opportunity to improve already well-acquainted products, but it also offered various
possibilities to open up new areas of application and products.
The workshop aims at presenting the results of the project „Eine Gusswerkstatt der ägyptischen Spätzeit.
Erfassung, Analyse und Kontextualisierung der Materialien einer Bronzegusswerkstatt von der Qubbet elHawa (Region Assuan)“ funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation. The artifacts under research represent – as
known so far – the best preserved casting moulds for the lost wax technique from antiquity throughout the
world. Additionally, the project examines singular wax figures and wax models. The material analyis of
ceramics, organics and metal is embedded in the research as well as a comprehensive archaeological and
cultural-historical contextualisation of the objects.
In a broader perspective, the workshop aims at establishing a network of scholars working on pharaonic
metal working. Whereas especially the examination of the Bronze age mining sector boomed considerably in
the last decades, technological studies on the actual artifacts of the metalworking industry in antiquity and
particularly in Egypt are still rather rare and only to be found in scattered projects and publications.
programme (preliminary)
Friday, March 6, 2015
10:00 Uhr: Arrival, registration, welcome coffee
10:30 – 12:30 Uhr Opening and Project Presentation
Ludwig D. Morenz/Michael Schmauder (Bonn): Das Projekt „Eine Gusswerkstatt der ägyptischen Spätzeit“
Martin Fitzenreiter (Münster): Das Wachsausschmelzverfahren als Kulturtechnik
Johannes Auenmüller (Bonn): Das Ausstellungsprojekt „Gegossene Götter“
afterwards: Visit of the exhibition
12:30 – 14:00 Uhr Lunch break
14:00 – 17:30 Uhr The objects from the Qubbet el-Hawa necropolis
Introduction: Johannes Auenmüller und Frank Willer (Bonn): Bemerkungen zur Materialanalyse
Moderated plenary disussion of the project partners with presentations about:
a. Wax and organics (Ursula Baumer, Ulla Tegtmeier, Thorsten Geisler-Wierwille)
b. Casting moulds: Setup and technology (Gerwulf Schneider, Dietmar Meinel, Frank Willer)
c. Metal: alloys, isotopes etc. (Frank Willer, Roland Schwab)
coffee break
18:30 Uhr Public evening lecture
Deborah Schorsch (MMA/New York): Gebrauch und Wiedergebrauch von ägyptischen Tempelkultfiguren
aus Metall
Satruday, March 7, 15
9:00 – 13:00 Uhr Archaeological Contexts
Johannes Auenmüller (with Jürgen Wentscher): Der archäologische Kontext des Konvolutes von der Qubbet
el-Hawa
Martin Fitzenreiter: Beigabe, Werkstatt oder Depot? Deutungsansätze des Befundes
10:00 – 10:30 Uhr Coffee break
Christian Eckmann/Jörg Drauschke (RGZ/Mainz): Eine Gusswerkstatt aus spätantiker/frühbyzantinischer
Zeit auf Elephantine
Andreas Dorn (Bonn): Schmuckproduktion um 1150 v. Chr. im Tal der Könige: Herstellung und Nutzung von
Gussformen durch die Arbeiter aus Deir el-Medine
12:30 – 14:00 Uhr: Lunch break
14:00 – 17:00 Uhr: Materials and technology
Florence Gombert-Meurice/Benoit Mille (Louvre Paris): Das Forschungsprojekt zu den Serapeums-Bronzen
Britta Rabe (Goethe Universität/Frankfurt): Die Gipsmodel aus Memphis: Erkenntnisse zur Herstellung von
Kleinbronzen im griechisch-römischen Ägypten
Marie Schulze/Robert Lehmann/Christian E. Loeben (Hannover): Materialanalysen der Kleinbronzen aus der
Ägyptischen Sammlung des Museums August Kestner/Hannover
Frederik Rademakers (UCL Institute of Archaeology/London): Making bronze for the pharaoh: a look into the
Pi-Ramesse crucibles
Marco Flierl/Klaus Cenkier/Martin Fitzenreiter (Berlin/Münster): Das Wachsausschmelzverfahren aus der
Perspektive der modernen Kunstgießerei
16:30 – 17:00 Uhr: Coffee break
from 17:00: Public casting presentation