When the Australian Museum managed to secure the coffin of Ramses II on loan from Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, it was lauded as a coup for Sydney, which became the second city in the world outside of Egypt to showcase the coffin of one of the most powerful pharaohs in Ancient Egypt. The exhibition began on November 18 last year and will run until May 29 this year.
A hawkish leader who commanded armies throughout the Levant, Ramses led the Egyptian army in several battles surrounding Ancient Egypt. The Australian Museum published a description in its exhibit, titled “Ramses the Warrior”, with a short note on the pharaoh’s military history: “As a very young army captain Ramses escorted his father, Seti, into battle. In his teens, Ramses was second in command, fighting alongside Seti in Libya and Palestine.”
On December 17, the Australian Jewish Association (AJA), a conservative lobby group active on social media, posted a photograph of the description, captioned: “Australian Museum rewrites history.”
“According to [the Australian Museum], the Pharaoh Ramses fought in ‘Palestine’, a name that wasn’t invented until thousands of years later,” the post read. “Honest mistake or intentional use of words?”
This set into action a series of media reports and a social media storm that engulfed the otherwise genteel museum in Darlinghurst for approximately two months.
Five days later, on December 22, the Australian Museum responded to AJA correspondence via private Instagram message.
“We have conferred with the creators of the exhibition and they have agreed that, to avoid confusion and to focus on the story of Ramses himself, we will remove any non-historical geographical references besides the use of the common term ‘Egypt’. The new wording will be up in the exhibition within the next couple of weeks,” read the response.
The AJA lauded it as a “success”, taking to social media that afternoon to repost that series of messages. That’s when things escalated.
In documents obtained under freedom of information legislation, Crikey has compiled a timeline of the Australian Museum’s response to the social media storm and the correspondence of various stakeholders who sought to pressure the institution into a particular response.
Boxing Day
As early as December 26, Australian Museum director and CEO Kim McKay was flooded with emails from pro-Palestine members of the public, as well as interest groups such as the Australian Friends of Palestine Association, who expressed their dismay at the museum’s apparent decision.
More than 50 letters from members of the public, union members and interest groups were sent to McKay between November 18 and January 8 that mentioned the word “Palestine”.
December 27
On December 27, The Sydney Morning Herald published an article by federal politics correspondent Paul Sakkal and urban affairs reporter Anthony Segaert titled: “Australian Museum to amend ‘Palestine’ display after complaints about Egypt exhibition”.
In the days following the article’s publication, according to the dates provided by the government, there were a series of text messages between McKay, the museum’s marketing director Jacinta Spurrett, public affairs director Amanda Farrar and another museum staff member. The messages discussed a potential response to Sakkal, and included a reference to a moment of apparent tension between the museum staff member and Sakkal.
“He said ‘I know about the campaign to your inbox’,” read the message to the group chat.
“I remained silent. He asked if that was the case? I said I wasn’t at work. He asked how many panels mentioned Palestine? I said one. He asked if the word was being removed? I said no. And shared the statement.”
In thanking Spurrett and the other staff member for working over the break and putting together a response for the SMH, McKay concluded: “There are no winners.”
Later that day, Farrar also responded to a member of the public on behalf of McKay, with Farrar saying the museum was “intentionally not engaging in the social media conversations as they are false, offensive and in some cases inciting violence”.
Farrar said that while there was text being modified, it was “being made to address issues of historical accuracy and not for any political purpose”.
“We don’t intend [on further] responding via social media as we feel this will simply fuel further toxic conversations that serve no good purpose.”
That day, McKay and other members of senior leadership received correspondence from a staffer who had spoken to an “expert on topographical names”, clarifying that the term “Retjenu”, which was used broadly in hieroglyphs in the New Kingdom for much of the region today known as Palestine, would have to be used with caution as it also referred to parts of Syria.
December 28
On December 28, Farrar sent an update to Anna Burns and Heath Aston, staffers for NSW Minister for the Arts John Graham, the responsible minister for the museum, noting the SMH article.
It contained a copy of a media release that stated: “For clarity in the exhibition, the text panel will be updated to read: ‘Ramses was second in command, fighting alongside Seti I in what is today known as Libya and Palestine’.” (The release highlighted in yellow the words that Crikey has italicised above.)
“The terms Libya and Palestine are not being removed from the text panels. In the context of this exhibition, we are adding the words ‘what is today known as’ to provide current geographical clarity,” Farrar wrote.
“We expect the concerns to now dissipate, but I will keep you updated if the issue escalates further.”
December 29
On December 29, Farrar sent a summary of the museum’s response to the controversy to senior staff, which noted that the email campaign by the Australian Friends of Palestine Association had “stimulated over 250 complaint letters, all of which have been personally responded to”.
Farrar also noted that while the SMH’s December 27 story had generated “some further complaints via email”, the “Twitter commentary [was] starting to dissipate”. McKay was also scheduled for an interview on ABC Radio on January 1.
New Year’s Day
The Australian published a story on January 1 by Mohammad Alfares, titled: “Australia’s oldest museum targeted ‘radical’ by pro-Palestine campaign”. A spokesperson for the museum told The Australian that the issue was a “beat-up”.
“It’s a beat-up and we’re stuck in the middle of it,” the spokeswoman said.
January 2
A social media post by PSA for Palestine, an unofficial grouping of NSW Public Service Association members, drew further attention to the museum’s response and called on PSA members working at the museum to express their dissatisfaction, leading to a January 2 crisis meeting.
Farrar sent an email on the afternoon of January 2, explaining to senior leadership that front-of-house staff were instructed not to respond to campaign emails from Do Gooder, a platform used to coordinate the pro-Palestine email campaign.
It also noted that Do Gooder emails had been “blocked and quarantined” from email inboxes.
Spurrett sent an email on January 2 to World Heritage Exhibitions (WHE), the creator of the exhibition.
January 3
On January 3, WHE released a firmly worded statement on the choice of language, standing by it.
“One specific segment within the exhibition references the geographical territories of Libya to the west of Egypt and Palestine to the east. This section aims to provide visitors with a contextual understanding of Ramses the Great, focusing on the conflicts surrounding Egypt’s borders during his reign,” the statement read.
“It is important to note that the exhibition does not intend to convey any political assertions. Its sole purpose is to illuminate the remarkable accomplishments and historical significance of Ramses II.
“WHE upholds the exhibition’s curatorial authenticity and, consequently, has no plans to modify the exhibition’s textual content.”
The Australian Museum said in a footnote it would follow WHE’s final determination of the wording, as the local host of the exhibition.
January 5
By January 5, the number of emails sent on the issue would rise to more than 1,100, according to a weekly summary distributed by Russell Briggs, the museum’s chief experience officer. The summary also noted the museum was receiving two to three phone calls a day.
That day, the AJA published a tweet accusing the museum of partnering with a “notorious antisemite” in Dr Zahi Hawass, the curator of the exhibition. The AJA has not posted on social media about the museum since.
There was a security and police matter involving the Palestine issue, with an email exchange between an Australian Museum staff member and McKay discussing the matter on January 5. Crikey was refused access to those emails on the basis that their publication could prejudice a potential police investigation.
A spokesperson for the Australian Museum told Crikey that the incident was an external incident of graffiti, which was reported to the police. The spokesperson said the museum understands the matter is ongoing. Regarding the Ramses exhibit controversy, the spokesperson said the matter was considered “settled”.
“The issue is settled and the exhibition remains unchanged, however, a statement addressing concerns has been published on the Australian Museum website,” they said.
“The only correspondence between the Australian Museum and the AJA was via social media. Screenshots of that correspondence were disclosed in response to [Crikey’s] GIPA application, no further correspondence from the AJA has been received.”
A spokesperson for NSW Police told Crikey in a statement that “officers attached to Sydney City Police Area Command are investigating after offensive graffiti was painted on a wall outside of a museum on William Street, Darlinghurst, about 10pm on Friday 29 December 2023”.
The Australian Jewish Association were contacted for comment but did not respond in time for publication.
