Rita E. Freed at The Harvard Bookstore with Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Harvard Book Store welcomes Rita E. Freed—art historian and archaeologist specializing in ancient Egyptian and Nubian art—for a discussion of her new book, Ancient Nubian Art: A History. She will be joined in conversation by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.—award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, and institution builder, and the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. 

About Ancient Nubian Art

Lushly illustrated with stunning artifacts, this volume is the first comprehensive and accessible publication to explore the art, architecture, and material culture of ancient Nubia.

Kings and queens of Nubia reigned over one of the largest empires in the ancient world and had contacts extending north to Greece and Rome, south to sub-Saharan Africa, east to the Red Sea, and west across much of the Sahel. Even a quick look at Nubia’s artifacts reveals the incredible creativity of its artists, architects, craftspeople, and thinkers. Unfortunately, the achievements of ancient Nubia are little known to the public and are often viewed as a subculture, a derivative offshoot of Egypt, Nubia’s northern neighbor. Nothing could be further from the truth. During its over eight-thousand-year lifespan (beginning around 8000 BCE), Nubia indelibly shaped the art and architecture of the ancient world, an influence still felt today.

Ancient Nubian Art is the first comprehensive and accessible treatment of Nubian artistic culture and showcases its vast range—from ceramics, sculptures, and jewelry to tombs, temples, and palaces. Rita E. Freed, curator emerita at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which has the largest collection of Nubian artifacts outside the Nile Valley, contextualizes the development of Nubian art against a vivid backdrop of kingship, power, worship, identity, gender, technology, and internationalism. Her text is accompanied by a foreword by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and sidebars by expert voices from the field.

Praise for Ancient Nubian Art

“If I could have only one book on Nubia, Ancient Nubian Art would be it. Beautifully written, exquisitely designed and illustrated, this publication makes the long, complicated history of Nubian art approachable. It’s just what was needed.”
—Bob Brier, Senior Research Fellow, Long Island University, and author of Tutankhamun and the Tomb that Changed the World

“Rita Freed’s Ancient Nubian Art brings Nubian civilization out of Egypt’s shadow, celebrating its unique cultural identity. Even in moments of Egyptian influence, Freed highlights how Nubians adapted these elements, yielding insights into their sensibilities and beliefs. Written in a clear and highly accessible style, this book makes an important contribution to the field. A valuable resource for educators, academics, and general readers.”
—Stuart Tyson Smith, Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara

“Finally, a book on the visual cultures of ancient Nubia! It is even more valuable because it is written by a scholar who has spent decades working with the Nubian collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The author’s focus on the sensual and aesthetic qualities of Nubian artifacts provides strikingly new perspectives on this distinctive set of cultures of sub-Saharan Africa.”
—Geoff Emberling, Research Scientist, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan

Bios

Rita E. Freed is an art historian and archaeologist specializing in ancient Egyptian and Nubian art. When not researching Nubia as a Hutchins Fellow at Harvard University, she teaches Egyptian and Nubian art at Wellesley College.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. An award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, and institution builder, Professor Gates has authored numerous books, including most recently Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow and The Black Church, and has created more than twenty documentary films, including his groundbreaking genealogy series Finding Your Roots. His six-part PBS documentary, The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross, earned an Emmy Award, a Peabody Award, and an NAACP Image Award. This series and his PBS documentary series Reconstruction: America after the Civil War were both honored with the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award. His most recent PBS documentary is Gospel.