{{Short description|Egyptian shrine}} [[File:Shrine of Taharqa viewed from the south east corner.JPG|thumb|right|The Shrine of Taharqa in the Ashmolean museum viewed from the south east corner]] The '''Shrine of Taharqa''' is an Egyptian shrine commissioned by the pharaoh [[Taharqa]] in the early part of the 7th century BC. It was located in [[Kawa, Sudan|Kawa]], which falls within the borders of present day Sudan, but since 1936 has been kept in the [[Ashmolean Museum]] in [[Oxford]], England.<ref name=guner>{{cite news |last=Guner |first=Fisun |date=25 November 2011 |title=Art Gallery: Egyptian and Nubian Galleries, Ashmolean Museum |url=https://theartsdesk.com/visual-arts/art-gallery-egyptian-and-nubian-galleries-ashmolean-museum |work=The Arts Desk |location= |access-date=18 May 2024 |archive-date=18 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518113532/https://theartsdesk.com/visual-arts/art-gallery-egyptian-and-nubian-galleries-ashmolean-museum |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Kirwan200 />
==Description== The shrine was originally built within a large temple dedicated to [[Amun-Re]].<ref name=Hanna /> It appears to have been constructed at the same time as the rest of the temple.<ref name=Armstrong />
The shrine has four outer walls engraved with images of Taharqa interacting with various gods.<ref name=Armstrong /> On two of them he is depicted with Amun-Re along with the gods of [[Gematen]] on the western side and [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] on the eastern side.<ref name=Armstrong /> The depiction of Amun-Re on the western side was painted blue, as was typical of the period, whereas the depiction on the eastern side was not.<ref name=Armstrong /> The southern side depicts gods associated with [[Heliopolis (ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]] while the northern side carries depictions of gods associated with [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]].<ref name=Armstrong /> The shrine is 2.3 meters tall and about 4 meters by 4 meters.<ref name=Ashmolean>{{cite web |title=Shrine of Taharqa |url=https://www.ashmolean.org/collections-online#/item/ash-object-746340 |website=ashmolean.org |publisher=Ashmolean Museum |access-date=24 March 2025}}</ref>
==History== [[File:Heathcote 07 73 Shrine of Taharqa.jpg|thumb|right|The Shrine in situ at Kawa]] The shrine was built in or shortly after 684 BC under the rule of the pharaoh [[Taharqa]].<ref name=Hanna /><ref name=Macadam61>{{cite book |last=Macadam |first=M. F. Laming |date=1955 |title=The Temples of Kawa II. History and Archaeology of the Site |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=61 }}</ref> A neighbouring shrine was added in the 6th century BC under the rule of the pharaoh [[Aspelta]].<ref name=Armstrong>{{cite journal |last=Armstrong |first=Caroline H |title=The Two Non-Blue Amuns of the Shrine of Taharqa at Kawa |journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology |publisher=SAGE Publications |volume=101 |issue=1 |year=2015 |issn=0307-5133 |doi=10.1177/030751331510100109 |pages=177–195 }}</ref>
Westerners became aware of the broader temple site in the late 19th century.<ref name=Kirwan200 /> Small digs were carried out in 1929 and 1930 and an extensive excavation began 22 November 1930.<ref name=Kirwan200>{{cite journal |last=Kirwan |first=L. P. |title=Preliminary Report of the Oxford University Excavations at Kawa, 1935-1936 |journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology |volume=22 |issue=2 |date=1936 |doi=10.2307/3854627 |pages=200–211 |jstor=3854627 }}</ref> These digs exposed the remains of the buildings to the weather and they started to decay.<ref name=Kirwan210 /> The carved walls of the shrine along with the Wall of Aspelta were removed from the site in 1936 with the permission of the Sudanese government while other carvings were transferred to [[Khartoum]] with the aim of protecting them from further decay.<ref name=Kirwan210 /><ref name=Hanna /> The blocks were removed by building sand ramps up the side of the shrine and then moving them to the ground on rollers.<ref name=Kirwan210 /> They were then coated in a solution of [[nitrocellulose]] in [[amyl acetate]] and [[acetone]], as a lacquer to help preserve the blocks' surface integrity, before being transported to the Ashmolean Museum in 233 cases.<ref name=Kirwan210 /><ref name=Hanna /> This process took about a month to complete.<ref name=Kirwan210>{{cite journal |last=Kirwan |first=L. P. |title=Preliminary Report of the Oxford University Excavations at Kawa, 1935-1936 |journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology |volume=22 |issue=2 |date=1936 |doi=10.2307/3854627 |pages=210–211 |jstor=3854627 }}</ref>
===At the Ashmolean=== [[File:Shrine of Taharqa north wall.JPG|thumb|right|The north wall of the shrine]] Once at the Ashmolean a further layer of nitrocellulose was applied to the stones.<ref name=Hanna /> A brick structure was built to cover the interior faces of the shrine.<ref name=Hanna /> It was then plastered with the plaster being coated with black paint.<ref name=Hanna /> The shrine was protected from rising damp by a layer of bitumen.<ref name=Hanna />
By the 1960s the nitrocellulose had started to decay and in 1968 it was removed from most of the shrine and replaced with a layer of [[paraffin wax]].<ref name=Hanna>{{cite journal |last1=Hanna |first1=Seamus |last2=Norman |first2=Mark |title=The cleaning and removal of surface coatings from a seventh century BC sandstone shrine from Nubia |journal=Studies in Conservation |volume=35 |issue=sup1 |date=1990 |issn=0039-3630 |doi=10.1179/sic.1990.35.s1.006 |pages=23–27 }}</ref> The remaining nitrocellulose was removed in the 1980s with the paint being stabilised with [[Paraloid B-72]].<ref name=Hanna /> Prior to the 2000s rebuilding work the interior of the shine was used for storage by the museum.<ref name=Kennedy />
Due to the shrine's weight, it was not moved when the gallery housing it was rebuilt and, since November 2011, the shrine has been on display to the public in the museum's refurbished Egyptian and Nubian galleries.<ref name=guner /><ref name=Atkinson>{{cite news|last=Atkinson |first=Rebecca |date=24 November 2011|title=New galleries planned at Ashmolean |url=https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2011/11/24112911-further-redevelopment-planned-ashmolean/ |work=Museums Journal |access-date=13 August 2024 }}</ref> It is displayed with a sculpture of Taharqa loaned by the Southampton museum service visible inside.<ref name=Kennedy>{{cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Maev |date=23 November 2011 |title=Ashmolean returns Ancient Egyptian mummies to public view in £5m show |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/nov/23/ashmolean-returns-ancient-egyptian-mummies-public-view |work=The Guardian |publisher=Guardian News & Media Limited |access-date=28 March 2025}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== {{commons category|Shrine of Taharqa}} *[https://www.ashmolean.org/collections-online#/item/ash-object-746340 Ashmolean museum catalogue entry] {{Coord|51.75525|-1.26064|display=title}} [[Category:Collection of the Ashmolean Museum]] [[Category:7th-century BC religious buildings and structures]] [[Category:Shrines]] [[Category:Taharqa]]