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Our Dark Materials: Rediscovering an Egyptian Collection

N. D. Kyticas

N. D. Kyticas has not been identified. However, other members of the Kyticas family were known antiquities dealers in Cairo. Panayotis Kyticas was a well-connected Greek antiquities dealer operating in Cairo, Egypt during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He specialized in Greek and Roman period Egyptian items. Kyticas's shop was advantageously located next to the famous Shepheard's Hotel and operating as early as 1879. His son Denis Panayotis Kyticas took over his father's business when Panayotis died in 1924. Émile Brugsch served as an intermediary between Kyticas and Jane Stanford. Stanford's Kyticas collection was authenticated in 1901 by Gaston Maspero, who judged it to be “worthy to be exhibited in any Museum of Europe or America." In 1917, Archibald Sayce also pronounced it a fine collection, although unfortunately seriously damaged by the 1906 earthquake.

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This coffin covering was intended to protect the remains of a woman—likely named Senchalanthos—for eternity. What remains after the 1906 earthquake flattened Stanford’s museum is a puzzle of missing pieces, never to be completed. Among hundreds of fragments, we find: bright flower-shaped patterns, depictions of four funerary gods, and writing scrawled onto the cartonnage. The Demotic inscription reads: “May her name be rejuvenated every day.” In recognizing her name in this exhibit, we hope to rejuvenate her spirit.
These fragments preserve the image of an unknown individual in their ultimate, mummified state. Per artistic convention, the thick linear pattern, seen on both the mask and larger surrounding fragments, symbolizes the bandage wrappings encompassing the deceased. It likely framed other designs, including of the sister goddesses Iris and Nephthys. Although now divorced from the body, this cartonnage revitalizes the deceased through the pictorial and symbolic representations of them in life, death, and afterlife.
These fragments preserve the image of an unknown individual in their ultimate, mummified state. Per artistic convention, the thick linear pattern, seen on both the mask and larger surrounding fragments, symbolizes the bandage wrappings encompassing the deceased. It likely framed other designs, including of the sister goddesses Iris and Nephthys. Although now divorced from the body, this cartonnage revitalizes the deceased through the pictorial and symbolic representations of them in life, death, and afterlife.
Despite lacking provenance, these fragments provide significant interpretive possibility. They show the layout and ritual scenes typical of yellow-varnished coffins. White linen robes and a leopard’s-fur wrap identify the disembodied figures as priests. Hieroglyphs run along flat, abstract surfaces. They suggest the formulaic “[Osiris] ruler-of-eternity” and reference the heart, seat of intelligence, memory, and action. Painted plaster has given way to fractured wood. Originally unseen, the fragments now invite us to study construction, materiality, and socioeconomic context.
Despite lacking provenance, these fragments provide significant interpretive possibility. They show the layout and ritual scenes typical of yellow-varnished coffins. White linen robes and a leopard’s-fur wrap identify the disembodied figures as priests. Hieroglyphs run along flat, abstract surfaces. They suggest the formulaic “[Osiris] ruler-of-eternity” and reference the heart, seat of intelligence, memory, and action. Painted plaster has given way to fractured wood. Originally unseen, the fragments now invite us to study construction, materiality, and socioeconomic context.

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(1842-1930)
The Egyptologist Émile Brugsch served as assistant curator of the Boulaq Museum in Luxor, Egypt, under Gaston Maspero. Brugsch later became Director of the museum, which eventually moved to Cairo to form the core collection of the current Egyptian Museum. Brugsch's older brother, Heinrich Brugsch, was the more prominent Egyptologist. Émile Brugsch had been a saloon keeper in America, among other pursuits; his photographic skill was perhaps more relevant to his new profession in Egypt. He is known for his role as middleman between foreign collectors and Cairo-based dealers and museums with antiquities to sell. It is this role that connects him to Stanford: Émile Brugsch liaised between Jane Stanford and N. D. Kyticas and selected the antiquities included in that sale. Stanford may have met Brugsch through their mutual acquaintance, Chauncey Murch. Brugsch also sold her some of his wife's Egyptian collection. Brugsch was granted the honorific "Bey" by the government of Ottoman Egypt, an association so strong it is treated as part of his name in some of Stanford's records.
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1. Jane Lathrop Stanford
  (1828-1905)
  Jane Stanford supported her son Leland Stanford Jr.'s interest in archaeology and antiquities during his life and continued collecting in his memory after his death at the age of fifteen. When her husband, Leland Stanford, was alive, they both acquired and donated items from Egypt and other places for the Leland Stanford Junior Memorial University Museum. Her work continued after her husband's death, taking her on two trips to Egypt to network with dealers and acquire antiquities in person. Stanford's personal secretary, Bertha Berner, joined her for both trips: the first in 1901, the second in the winter of 1903/1904. Stanford worked closely with Harry Peterson, the first curator of the university's museum.
2. Heinrich Ferdinand Karl Brugsch
  (1827-1894)
  Heinrich Brugsch was a prominent early Egyptologist and linguist. He did pioneering work on the translation of hieroglyphic and Demotic languages and is considered a founder of the field of Egyptology. Through his influence, Heinrich Brugsch secured a curatorial appointment at the Boulaq Museum for his younger brother Émile Brugsch, despite the latter's lack of experience. Jane Stanford's future brother-in-law David Hewes met Heinrich Brugsch during his 1877 honeymoon in Egypt, when Brugsch advised Hewes and first wife Matilda Hewes on their collecting. Their souvenirs were eventually bequeathed to Stanford University by Hewes' second wife, Anna Hewes.
3. N. D. Kyticas N. D. Kyticas has not been identified. However, other members of the Kyticas family were known antiquities dealers in Cairo. Panayotis Kyticas was a well-connected Greek antiquities dealer operating in Cairo, Egypt during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He specialized in Greek and Roman period Egyptian items. Kyticas's shop was advantageously located next to the famous Shepheard's Hotel and operating as early as 1879. His son Denis Panayotis Kyticas took over his father's business when Panayotis died in 1924. Émile Brugsch served as an intermediary between Kyticas and Jane Stanford. Stanford's Kyticas collection was authenticated in 1901 by Gaston Maspero, who judged it to be “worthy to be exhibited in any Museum of Europe or America." In 1917, Archibald Sayce also pronounced it a fine collection, although unfortunately seriously damaged by the 1906 earthquake.
4. Chauncey Murch
  (1856-1907)
  Reverend Chauncey Murch was Director of the American Presbyterian Mission at Luxor, Egypt, for around 25 years. An antiquarian, collector, and middleman in the trade, he supplied Egyptian antiquities to museums and assisted private collectors during their time in Egypt. Jane Stanford and Bertha Berner met Murch and his family in Luxor in 1901, staying with them again in 1904. Murch served as a personal guide and helped Stanford select and aquire antiquities for the Stanford Museum. Murch later corresponded with Stanford. He served as an intermediary in her Egyptian collecting, introducing her to Émile Brugsch.
5. Gaston Camille Charles Maspero
  (1846-1916)
  Gaston Maspero was among the most powerful figures in early Egyptology. He served as Director of the Egyptian Museum, where Émile Brugsch was his assistant curator. He eventually became Director of the Antiquities Service, authorizing excavations by Bernard Grenfell, Arthur Hunt, William Petrie, Henri Naville, and many others. He also found time to write an encyclopedic history of Egyptian civilization, edited by linguist Archibald Sayce. He was known for his exceptional understanding of ancient Egyptian language and writing, as well as for his efforts to weaken the illegal trade in Egyptian antiquities. In 1901, Maspero authenticated the Stanford Museum's N. D. Kyticas collection, which Jane Stanford had purchased in 1901 in Cairo. Maspero judged them to be "worthy to be exhibited in any Museum of Europe or America."
6. Mrs. Émile Brugsch Mrs. Émile Brugsch was married to one of the most active figures in turn of the century Egyptology. She spent time in Egypt with her husband and was part of the scholarly social scene there, appearing in an 1881 travelogue as a party guest on a dahabeah (boat) on the Nile. She reportedly left Brugsch in the late 1890s. They may have repaired their relationship, or Émile Brugsch may have been a crafty salesman, as he wrote to Jane Stanford in 1901 that his wife "does not want to keep on buying, prices have gone up so high, and herself therefore having lost all pleasure." Brugsch sold 273 items from his wife's collection to Jane Lathrop Stanford for the University Museum in 1901. In a 1902 letter to Brugsch, Jane Stanford mentions "the illness" of Mrs. Brugsch and, perhaps knowingly, hopes they will be soon settled together again in their home in Cairo with "the peace of God in their hearts."
(1845-1933)
The Reverend Dr. Archibald Sayce was a noted Assyriologist, linguist, and Biblical archaeologist. He developed an interest in ancient Egyptian later in his career, wintering in Egypt for his health. Sayce went on to edit Director of Antiquities Gaston Maspero's multi-volume history of ancient Egypt. Sayce provided translations of hieroglyphic writing on a few items in Stanford's collection, including two canopic jars. In 1917, marking the lingering impact of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, he pronounced Stanford's N. D. Kyticas collection to be “very fine, though lamentably smashed up.”
Contents of this reply:
1. N. D. Kyticas N. D. Kyticas has not been identified. However, other members of the Kyticas family were known antiquities dealers in Cairo. Panayotis Kyticas was a well-connected Greek antiquities dealer operating in Cairo, Egypt during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He specialized in Greek and Roman period Egyptian items. Kyticas's shop was advantageously located next to the famous Shepheard's Hotel and operating as early as 1879. His son Denis Panayotis Kyticas took over his father's business when Panayotis died in 1924. Émile Brugsch served as an intermediary between Kyticas and Jane Stanford. Stanford's Kyticas collection was authenticated in 1901 by Gaston Maspero, who judged it to be “worthy to be exhibited in any Museum of Europe or America." In 1917, Archibald Sayce also pronounced it a fine collection, although unfortunately seriously damaged by the 1906 earthquake.
2. Gaston Camille Charles Maspero
  (1846-1916)
  Gaston Maspero was among the most powerful figures in early Egyptology. He served as Director of the Egyptian Museum, where Émile Brugsch was his assistant curator. He eventually became Director of the Antiquities Service, authorizing excavations by Bernard Grenfell, Arthur Hunt, William Petrie, Henri Naville, and many others. He also found time to write an encyclopedic history of Egyptian civilization, edited by linguist Archibald Sayce. He was known for his exceptional understanding of ancient Egyptian language and writing, as well as for his efforts to weaken the illegal trade in Egyptian antiquities. In 1901, Maspero authenticated the Stanford Museum's N. D. Kyticas collection, which Jane Stanford had purchased in 1901 in Cairo. Maspero judged them to be "worthy to be exhibited in any Museum of Europe or America."
(1846-1916)
Gaston Maspero was among the most powerful figures in early Egyptology. He served as Director of the Egyptian Museum, where Émile Brugsch was his assistant curator. He eventually became Director of the Antiquities Service, authorizing excavations by Bernard Grenfell, Arthur Hunt, William Petrie, Henri Naville, and many others. He also found time to write an encyclopedic history of Egyptian civilization, edited by linguist Archibald Sayce. He was known for his exceptional understanding of ancient Egyptian language and writing, as well as for his efforts to weaken the illegal trade in Egyptian antiquities. In 1901, Maspero authenticated the Stanford Museum's N. D. Kyticas collection, which Jane Stanford had purchased in 1901 in Cairo. Maspero judged them to be "worthy to be exhibited in any Museum of Europe or America."
Contents of this reply:
1. Jane Lathrop Stanford
  (1828-1905)
  Jane Stanford supported her son Leland Stanford Jr.'s interest in archaeology and antiquities during his life and continued collecting in his memory after his death at the age of fifteen. When her husband, Leland Stanford, was alive, they both acquired and donated items from Egypt and other places for the Leland Stanford Junior Memorial University Museum. Her work continued after her husband's death, taking her on two trips to Egypt to network with dealers and acquire antiquities in person. Stanford's personal secretary, Bertha Berner, joined her for both trips: the first in 1901, the second in the winter of 1903/1904. Stanford worked closely with Harry Peterson, the first curator of the university's museum.
2. N. D. Kyticas N. D. Kyticas has not been identified. However, other members of the Kyticas family were known antiquities dealers in Cairo. Panayotis Kyticas was a well-connected Greek antiquities dealer operating in Cairo, Egypt during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He specialized in Greek and Roman period Egyptian items. Kyticas's shop was advantageously located next to the famous Shepheard's Hotel and operating as early as 1879. His son Denis Panayotis Kyticas took over his father's business when Panayotis died in 1924. Émile Brugsch served as an intermediary between Kyticas and Jane Stanford. Stanford's Kyticas collection was authenticated in 1901 by Gaston Maspero, who judged it to be “worthy to be exhibited in any Museum of Europe or America." In 1917, Archibald Sayce also pronounced it a fine collection, although unfortunately seriously damaged by the 1906 earthquake.
3. Émile Charles Adalbert Brugsch
  (1842-1930)
  The Egyptologist Émile Brugsch served as assistant curator of the Boulaq Museum in Luxor, Egypt, under Gaston Maspero. Brugsch later became Director of the museum, which eventually moved to Cairo to form the core collection of the current Egyptian Museum. Brugsch's older brother, Heinrich Brugsch, was the more prominent Egyptologist. Émile Brugsch had been a saloon keeper in America, among other pursuits; his photographic skill was perhaps more relevant to his new profession in Egypt. He is known for his role as middleman between foreign collectors and Cairo-based dealers and museums with antiquities to sell. It is this role that connects him to Stanford: Émile Brugsch liaised between Jane Stanford and N. D. Kyticas and selected the antiquities included in that sale. Stanford may have met Brugsch through their mutual acquaintance, Chauncey Murch. Brugsch also sold her some of his wife's Egyptian collection. Brugsch was granted the honorific "Bey" by the government of Ottoman Egypt, an association so strong it is treated as part of his name in some of Stanford's records.
4. Bernard Pyne Grenfell
  (1869-1926)
  Bernard Grenfell was a pioneering papyrologist, specializing in the translation of ancient Egyptian writing systems. He trained under William Petrie and worked closely with Arthur Hunt to establish the field. They jointly led archaeological expeditions to recover papyri, including at the middle Egypt site of Bahnasa (Oxyrhynchus) on behalf of the Graeco-Roman Branch of the Egypt Exploration Society. Like many of its best provenanced Egyptian materials, Grenfell and Hunt's finds came to Stanford University through Timothy Hopkins' subscription to the EEF. Grenfell and Hunt's excavations were approved by Gaston Maspero, the influential Director of Egypt's Antiquities Service.
5. Arthur Surridge Hunt
  (1871-1934)
  Arthur Hunt was a pioneering papyrologist, specializing in the translation of ancient Egyptian writing systems. He worked closely with Bernard Grenfell to establish the field. They jointly led archaeological expeditions to recover papyri, including at the middle Egypt site of Bahnasa (Oxyrhynchus) on behalf of the Graeco-Roman Branch of the Egypt Exploration Society. Like many of its best provenanced Egyptian materials, Grenfell and Hunt's finds came to Stanford University through Timothy Hopkin's subscription to the EEF. Hunt and Grenfell's excavations were approved by Gaston Maspero, the influential Director of Egypt's Antiquities Service.
6. Henri Édouard Naville
  (1844-1926)
  The Swiss archaeologist Henri Naville was an important figure in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Egyptology. His field projects were supported by the Egypt Exploration Fund, for whom he worked after 1882 excavating and publishing on numerous significant sites, all approved by Antiquities Director Gaston Maspero. Naville was succeeded in this position by William Petrie. Items excavated by Naville, including from the famous mortuary site of Deir el-Bahari, came to Stanford thanks to Timothy Hopkins' EEF subscription.
7. Archibald Henry Sayce
  (1845-1933)
  The Reverend Dr. Archibald Sayce was a noted Assyriologist, linguist, and Biblical archaeologist. He developed an interest in ancient Egyptian later in his career, wintering in Egypt for his health. Sayce went on to edit Director of Antiquities Gaston Maspero's multi-volume history of ancient Egypt. Sayce provided translations of hieroglyphic writing on a few items in Stanford's collection, including two canopic jars. In 1917, marking the lingering impact of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, he pronounced Stanford's N. D. Kyticas collection to be “very fine, though lamentably smashed up.”
8. William Matthew Flinders Petrie
  (1853-1942)
  William Petrie is best known for advancing professional archaeological methods and championing the value of context and objects of daily life. Petrie is also noted for his early, and at the time unusual, interest in periods both before and after Pharaonic Egypt. He was a remarkably active excavator in Egypt (and elsewhere) over several decades, regularly collaborating with his wife Hilda Mary Isabel Urlin Petrie, a geologist and artist. From 1884-1886 and 1896-1905, William Petrie's field projects were supported by the Egypt Exploration Fund. Timothy Hopkins' generosity to the EEF brought items from Petrie's excavations to Stanford. Petrie's excavations were approved by Gaston Maspero, the influential Director of Egypt's Antiquities Services. From 1884-1886 and 1896-1905, Petrie worked for the Egypt Exploration Fund, following Édouard Naville in that role.

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(1842-1930)

(1845-1933)

(1846-1916)

Contents of this reply:

(1845-1933)

(1846-1916)