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Mumbai recently saw the opening of the first major archaeological exhibition to showcase the links between the world's ancient cultures from India. Using 300 selected archaeological objects, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) will tell exciting stories from the ancient cultures of India, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, Persia and China for three years. The change of perspective allows the loans from the Collection of Classical Antiquities and the Museum of the Ancient Near East to be viewed in a new context. In addition to the SPK, the British Museum and the Getty are also involved in the collaboration, which began in 2023 with the exhibition "Ancient Sculptures".

Marion Ackermann, President of the SPK, explains: "The Study Gallery of India and the Ancient World is an impressive example of international cooperation between museums and the dialogue that our world needs today more than ever. Through the jointly staged exhibition of our artefacts, we are initiating a meaningful exchange on several levels: Between the treasures in our collections, between the objects and a new audience, between our colleagues working on different continents."

The CSMVS has developed a comprehensive outreach programme for the exhibition: Universities and schools from all over India have been invited to teach history using artefacts. The museum has also equipped three buses with a mobile exhibition and copies of exhibits. The museum staff are using these to travel to the suburbs and to schools in the countryside. In this way, the exhibition also reaches people who would otherwise not have the opportunity to visit museums. The aim is not only to impart knowledge, but also to allow people to participate in artisanal techniques.

The Collection of Classical Antiquities of the National Museums in Berlin is participating in the exhibition with 28 objects; the Museum of the Ancient Near East with a further 24 pieces. This makes the SPK the second-largest lender to this important exhibition and educational project after the British Museum.

In contrast to what is customary in Western historiography, the new study gallery does not focus on the ancient civilisations in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, but instead looks at how India was involved in global development as a hub, both as a provider and as a recipient of influences. The exemplary juxtaposition of the cultures and the broad view that includes India and East Asia is an innovative, hitherto unique concept.

The exhibition focuses on the basics of human coexistence in a comparison of ancient cultures, such as agriculture and food preparation, life and death, dealing with the gods or the development of writing as one of the prerequisites for rule and for the emergence of the ancient empires. The chronological framework spans from the Indus culture, which developed around 5000 years ago, to the Gupta Empire in the 6th century A.D. The exhibition ends with the two most famous "universities" of antiquity, cosmopolitan centres of learning and knowledge: Nalanda in India and Alexandria in Greco-Roman Egypt.

Berlin loans

Highlights from the Collection of Classical Antiquities in the exhibition include the marble group of a ploughman with his team of oxen, an Etruscan alabaster urn, the funerary statue of a Roman boy and several painted vases depicting death rituals, war and labour. Several pieces of gold and precious stone jewellery provide evidence of the trade in valuable stones, among other things. Terracotta figurines and clay lamps in relief depict scenes from daily life.

The Museum of the Ancient Near East complemented the exhibition with important exhibits: Clay tablets and figurines, including a city map and a two-axle chariot, a game board, ceramic vessels, jewellery, amulets and two scroll seals. One focus is on the development of writing, starting with number stones and early clay tablets from the 4th millennium B.C., through to pupils' tablets and an Aramaic magic bowl from the first millennium A.D. Some exhibits provide evidence of an ancient writing system. Some exhibits impressively demonstrate the connections between Mesopotamia and the Indus civilisation as early as the 3rd millennium BC.

Further information on the CSMVS can be found at: https://csmvs.in/who-are-we/