ExhibitionsAncient Nubia: Art of the 25th Dynasty from the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Future Exhibition

Ancient Nubia: Art of the 25th Dynasty from the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

June 2 – September 3, 2023

Winged Isis Pectoral, Nubian Artist, Sudan, 538–519 BCE, gold, Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, 20.276. Photo © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

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Hathor-headed crystal pendant, Nubian Artist, Napatan Period, reign of Piankhy (Piye), 743–712 BCE, gold and rock crystal, Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, 21.321. Photo © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

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For more than 3,000 years, a series of kingdoms flourished along the Nile Valley south of ancient Egypt in the Nubian Desert of modern-day Sudan. Ancient Nubia: Art of the 25th Dynasty from the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston will feature more than two hundred masterworks drawn from MFA Boston’s vast holdings, now the largest and most comprehensive collection of ancient Nubian art and material culture outside of Africa. Including skillfully crafted pottery, gold and silver amulets, jewelry, and funerary figurines, among other works, the exhibition will highlight the skill, artistry, and innovation of Nubian makers and reflect the wealth and power of their kings and queens, who once controlled one of the largest empires of the ancient world.

The exhibition also will explore how historical narratives have evolved over time, now reflecting recent scholarship that has proved ancient Nubia’s position as an autonomous nation-state separate from ancient Egypt, with its own sophisticated systems of governance, trade, and commerce punctuated by innovations in art, architecture, and science.

This exhibition is organized by

Premier Exhibition Series Sponsor

Premier Exhibition Series Supporters

ACT Foundation, Inc.
William N. Banks, Jr.
Cousins Foundation
Burton M. Gold
Sarah and Jim Kennedy 

Benefactor Exhibition Series Supporters

Robin and Hilton Howell

Ambassador Exhibition Supporters

Mrs. Fay S. Howell/The Howell Fund
The Fred and Rita Richman Fund
Louise Sams and Jerome Grilhot
Mrs. Harriet H. Warren
Elizabeth and Chris Willett 

Contributing Exhibition Series Supporters

Farideh and Al Azadi 
Sandra and Dan Baldwin
Mr. Joseph H. Boland, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Robin E. Delmer
Peggy Foreman
Helen C. Griffith  
Mr. and Mrs. Baxter Jones
Tamara and Kent Kelley
Joel Knox and Joan Marmo 
Margot and Danny McCaul 
Wade A. Rakes II & Nicholas Miller
USI Insurance Services 

Generous support is also provided by

Alfred and Adele Davis Exhibition Endowment Fund, Anne Cox Chambers Exhibition Fund, Barbara Stewart Exhibition Fund, Dorothy Smith Hopkins Exhibition Endowment Fund, Eleanor McDonald Storza Exhibition Endowment Fund, The Fay and Barrett Howell Exhibition Fund, Forward Arts Foundation Exhibition Endowment Fund, Helen S. Lanier Endowment Fund, John H. and Wilhelmina D. Harland Exhibition Endowment Fund, Katherine Murphy Riley Special Exhibition Endowment Fund, Margaretta Taylor Exhibition Fund, and the RJR Nabisco Exhibition Endowment Fund.