Bethany Hucks:
Reassembling aegyptiaca assemblages: Towards a more complete vision of Roman perceptions of Egypt

During the Roman Imperial Period increased military, economic, religious, and social contact between the city of Rome and protectorate Egypt resulted in an explosion of images and objects related to Egypt on display in various Roman public, private, and personal contexts (so-called aegyptiaca romana). Many of the pieces made by Roman artisans for Roman viewers but using Egyptian motifs are now displayed in Egyptian collections, although at the time of their initial creation they formed part of assemblages of objects with varying visual origins — including Greek and Roman. This presentation will contextualize aegyptiaca romana as part of larger Roman aesthetic projects and interrogate how researchers might approach reconstructing visual assemblages to better understand Roman concepts of individual and group identity as well as spatial-material relationships using databases and 3D models. It will also address methods of reconstructing individual objects and assemblages using antiquarian and early archaeological records, expanding on what can be done with limited evidence.

Bethany Hucks is in the final year of her PhD in Near Eastern Archaeology, Egyptology, and Transcultural Studies at Heidelberg University. She has a Master’s degree in Museum Studies from Marist College and Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici in Florence, Italy and a Bachelor’s in History from Harvard University. Her research focuses on transcultural connections between Egypt and Rome in antiquity, the modern reception of Egypt in the Italian peninsula, and the history of collecting and display. She uses 3D models and databases to recreate visual representations of display contexts and to provide access to students and researchers who would not otherwise be able to view or interact with physical objects. She has also worked on Bronze Age ceramics for excavations in the Mediterranean and Europe.