Wednesday, January 20, 2010

A trip to the museum- Chapter 4, Ancient Egypt


Egyptian items are always fascinating, so we were anxious to enter this area at the Detroit Institutes of Art ( http://www.dia.org/ ) on our recent trip. We enjoyed viewing many wonderful things in these Egyptian themed displays and here are some highlights.


I can't begin to imagine how long it took to weave and produce all these long strips of cloth to wrap the mummies in such a geometrically artistic fashion.....and to think of how many years it has been that way!!!! To stand there and stare in wonder, it becomes mind boggling and mesmerizing.

Modern technology helps us see inside the wrappings without disturbing them. How cool. It does not escape me that mummies like this one, on display all around the world in different museums and such, are actually someone's family member that was grave robbed. Beyond that guilt, it is so magical to witness the craftsmanship of the whole tradition of mummies.


The painting on these sarcophagus' are so insanely detailed, it must have taken weeks or even months to complete. We have a 6 feet long floor puzzle with about 200 big pieces that depicts a sarcophagus on one side and then you can flip all the puzzle pieces and build a new one- the other side is the wrapped mummy. It is a favorite to build over and over again.



Canopic jars are another Egyptian tradition, with each jar meant to hold a different internal organ from the mummy. If you think hard about it you will probably say, "Eeewww gross... but interesting to see them sitting in the display case as long as you promise not to open one and show me!"


Shawabti (little figurines) are funeral workers for the dead and were included in the tomb to help care for the person in the next life. I wonder if they help you to finish all the things you meant to finish in this lifetime?, 'cuz even if I live to be 100 years old I will never get to finish all my sewing and craft and scrapbook projects!!! So, if they do help you finish unfinished projects I will need to have lots of them in my Egyptian tomb!!!




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