Reconstructing Queen Amanishakheto’s Musical Instruments

Susanne Gänsicke, Senior Conservator and ​​Head of Antiquities Conservation, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Double reed pipes, known as auloi, were popular musical instruments in the ancient Mediterranean. In 1921, archaeologists exploring the necropolis of Meroë (northern Sudan)—as part of the Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition—found a large collection of auloi in the pyramid of Nubian Queen Amanishakheto. Susanne Gänsicke will discuss the discovery’s importance and what it reveals about the connections between Nubia and the Mediterranean world as well as the significance of far-reaching musical traditions. She will also share recent efforts to conserve and reconstruct these ancient musical instruments.

Presented by the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East and the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture