IFAO

A new series of lectures in hybrid mode offered by the French Section of the Sudan Directorate of Antiquities.  The 1^st lecture features Elsa Yvanez, associate professor of archaeology at the University of Copenhagen. The lecture will be held at Ifao, Thursday March 21^st at 2 p.m. It is open to the public in person and for remote attendance live on  the YouTube channel of the Ifao.

Abstract :

Thanks to the arid climate of the Nile’s desert fringes, archaeologists working in Egypt and Sudan are often faced with large quantities of preserved organic remains, including textile and animal skin artefacts. In Sudan, more than a century of excavations has provided us with thousands of examples of garments, mainly found reused in the grave as body wrappings. Combined with iconography, this material can give us a precious insight on past dress practices and their economic and socio-cultural importance.

This is the general premise of the Fashioning Sudan project (ERC StG 101039416), started in 2022 at the University of Copenhagen, with the support of the Sudanese National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums and the Section Française de la Direction des Antiquités du Soudan. The project studies garments made of textile and animal skin, dated from the A-Group (c. 3000 BCE) to the Medieval period (c. 1500 CE). This long time frame allows us to track changes in the use of raw material, craft techniques, and garment types, as well as observe the shifting of dress practices and their significance.

On the re-opening of the SFDAS in the premises of the Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale in Cairo, this conference aims at highlighting the rich potential of textile and animal skin artefact to study past identities. After presenting the project’s main research lines, we will explore the different sensory dimensions of garments. Sudanese archaeology has traditionally focused on large scale studies – centered on a full site or region – and often documenting royal or temple contexts. Instead, our approach is resolutely centered on the daily experiences of the individual. By observing the sensory qualities of fibres, skins, and garments, we can ask different questions about the body: What were the visual, thermic, haptic and auditory characteristics of garments? How did it feel to cover the body with a specific garment? How did the covered areas relate to the areas of the body left exposed? How did garments affect the movements of the wearer? We invite the audience to explore these different themes with us, taking many examples of preserved archaeological garments as our starting point.

Les conférences de la SFDAS

Un cycle de conférences en mode hybride proposé par la Section française de la Direction des Antiquités du Soudan.  Ces conférences sont ouvertes au public et à distance en direct sur la chaîne YouTube de l'Ifao.

A series of lectures in hybrid mode offered by the French Section of the Sudan Directorate of Antiquities.  Lectures are open to the public in person and for remote attendance live on  the YouTube channel of the Ifao.