National Museum of African Art
950 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC
Forty objects celebrate the wealth and artistic traditions of Kerma, the oldest city in Africa outside Egypt that has been excavated. Kerma (located in present-day Sudan) was the capital of the kingdom known to the ancient Egyptians as Kush. Incredibly thin ceramics, colorful jewelry, and a variety of small ivory inlays in the shape of animals are among the objects that reveal Kerma's wealth and artistic traditions.
All objects are on long-term loan from the permanent collection of the Harvard University Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. Objects in this exhibition were excavated under the direction of George A. Reisner (1867-1942) between 1913 and 1916.
