A Special Exhibition at the ISAC Museum

Opening April 16, 2026

Ancient Nubia, a region located along the Nile in what is today southern Egypt and northern Sudan, lived in symbiosis with animals. The Kushites were renowned throughout West Asia and North Africa as suppliers of animals and animal by-products, such as skins and ivory. They were also represented as such, whether in the context of bearing tribute or in scenes of presenting diplomatic gifts. Wild or domesticated, fantastic or realistic, hunted or feared, animals were depicted in temples and tombs, on the walls of palaces, on ceramics, and in the niches of houses. Companions of daily life, sources of artistic and religious inspiration, subjects of trade, familiar even in the afterlife, animals in the ancient world had their place at the top of society and power.

The upcoming ISAC Museum special exhibition A Bestiary of Ancient Nubia (April 16–August 16, 2026) will present a fascinating panorama of animals in ancient Nubia from the A-Group culture to the medieval period (3800 BCE–900 CE). From the lion to the crocodile, from the ibis to the ibex, from cattle to insects, the exhibition will be an original take on the history of the Nubian civilization, with unparalleled information and a keen sense of storytelling. This comprehensive anthology of Nubian animal art will be a world first, intended for all enthusiasts of Nubian civilization.

Check back soon for updates!
 

Image Details: (left) Photograph of the Great Enclosure of Musawwarat, Sudan, by Olivier Cabon, 2017, Soleb Éditions; (center) Facsimile of Nubians with a giraffe and a monkey, Tomb of Rekhmire in Thebes, Egypt, by Nina de Garis Davies (1881–1965), Rogers Fund, 1931, Metropolitan Museum of Art 31.6.40; (right) Lion-shaped furniture leg from Egypt/Sudan, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 1948, Brooklyn Museum 37.42E.