Home made bread.

A little off topic but I was so pleased with how these came out and how satisfying it was to make bread a sustainable and more environmentally friendly way.  (I have been following Rob Greenfield and been inspired)

I made the rolls without a bread maker, in a bowl using my hands and also didn't use any cling film or pastic wrap to prove the bread.  Just next to a warm radiator with a tea towel over the top. (tall cups can be used to keep the cloth from touching the bread as it rises). 

It was a simple recipe - flour, water, oil, margarine, yeast sugar and salt, kneaded for 7 mins, divided into rolls sprinkled with sesame seeds, proved in the tin for 40 mins and cooked for 20 mins.

It was yummy!

Calling all Ancient Egypt Fans

If you love ancient Egypt like me and are reading this blog it would be really lovely to hear from you. 

Leave a comment (click on pencil icon at end of this post or email me at Nefertiti_ukjk@yahoo.co.uk

How did you get into Egyptology?  What do you love best about the ancient Egyptians?

Yesterday I attended the Chris Naunton talk ‘Searching for the lost tombs of Egypt’ as part of the Taunton Literary Festival 2018   in association with the Taunton Egyptology Society (UK)

Having turned up late I unfortunately missed the intoduction but at least I was there in time to hear intesresting facts about the Amarna period (Akhenaten and Nefertiti) - my favourite subject.

I found out that there is sculpted stone head of Nefertiti found in the same ancient sculptors workshop as that of the famous bust (now in Berlin). The following article from Nile Magazine gives details of this. https://www.nilemagazine.com.au/2015-september/2015/9/26/the-unfinished-head-of-nefertiti

And fragments of Akhenatens Sarcophagus fragments are reconstructed outside the Egyptian Museum Cairo.

One of the hypothesis Chris put forward is that Smenkhkare married Meritaten -oldest daughter of Akhenaten. There was a slide showing a line drawing from a badly damaged tomb decoration depicting the two figures together-but i didn' catch who recorded it or how the identity of the two figures was confirmed.  I hadn’t heard this before.  I was aware of a theory that Smenkhkare was Nefertiti-she took the name to rule as Pharoah after Akhenaten died.

He also suggested that Nefertiti was known as Neferneferuaten and that this name was erased from the famous mask of Tutankhamun and replaced with Tutankhamuns title instead.  This would support the theory that Tutankamun was buried in haste and grave goods were appropriated. In fact there is a mummy chest band which bears the name Neferneferuaten on the reverse. Also the brown spots (mould) on the walls of the tomb would point to the tomb being shut up before the paint had dried it was suggested.

He was also promoting his book on the missing tombs so I,ll have to try to read it sometime to learn more about these intriguing theories.  Sadly there wasnt much about possible locations of the lost tombs.  However he did say that there is a currently a project in the west of the Valley of the Kings to find Tutankhamuns wife’s tomb.

On the subject of the theory by Reeves that there is a hidden room behind the wall in Tut's tomb he did say that the first survey found traces of metal in the wall but the second one didn't. The third survey has never been published but the Egyptian Antiqities department are saying the investigation is closed.  I got the impression that Chris still thinks there might be another chamber.

The next talk of the Egyptian Society Taunton is By Barry Kemp who has led expeditions to Amarna for many years- that will be an interesting talk -sadly i wont be able to go.

Notes about the talk may be on Janet Diamond's website - she had attended many lectures about Egypt including those given by the Taunton society.

Nile Magazine

I have recently started buying the glossy Nile magazine.  A must have for anyone interested in Ancient Egypt.

It's a cross between an academic journal and fanzine and has many wonderful colour pictures of artefacts.  Articles are written by Egyptologists and it also welcomes articles by laypersons too.

Tutankhamun tomb really belongs to Nefertiti?
In issue 15 there is a fascinating article about the meaning of wall paintings in Tutankhamun tomb. -(and a modern interpretation as Nefertit's Union with Akhenaten.) The article claims that the tomb was originally intended for Nefertiti.  Of course her tomb hasn't been discovered yet. 

The following is from an article published by Guardian newspaper in 2015 about the paintings:
"But the murals also hold hints of Nefertiti, Reeves wrote. He argued that one image does not show Tutankhamun but rather Nefertiti. The figure has the “somewhat scooped brow and nose and a straight jawline with gently rounded chin” that appears in her portraits, according to Reeves. He also wrote that he believes about 80% of the burial equipment in Tutankhamun’s tomb was made for someone else.

 

Nefertiti died about seven years before Tutankhamen and loomed large over her era of Egyptian history. She supported her husband’s (Akenaten) conversion of Egypt, presided over a period of striking art – some of its most famous works are sculptures of her –and may have ruled the kingdom alone in the years after Akhenaten’s death.
Reeves subscribes to the theory that Nefertiti ruled as her husband’s successor – but as Smenkhkare, the name of an enigmatic pharaoh who briefly ruled after Akhenaten.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/nov/08/king-tut-tomb-infrared-scans-queen-Nefertiti

Visit the magazine website to find out more

Woodland friends inspiration

Inspiration from nature is all around me - I just have to be in the moment- mindful.   A rabbit darts out across my path on my walk home.  Or the sparrows and green tits flit away from the bird feeder hanging from someone's balcony as I approach.  I stop to collect some Calendular (Marigold) seed heads or pick an apple or two from a tree (no one else seems to do this in the 'mini orchard' -so I may seem a little strange.

A walk in the autumn sunshine on the way home from work is so good for the soul.....

Egyptian Poem - King Tut

 I composed the following poem, inspired by the popular Egyptian revival songs of the 1920s which were themselves inspired by the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb:

He married young

Under the Egyptian Sun

The boy king

For whom we sing

 

A figure of mystery

Most famous in history

Cut down in his prime

Immortalised in rhyme

 

Carter found the tomb

Tut’s resting room

Full of gold

Objects so very Old

 

King Tut

King Tut

He’s our hero

Oh Oh

King Tut

King Tut

If you want to read more about how Ancient Egypt has inspired art and culture I can recommend the following book by Bob Brier;

Egyptomania

Have a great day!

The Scarab Ring Mystery.

Here is the story I have written recently to enter a competition at my local library. (sadly I didn't win) It is a fictional mystery/romance story about lost and found and chance meetings.  I'm a great believer of fate...

Its also inspired by The Red Notebook which I thoroughly recommend.  Another mystery which centres around a lost handbag and the contents which help the hero to find the owner.  I won't tell you more otherwise it won't be much of a mystery. There are some references to Egypt in that novel too!


Short Story

It was just over a year ago today when I made a discovery that would change more than just my life.

I was in Gordon Square Garden – a peaceful gated green space surrounded with mature chestnut trees, in the west end of London, waiting for the Bloomsbury Theatre to open so I could start my shift working in the box office.  I sat down on a bench bathed in the late afternoon sunshine and almost straight away something shinny caught my eye next to the bench.  When I looked down I could see it was an Egyptian scarab ring.  I looked round for a possible owner but the green was empty apart from myself and some pigeons feasting on a half-eaten panini nearby. The scarab which was 1cm wide, made of a lovely blue stone and set on a disc of gold with a scattering of small diamond chips set into it and this was mounted on to a thick band of gold – the hall mark showed it was 18k gold and there was an inscription on the inside of the band which read ‘My forever Nefertiti’. 

I didn’t know where the nearest police station was, and as it was a Sunday afternoon the nearby university buildings were all closed. How would I find the owner?  A romantic notion occurred to me – I decided to leave a note fixed to the bench. In my satchel I had; a roll of sticky tape that I used to wrap a friends present the previous day; an old faded shop till receipt; and a pen which was still working luckily.  Maybe if I left the note and prayed for the rain to stay away the owner would return and contact me.  I placed the ring securely in my wallet and wrote ‘Nefertiti I found your ring - come to the Bloomsbury Theatre Box office and ask for Mike’. I then taped this to the back of the bench and left the green to start my shift.

Later that evening after clocking out and since no one had asked for me, I returned to the green but of course I forgot the gate was locked at 7pm every night.  I couldn’t get in.  I’ll come back tomorrow’ I thought. ‘I have a free day so I’ll browse in Foyles bookshop nearby in Charing Cross Road’.

The next day started off wet – there had been a scattering of rain in the night and I was worried that my note would be waterlogged. Before setting off I grabbed a small note pad, pen and poly pocket (the kind you put A4 sized paper documents in with hole punches for ring binder folders).

By the time I got to the green it was late morning– after battling through the summer holiday hoards on the underground, tourists with rucksacks jammed into your face as you struggle to get out at your stop and gloomy looking business people glued to social media on their phone.  I emerged into the smoggy sunshine coming out of Goodge Street station on Tottenham Court Road.  The puddles were starting to dry up thankfully and I hurried up to Gordon Square again. 

The green was much busier than before, the elderly gent with his morning paper sat on a bench at the far end, a dog walker scooping up little ‘presents’ her dog left behind, and a group of students  (I guessed they were anyhow!) engaged in a heated discussion about the merits of a University education in today’s society.  When I got to the bench at the far side there was no note or even any remnants or bits of sticky tape.  Ok this time I’ll put it in the pocket and tape it down with lots and lots of tape and mark ‘For Nefertiti only’.  So that’s what I did. I wrote ‘Nefertiti I found your ring - email me’ I added my email address (but not a telephone number as I didn’t want to get calls from crazy people in the middle of the night). As I left the park I asked the old man if he had seen anyone take a note off the bench that morning but he hadn’t.  Nothing left to do but go off to Foyles. 

After an interesting morning reading up about Egyptology in the bookstore I found out that there was a museum dedicated to Ancient Egypt nearby in the grounds of University College London, called the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology.  Perhaps the owner of the ring visited the museum that day. It’s worth investigating I thought!  I found the entrance to the museum after googling the address– it was an understated entrance one could easily have missed it. It’s not apparent from the outside that thousands of years of history are kept within. I climbed up the dusty stairs –I peered into the museum with dimmed lights and a slight musty smell.  There were cabinets and glass cases crammed with pots and other artefacts, and on the walls too were beaded necklaces and amulets. It astonished me to discover how many different kinds of clay pot there were and how the style of pot was the clue to its’ date.  I found a kindly old silver haired gentleman sitting quietly next to a rack of books about Egypt and a cash tin with the key still in the lock.  He looked above the rim of his glasses at me “can I help you sir?”  I explained about the ring, where I found it and about the note, and asked him if he knew anything about it or who the owner might be.  The answer was negative, unfortunately he couldn’t tell me.  Just then a young attractive woman popped out from behind a cabinet; she had been eavesdropping; “I can tell you about the ring”. My heart jumped in excitement as I thought the ring was hers.  It wasn’t though.

“The beetle is made of lapis lazuli a semi-precious stone and is highly symbolic. In Egyptian art the scarab is the depiction of the god Khepri; the god of creation and renewal.  Khepri renewed the sun every day, rolled it above the horizon then carried it through the other world after sunset only to repeat the process the next day and so on.  Just as the dung beetle pushes its dung ball. Not so romantic in this day and age eh?” She chuckled.  “The sun disc or ‘Aten’ was the symbol of the sun god Re and Nefertiti was the queen of the so called heretic King Akhenaten.  He forsook all other Egyptian gods to worship just Re. Nefertiti is my favourite queen of them all. She was a beautiful woman and whoever’s ring it is must also have been perceived as beautiful by the person who gave the ring. The inscription also says ‘forever’ referring to the Egyptians belief of the continual renewal of the sun.  Of course they didn’t use diamonds in their jewellery. But I would suppose the diamonds represent stars. The ring is not a reproduction of any ancient artefact that I know of though.” 

“That’s really fascinating” I said.  “Although it won’t help me to find the owner sadly.  I’ll have to check my emails and visit the bench each day”

“Would you like me to keep an eye on the bench to save you making a journey every day, although you are welcome to pop in to the museum if you’re passing at any time” she replied.

“That’s so kind of you, OK let me give you my email address and we can keep in touch.  By the way my name is Richard”

“Lovely to meet you Richard” she said shaking my hand. “I’m Laurie, the Museum Curator here”.

After leaving the museum I popped back to the bench – my note was still there this time so I returned home by tube thinking “I hope I see Laurie again”.

Over the next two weeks I heard from Laurie everyday about the progress of my note. Yes it was still there or if it wasn’t she would rewrite the note and stick it down again.  Eventually I had to resign myself to the fact that the owner wasn’t coming back.  Laurie had put up a note in the museum and contacted the Egypt Exploration Society in case the owner was a member.  Over the weeks and months gradually Laurie and I got to know and become fond of each other.  I would visit the museum when I could and we’d have coffee at the University Union coffee shop at least once a week – or when I had an evening shift at the theatre.  Till we realised after a short time that we had fallen in love.  We then planned to get married.

The wedding was a very small occasion with close friends and family at Laurie’s local registry office in Islington.  We still had the scarab ring so thought it would be fitting for Laurie to wear it for the day.  Afterwards we took taxi’s to the Petrie museum to have a finger buffet reception.  All our friends wished us well and everyone was fascinated by the ring and how it had brought us together. One of Laurie’s colleague wrote an article and posted pictures on the Museum Webpage about the ring and its part in our romance.

It was about six months later that Laurie received an email from a lady called Amelie it said “I’m Nefertiti”.  She attached a photo of herself –  where the ring was clearly shown on her hand- her arms were crossed like those of a mummy. We were thrilled the owner had been found.  She lived in Somerset but was planning a trip to London and wanted to check the museum website for upcoming events.  Which is when she discovered the article about her ring. Not long after that we arranged to meet up at the Union coffee shop as she wanted to visit the Petrie Museum as well.

Laurie and I anxiously waited at a table for Amelie. Thankfully the room wasn’t too busy for a Monday morning. Amelie appeared at the door waving enthusiastically.  After passing the ring to her, her eyes welled up and she immediately put the ring on.

“I’m not ever taking it off again.” She said

After ordering three coffees she explained how the ring had been lost;

“A bee stung me on my finger and it started to swell up so I took off the ring and left it on the edge of the bench whilst I searched through my bag for hand sanitiser.  I obviously forgot about it being worried about the sting.  I had planned to visit the Petrie Museum but had to abandon the idea. It wasn’t till later that I discovered it was missing. I retraced my steps the next day and the park was the first place I visited.  I didn’t see a note on the bench.  I had given it up for lost.”

“Wow”, I said.  “If you had found the note on the same day you lost it I would never have come to the Petrie Museum and met Laurie.  I am glad though that I can now return the ring to you. But who is the person who wrote the inscription?”

“That’s my dad” she said “He loved reading about ancient Egypt and commissioned this ring for my 18^th birthday. He used to call me Nefertiti referring to the meaning ‘The beautiful one has come’.  He nicknamed me that on the day of my birth but my mum wouldn’t let me be called that legally. That’s all a long time ago now. Sadly he passed away 4 years ago so getting back the ring means so much to me.  He would have loved the fact that the ring brought the two of you together and especially as you are an Egyptologist Laurie. I like reading about Egypt and reading evokes my memories of him.”

After we finished our coffees we toured the Petrie Museum together and soon it was time for Amelie to catch her train.  We knew that we would be friends forever…

a

Tutankhamun and Nefertiti Crochet Pattern

At long last I have finished these two patterns - its taken about six months to design the dolls and write up the crochet pattern (in my spare time).  I have had it in mind to design these patterns for about 4 years (Charles Dickens wrote 'Procrastination is the thief of time' -from David Copperfield, and this really resonates with me.)

From the early designs in pencil:

 

Nefertiti

 

Tutankhamun

 

Nefertiti's fan (based on that found in Tutankhmun's tomb.

To the finished articles:

I found Nefertiti fairly straight forward to design as a whole but I had trouble constructing Tut's headdress.

At first I thought to do stripes with colour changes, a row first in dark yellow and then a row of blue and so on,  increasing and decreasing where necessary to construct the lapels.  But then I thought that this would be too complicated for others to follow and take all the fun out of making it.  I was a bit fed up of the many colour changes myself to tell the truth.  So I got a piece of paper and drew a front and back for the headdress (simplifying it). I cup out the paper shapes and tried them against the doll to see if it would work.  With the intention of joining two crochet shapes together.
The lines then became strips of chains in blue yarn sewn over the headdress.

Other challenges were the cobra and crook and flail:  The crook and flail in the end are pipe cleaners - although I toyed with the idea of using lengths of chains twisted round and then set stiff using wood glue.  But again I thought I should keep it simple as pipe cleaners are easy enough to buy. 

The cobra is just an 'essence' of the real thing as getting detail in for something that small would be tricky.

I hope you like the finished article!

The patterns can be purchased via my Etsy store

Roman Holiday

8-13 September 2014 (looking back - its taken this long to find the photos!)

Rome is epic!

With only three whole days in Rome my husband and I covered the main tourist attractions but it was exhausting. We wished we could have had one or two more days as there is so much to see.  There is history on every corner. At the end of the each busy day we were very grateful for our comfortable hotel room (at the 4* Hotel Oxford in Via Boncompagni)

Coliseum & Forum & Mouth of truth 

As you approach the Coliseum on foot you are struck by its beauty and magnifisence- the fact that it was a bloody and death-filled arena in the past is sobering and I did grieve for the many men and animals which were killed there. The structure has suffered an earth quake and plundering of building materials over its 2000 year history. We skipped the very long queues by buying our combined ticket at the Forum (5 minutes walk up the road). If you want to access the very top level (via lift) you have to buy an additional ticket.
The Forum and the Palatine Hill are the remains/ruins of various,, temples to Roman gods, and Triumphal arches.  To get the most out of your visit take a guide book or join a tour.  We just used our guide book and were able to take as much time as we liked.  

The arch of Constantine - which I studied as part of my Ancient History and Egyptology degree

Its a piece of propaganda, however the sculpture of the roundals and friezes are worth closer inspection and show real skill.

We didn't get to the mouth of truth in time - its somewhat out of the way - so taxi or bus is the best way to get there.  Make sure you do your homework.  Queues are long and they won't let you in if you get there too late.

The Sistine Chapel

Ilegal pictures taken inside the Chapel.

When the guard was distracted we took these

The Sistine Chapel was amazing and we sat for half an hour to take it all in.  Lots of frescoes to study and we just wanted to breathe in the awe of it all.  We also got a guide book (but bought the Italian version by mistake as the different translations have the same covers.  so we returned the next day and luckily a kind guard let us in.  We looked up some words in Italian to convey that we wanted to exchange the book for an English one. Obviously he understood!)

Trajan's Column

We stumbled upon this by chance - again I had studied it at Uni.  It is notable because it documents the military success of Trajan against the Dacians.  I was particularly interested in this fact as Romanians are descended from Dacian tribes. We were too late to visit the dedicated museum but its worth a visit because it shows you all the reliefs which are impossible to see from the ground.

Victor Emmanuel II Monument (Il Vittoriano)

Most of our visit involved stumbling upon things - keep on walking and you'll find something monumental and or archaeological.  We found the following building - it is imposing and ostentatious but well worth a look

The following link will tell you all about it - but needless to say it is wall to wall marble with many sculptures including this fantastic winged lion below

Il Vittoriano

The Egyptian Influence in Rome

Almost everywhere you turn there is an Egyptian Obelisk including one at the Vatican.  Some of them are real from Egypt and some are reproductions. Unfortunately I have lost all my pictures of them (faulty SD card). However Wikipedia lists them all.

I particularly liked this lion at the Vatican museum.  But didn't really like the Roman reproduction Egyptian statues.  Somehow they didn't look right to me.

Not sure about this!

St Peters

The Pieta

A wonderful building but in particular I was in awe of the Michelangelo sculpture La Pieta.  There was something so peaceful and moving about this sculpture and you really felt the loss of a mother for her son - heartbreaking.  Read more on this website

Dairy free eating

I had done a little bit of research before we went and knew how to ask for something without something; "e senza formaggio?" (is it without cheese?). Other key words are 'pomodoro' and  'latte' (tomato and milk).  In the end the waiters all spoke a bit of English and I had cheese-less pizza (with tomato and funghi) and pasta arrabiatta. A word of warning- some places will add on a service charge (we paid 4Euros extra on two occasions).  They will also try to get you to pay for bread and perhaps a seemingly complimentary glass of Prosecco (refuse these politely).  It's quite normal and both Italians and tourists may be subject to this. 

Soya gelato (ice cream) at Il Gelatone, Via De Serpenti 28, 00184 Rome

    Is ice cream heaven!  Apart from the many flavours of dairy ice cream they have a few soya options (vanilla/chocolate/pistachio/hazlenut).  The hazlenut flavour was delicious but I couldn't taste the pistachio.

Super-scrimping in Rome

There were a few ways that we were able to save some money in true super-scrimping style;

• A free A3 sized street map showing the main tourist attractions. - these are available in the ticket/tourist office in the train station where you buy your tickets for the Leonardo Express (fast train to Termini) or in the bigger hotels.  
• Free drinking water fountains - at many of the major tourist attractions.  (Including the Vatican). Otherwise the price of bottled water varied between 2&2.5Euros for 0.5L.  There are drink vending machines in many Metro stations and the water cost 1.50Euro. Alternatively buy a two litre bottle from a newsagent each morning before you head out. Which is heavy but will save you money.
• Free lunch - our hotel booking included a full breakfast and I made cheese/ham rolls every day and took some fruit

There is much more I could write - so I may update this blog.

Rome is certainly full on - but so wonderfull

The Hymn to the Aten

I have just borrowed a wonderful book from the library 'The Literature of Ancient Egypt' -as I was interested to read translations of the ancient papyrus .

In particular I was reading 'The Hymn to the Aten' composed during the reign of Akhenaten, who is called the heratic king as he forsook all other deities to follow just Re and worshiped Re in the form of the aten disc. 

I like the following passage:

But when day breaks you are risen upon the horizon

and you shine in the Aten in the daytime.

When you dispel darkness and you give forth your rays

the two lands are in a festival of light,

alert and standing on their feet,

now that you have raised them up.

Their bodies are clean, / and their clothes put on

their arms are [lifted] in praise at your raising.

The entire land performs its work:

all the flocks are content with their fodder,

trees and plants grow,

birds fly up to their nests,

their wings [extended) in praise for your Ka.

all the kine prance on their feet;

everything which flies up and alights,

they live when you rise for them.

The barges sail upstream and downstream too,

for every way is open at your rising.

The fishes in the river leap before your face

when your rays are inside the sea.

From the Tomb of Aye.  translation by William Kelly Simpson from the book 'The Literature of Ancient Egypt' Yale University Press

As wonderful piece of poetry - so descriptive of the dawning of a new day.  An allegory of all living things coming to life as the sun rises. It acknowledges the sun as the reason for life (although  I'm not suggesting the god Re is responsible for that! :-)

Something which suprised me to learn from this book of translations was that there are similarities between this hymn and Psalm 104 of the Bible. "There are close parallels in wording, thought and sequence of ideas...."

The following article discusses this in more detail:

https://www.paypervids.com/comparison-hymn-aten-psalm-104/

Whilst the Hymn to the Aten is worship of an object:- the sun, Psalm 104 is worship of the god of the Jews/Christians

And this further article gives eight points of comparison.

http://www.seanet.com/~realistic/psalm104.html

The other part of this hymn that fascinates me is

The lands of Khor and Kush

and the land of Egypt:

you set every man in his place,

you allot their needs,

every one of them according to his diet,

and his lifetime is counted out.

Toungues are separate in speech,

and their characters/ as well;

their skins are different,

for you differentiate the foreigners*

*in other words the Aten has created people of different races.

I would like to explore this a bit more - how were foreigners fitted into Egyptian society..... (a later blog perhaps)

Egypt in England - Carreras Cigarette Factory

Camden, London

Greater London House
180 Hampstead Road
London NW1 7AW

For Ancient Egypt and Bastet fans - a must see is the Carreras Cigarette Factory building.  I visited this building back in June 2014

My photographs below don't do it justice - visit https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Carreras_Cigarette_Factory for lots more photos

Its a large art deco building and a wonderful example of early 20th Century Egyptian Revival Architecture. Its located near Mornington Crescent Tube Station in London.

Originally a cigarette factory erected in 1926/28 it is now an office building but the exterior is still something to see.

Wonderful features of the facade include large cat statutes flanking the entrance

 

and cats in the roundels in the upper façade.  

 

The original Egyptian detailing was lost in 1961 but it was restored during the 1990s renovation.  Replicas of the original cats were placed at the entrance and cats replaced the Aten/solar disc of the sun-god Ra in the roundels.

 

The columns are thought to have been inspired by columns in tombs found at Armarna (the ancient capital of the Heretic pharaoh Akhenaten

 

From the tomb of Panehesy c.1330 BC*

 

 

 

*reference Wikipedia, By kairoinfo4u: Mutnedjmet - https://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/4127883553/in/set-72157622861795438/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9058252

 

 

The book Egypt in England by Chris Elliott gives more details of this building and many other places of interest in England which have an ancient Egyptian flavour.   'aimed at anyone with an interest in Ancient Egypt and architectural history'  Visit the website to accompany this book too for lots more interesting information too- Egypt in England

 

Hopefully in years to come I will visit and blog more of these.

 

The Tutankhamun Exhibition,

High Street West, Dorchester, Dorset (England)

A Review 10 July 2018

This is a wonderful little museum in a lovely town, which recreates the Tomb of Tutankhamun as it was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922.

It reproduces faithfully the artefacts, mummy, burial chamber, and ante- chamber (including the wall paintings) and also has a section about the Rosetta Stone, embalming, who murdered the king and other interesting displays 

I found the above article in a second hand book about Tutankhamun,  the previous owner had kept this clipping from the Independent newspaper from 1998.  It reviews this exhibition:

"...offers a compact yet fascinating tribute to one of the greatest archaeological discoveries ever made....put together when damage to the original artefacts prompted the Egyptian government to cease foreign exhibitions"

There are careful reproductions of the jewellery (golden collars -17 in total worn on the mummy), famous mask, statuettes, throne and Anubis reclining on the golden sledge (my favourite).

I really recommend this museum for anyone who can't make it to Egypt to see the real artefacts and tomb. (given the current political turmoil).  It certainly delivers the wow factor.  The gift shop was also great.  No 'tat',  just quality gifts.  I wish I had time to browse the second hand Egyptology books and some new books also.  An Art Deco Egyptian Revival figurine and a Stirling Silver Ankh also caught my eye but I settled on the following:

My lovely cache of goodies (pin/postcard/glossy guide book and pencil with Anubis atop it).

The guide book is glossy and well written for only £2.95!

I would loved to have stayed much longer -as I am an Egyptology-nerd - but I had a busy toddler who was also impressed like me but was tending to run out of the museum any chance he got.... Its probably better for older children but my son wasn't fazed by the recreated mummy - he said it was yuck though!

Please support this museum so it stays open for generations to come. 

Tutankhamun Exhibition Website