In 2018-19 an exceptional Ptolemaic statue of a female temple musician was identified in the collections of Montrose Museum during a collections review conducted by National Museums Scotland. For the first time, the owner of this statue can be named and be placed in the context of her wider family. Meramuniotes’ family are represented in objects in museums across the world, highlighting a highly-important family in Ptolemaic Thebes. Her story is linked intimately to the life of the person who brought her to Scotland; the relative of the poet Robert Burns, surgeon, diplomat and scholar, Dr James Burnes. Details of his fascinating journey back to the UK from India, on one of the first commercial journeys through the Red Sea and his time in Cairo can also be told for the first time.
Come and hear about the lives of these two distinguished families, 2000 years apart, from 200 BC to 1834 and beyond.
Dr Daniel Potter received his BA and MA in Oriental Studies (Egyptology) from the University of Liverpool, before going on to complete his PhD at the same institution, focusing on Ramesside language. His other research interests include early Egyptology, John Garstang’s production of archaeological facsimiles and the representation of ancient Egypt in comics.
Daniel worked for two years as a Curatorial Assistant at the Garstang Museum of Archaeology, Liverpool, and has taught courses on hieroglyphs, Ancient Egyptian religion, the history of archaeology, and Roman material culture.
In 2016 he joined National Museums Scotland as an Assistant Curator for the National Lottery Heritage Funded capital project ‘Revealing Cultures’. In this role he worked to develop the ‘Ancient Egypt Rediscovered’ gallery which opened in 2019. During this time, Daniel also curated the National Museums Scotland touring exhibition ‘Discovering Ancient Egypt’, highlighting Scotland’s involvement in the development of Egyptology. As part of this project he has also been involved in the development of learning resources and several films highlighting museum collections across Scotland. The touring exhibition forms part of the Ancient Egypt and East Asia National Programme, and is currently on show in Perth. Daniel has developed and delivered training sessions for museum professionals and is currently conducting a Collections Review of ancient Egyptian material in Scotland. Most recently, he has been the interim Curator of Ancient Mediterranean, while Dr Margaret Maitland (Senior Curator of Ancient Mediterranean) was on research leave.