Marija Rudzinskaitė-Arcimavičienė and the beginnings of egyptology in Lithuania

• Leidėjo tinklalapis: knygos tekstas

ENThe year 1922 was marked not only by the centenary of the decipherment of the ancient Egyptian writing system and the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, but also by the beginnings of Egyptology in the young independent state of Lithuania. In that year, Marija Rudzinskaitė-Arcimavičienė (1885-1941), the first Lithuanian Egyptologist and a former student of Russian Egyptologist Prof. B. Turaev, began to teach the history of ancient Near East and Egyptian hieroglyphs at the University of Lithuania in Kaunas. She visited Egypt three times, leaving fascinating descriptions of her travels, attended several meetings of the International Congress of Orientalists, and was in close contact with various Egyptologists, especially with B. Turaev, G. Loukianoff, V. Golenischeff, and A.G. Reisner. This contribution discusses the achievements, projects and publications of this extraordinary woman, almost unknown to the wider academic audience abroad, in light of current research. The study of her life, legacy, and ancient Egyptian antiquities from her collection, now curated at the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art in Kaunas, still goes on. Keywords: history of egyptology, museum collections, Lithuania, university studies, antiquities trade, travels to Egypt.