Ancient Egyptian tattooed mummies // A secret ancient tunnel // 4,000-year-old petroglyphs vandalized // Art spending at new high!

Hello everyone. Welcome back to Buy Amara. This is a weekly news show where I discuss contemporary events in the art and history fields.

I'm your host and personal curator, Amara Andrew. The format for the show that we typically follow is one used by Western brides, traditionally speaking, something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. This week though it's going to be oldies week, <laughter> woo!

That's </laughter> right, we are going to have three something olds and one something new. So a lot of old shit happened. It's really cool and exciting.

So, yeah, this week we're going to be discussing ancient Egyptian tattoos, a secret ancient tunnel ancient tunnel, <laughter> <snicker> <chuckle> </laughter> </snicker> </chuckle> that was hard to say, the vandalization of a 4,000-year-old archaeological site, and good news if you're a struggling artist. All that coming up on this episode of Buy Amara.

Let's get to it. So I have two updates for this week. I'm very excited about both of these, so let's just dive right into them.

In episode three I discussed the Paul G. Allen art collection that was going up for auction at Christie's in November. It happened! <laughter> <giggle> <snicker> <chuckle> </laughter> </giggle> </snicker> </chuckle> The auction was held from November 9th to the 10th, and I have some of the results for you.

The auction was slated to fetch $1 billion making it a very, very, very expensive private art collection. So that was like the estimate. The estimate was that everything that was sold, I think it was about 150 or so works, that would all fetch $1 billion cumulatively.

Well <laughter> <chuckle> </laughter> </chuckle> so like I said the auction was split into two separate parts, November 9th and November 10th. On November 9th it surpassed the $1 billion mark, meaning that over $1 billion was sold on that day. That is wild, like that is so crazy.

The total is $1,506,386,000. Shit ton of money! <laughter> </laughter> Because of this super high ticket price just for the first day, this was the most valuable private auction, private collection, excuse me, in history. There were even five paintings in this auction that achieved over $100 million or brought in over $100 million just for the one piece.

So these five paintings were "La Montagne Sainte-Victoire" by Paul Cézanne, that fetched $130,790,000. Vincent van Gogh's "Verger avec cyprès" fetched $117,180,000. Gustav Klimt's "Birch Forest" garnered $104,585,000.

"Maternité II" from Paul Gauguin, sold for $105,730,000. And the star of the show which was my favorite piece, which I talked about in the episode three, it was the Georges Seurat painting "Les Poseuses, Ensemble" petite version that sold for over $149 million. Not to pat myself on the back, but I chose the most expensive piece from the auction that I loved. <laughter> <snicker> <chuckle> </laughter> </snicker> </chuckle> It was also very widely publicized, too, so that's probably just it.

It was just latent in my brain, and I was like, "Oh, I've seen this everywhere. I should think that this is really popular and really cool." Anyway, the Georges Seurat painting was the most expensive one at this auction, which is just wild to me. So like I said, the auction was split between two days, so on November 10th, the second day and final day of the auction, 95 additional artworks were sold, and the total from that day was $115,863,500.

Not nearly the same amount as, the first day, but still not bad. <laughter> <snicker> <chuckle> So, </laughter> </snicker> </chuckle> for both parts of the auction, all sales totaled $1,622,249,500. That is a shit ton of money. Like I mentioned in episode three, all the proceeds allegedly are being donated to philanthropy.

I have no fucking idea what that even means or like it's It's probably intentionally vague, but anyway, almost $2 billion is what this entire Paul G. Allen art collection fetched, which is just bonkers to me. But we'll talk more about the art market later on, so stay tuned.

The second update I have for you is regarding the climate protesters that have been throwing shit all over all these famous artworks. Ever since I recorded that episode, it was episode eight, this is now episode 10, many other artworks have been targeted/ruined. Because of this, the International Council of Museums, or the ICOM, has released a statement that was signed by more than 90 museum leaders throughout the world, primarily Europe and the United States, but basically this statement is just telling these activists to knock it the fuck off. <laughter> <snicker> <chuckle> So </laughter> </snicker> </chuckle> part of the statement reads, quote, "Museums are places where people from a wide variety of backgrounds can engage in dialogue and which therefore enable social discourse.

In this sense, the core tasks of the museum as an institution, collecting, researching, sharing, and preserving, are now more relevant than ever. We will continue to advocate for direct access to our cultural heritage, and we will maintain the museum as a free space for social communication." There's a lot more to say in their press release, but basically they were just like, "What are you doing?

Stop doing this. It's our job as leaders in the museum field to take care of these things, and now you're like going against that." And like I went on my little tirade in episode eight, I do think making work for people that aren't directly, directly related to the situation I think is a really weird, messed up kind of thing to do.

It would be like if you're pissed off about gas prices and then you walk into McDonald's and you're pouring milkshakes all over the cash registers or something. I know the monetary value is very, very different, but it's just weird. There's like a huge disconnect there for me and totally support people protesting and advocating for whatever they believe in, like I think that's awesome and kudos to you for like getting out there and doing it.

It just does not make sense. I'm not going to go on another tirade, so TLDR for this update: People are doing stupid things still, and a lot of art nerds are freaked out. <laughter> <snicker> <chuckle> </laughter> </snicker> </chuckle> Those are just my two updates. So now let's get into the show.

So like I said, it's oldies week! <laughter> <chuckle> And </laughter> </chuckle> this week we are starting with a, paper that was published in the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. This is really fascinating. This is about ancient Egyptian mummies with tattoos.

So these two ancient Egyptian mummies were found in the ancient town called Deir el-Medina, and apologies for mispronunciation as always, located near the Nile in Egypt. Prior research So this ancient town, I think it was found in the 1920s or something like that, which when it was like the heyday of Egyptomania and <laughter> <snicker> <chuckle> people </laughter> </snicker> </chuckle> were just fucking running wild and destroying things and doing really shitty things and looting Egypt and all those kind of things.

So this ancient town was rediscovered, I'll say, around that time, and researchers have been able to pinpoint that this ancient town was active from the years 1550 BCE to 1070 BCE. The town was neatly planned out and had streets and homes, so it kind of shows that there was like a system to the society and everything, which is really cool.

So there were two mummies, like I said. One had already been Since both of these were looted, one was already looted and had already been unwrapped, which that practice does not happen anymore, thank God, cause that is absolutely horrible to unwrap these mummies. But one of them unfortunately was unwrapped.

While looking at the revealed skin, researchers found evidence of a tattoo, and not just one, it was kind of this whole set of tattoos, not Seth the ancient god, but set, <laughter> <chuckle> like a complete </laughter> </chuckle> set. <laughter> <giggle> <chuckle> </laughter> </giggle> </chuckle> So they were able to make out a bowl, a purification ritual, and a depiction of Bes, an Egyptian god whose role is to protect like women and children, particularly during childbirth, which is so cool.

The second mummy, thankfully, was still wrapped. So researchers actually used infrared photography to see the body within the wrappings, and they found another tattoo! This mummy though was of another woman.

She was slightly older than the previous mummy. Her tattoo was a wedjat, or the Eye of Horus, and she also showed Bes, but this time he's wearing his feather crown in addition to these figures on her skin. There's also a zigzag line that was beneath these figures, which likely represented a marsh.

I did not know this, I'm not an expert at all in childbirthing or rearing, I it's not my forte, I will just put it like that. <laughter> <snicker> <chuckle> </laughter> </snicker> </chuckle> So apparently in parts of ancient Egypt, I'm not I don't know what years or where, so don't get mad at me, <laughter> <chuckle> </laughter> </chuckle> but women would go give birth by the marsh because it was cooler.

That is so genius. Like it makes total sense, cause if you're sweating up a storm and being ripped apart by this evil little baby, <laughter> <giggle> <snicker> <chuckle> you </laughter> </giggle> </snicker> </chuckle> want to you want to have a better time. So given these context clues, it's believed that these women got these tattoos to protect them during childbirth.

So I'm very curious to hear if these women maybe lived through childbirth or unfortunately if they did pass because of childbirth. I cannot wait to hear more about this. I think it's really interesting.

I've never like I said I never have thought about birthing rituals or ceremonies or anything, like just in general, but especially in the ancient world, I just it hasn't been something that's come up for me. So I can't wait to hear more about this. I really love the symbolism, and I think it's really neat.

We should bring that back. <laughter> <giggle> <chuckle> </laughter> </giggle> </chuckle>

We got lots of ancient Egyptian news today. <laughter> <chuckle> </laughter> </chuckle> So in addition to those really cool mummies, we're also going to be talking about a secret tunnel that was found. This secret tunnel was found under the Taposiris Magna, which was a temple dedicated to Osiris, the god of the dead, and this temple is located in Alexandria.

It's like right basically on the beach, I would say, just like right by the ocean. That will be important in a second. So the tunnel that was found underneath this temple is 13 m, or about 43 ft, below the surface of the earth.

It's supposedly 1,300 m long, or a little over 1,300 m long, which is almost a mile, <laughter> <chuckle> </laughter> </chuckle> I'm doing the conversions for my American compatriots as well as me. And the tunnel measures about 2 m high, or about 7 ft. So it's a, like human-shaped walkway almost in a way.

Near the temple two alabaster heads were also found, one of a person from the Ptolemaic era and then one that's a statue of a Sphinx. According to the head of the mission, Dr. Kathleen Martins, the architectural design is similar to one in Greece called the Eupalinos Tunnel, and that tunnel actually served as an aqueduct, which is really neat.

So that might provide some context to this specific little, tunnel that was just found, little, <laughter> <chuckle> this </laughter> </chuckle> massive tunnel that was just found. So apparently, and I'm bringing up the sea again right now, apparently there were at least 23 different earthquakes that hit Egypt between 320 CE and 1303 CE.

So because of this succession of earthquakes, the temple, like on the earth's surface, collapsed, and then part of the aqueduct underneath, underground, that flooded with the Mediterranean Sea, cause it's like literally like right there. So what's really cool about this tunnel, besides just existing, which is really neat, and maybe even being an aqueduct, is that there's a lot of pottery that was found along the tunnel route, as well as coins depicting Cleopatra VII and Alexander the Great, and like a bunch of different statues, too.

So as, archaeologists are in there, excavators are in there, they'll be able to pull this stuff out of the tunnel, which will be really cool to see. It's also believed, possibly, that the temple on top of this tunnel may have the necropolis of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony. That would be really cool.

I am trying to not have high hopes for things cause, we still haven't heard about Nefertiti's hidden tomb yet by Zahi Hawass, but we'll see. So hopefully we'll be able to see if this actually is the necropolis for Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony, and also what this tunnel like what the function of it was. So that'll be really neat.

I'm also curious to hear what years it was active, and all that jazz, but time will tell. We'll find out. <laughter> <chuckle> </laughter> </chuckle>

Okay, so we're on our final something old. We are going to discuss, for our final story, the White River Narrows in Nevada. This is just about 2 hours north of Vegas.

This area has the largest concentration of prehistoric rock art in Nevada and has 4,000-year-old petroglyphs. This area is protected by the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, which essentially calls for the punishment of vandalism or looting of archaeological sites on public land. On September 14th and October 8th, 2019, so two separate dates, two people vandalized these ancient petroglyphs in White River Narrows.

So the first guy painted a, roughly, a 20-ft-long tag of his name, Cluer, C-L-U-E-R, on a rock panel. The second person, painted smaller tags of his name, Velor, V-E-L-O-R, in multiple different places throughout the site. I don't know what would possess you to do this to ancient sites, but, yeah, trying to reserve my judgment a little bit, cause I don't know what their thought process was.

So why I'm bringing this up is because both of these guys were sentenced on November 4th. They did not receive long enough punishment, in my opinion. So the guy who spray-painted his 20-ft-long tag was sentenced to a year and a day in prison, which I'm always like, why a year and a day, why not just year? <laughter> <giggle> Whatever. </laughter> </giggle> and then the other guy who had tagged his name all over the place, he was only sentenced to 4 months in prison and then 8 months of in-home, like, home stay, <laughter> <chuckle> </laughter> </chuckle> at-home confinement, that's what they call it, at-home confinement. <laughter> <snicker> <chuckle> So </laughter> </snicker> </chuckle> he was sentenced to 4 months in prison and 8 months of at-home confinement, which is like nothing in my mind.

I mean, it's still a year, but I think there needs to be harsher punishment for defacing historic monuments and landscapes like this, because this is a s- like a sacred site, a religious site, just a site that has meaning to it, and that's really weird and really gross. Just like digging up people in, ancient Egypt, like just leave them the fuck alone.

Let them lay there. What are you doing? I get that it's interesting to study, and it helps us know the ancient world and the world better in certain customs and things, and maybe modern, like it could help with help with things in the modern period, but I'm very much just like, just leave something like it is.

Leave it how it was. Leave it how somebody made it or intended it to be and don't touch it. So thankfully these two are going to receive some sort of jail time.

I don't think it's enough, but I'm not the judge, so they got off easy in my opinion.

Good news! If you are a financially struggling artist, then there actually might be hope for you. <laughter> That's right. </laughter> according to a new report by UBS, which is like a wealth management, investment banking kind of company, and Art Basel, the demand by art collectors and high net worth individuals has skyrocketed post-pandemic.

And they defined high net worth meaning people with at least $1 million in investable assets. This report that was titled "A Survey of Global Collecting in 2022" claims that imports and exports of art around the world has increased by 41% and 38% between 2020 and 2021, respectively. So it's just been climbing steadily.

Spending on art by collectors has also increased around the globe. In 2020 the median spending by collectors, and this in this study it just included Europe, the US, and then Asia, was previously reported as $100,000. So 2020, $100,000.

The following year, 2021, the number had risen to $164,000. So $100,000 up to $164,000. Now in 2022, this number is now $180,000.

So that is an $80,000 jump in just 2 years. So pay attention to when people are buying art, because there's something that you need to pay attention to. I'm not an economist, I have no idea.

Don't follow me for financial advice, my god, help yourself. <laughter> <snicker> <chuckle> </laughter> </snicker> </chuckle> Just pay attention, I guess, is what we can learn from that. So not only are people spending more regularly in the art market, but they're also buying art at higher price points. 23% of collectors reported regularly buying works over a $1 million.

What is also interesting about this, too, is that art collectors are getting, they're they're closing the gender disparity gap a little bit more as well. While most collectors still lean toward, like, male artists at about 58%, women artists are now being represented at about 42% in people's collections. Still have a lot of work, and then they also didn't include any, you know, ethnicity or race categories within their study that I saw.

If there was, I did not see it, so apologies. So that would also be interesting to see. I know that, you know, the art market is still very much white guy centric.

So hopefully we're kind of breaking these barriers down a little bit and making it a more inclusive place. Looking at these numbers, it's very interesting to see that people who are extremely wealthy are buying, like, a lot of art and looking for these investment pieces. So do what you want with that information.

I don't really know what to do with it, <laughter> <snicker> <chuckle> so </laughter> </snicker> </chuckle> just FYI. Keep an eye on that and maybe buy some of your investments while the market is down. That is my $0.02.

Those are my $0.02. You know I struggle with that. I don't know, I'm not a financier, so you do whatever you want to do. <laughter> <giggle> <chuckle> </laughter> </giggle> </chuckle> But if you are a young artist, do not stop, keep making art.

You will get somewhere, I promise. It might not be exactly where you thought you were going to be, but you will get somewhere. So hopefully that can be a little bit of solace for you as you are engaging and embarking on this journey.

So don't let anybody stop you from making art. Okay, so that'll do it for this episode of Buy Amara. Thanks so much for watching and/or listening.

Be sure to like the video if you're watching on YouTube, subscribe both wherever you get your podcasts and also on YouTube. I really appreciate you. And yeah, just keep making stuff, keep being awesome, and that'll do it for this episode. <laughter> <chuckle> Okay, </laughter> </chuckle> so I'm Amara Andrew, and never stop creating.