To Be Human is to Grieve; Understanding Mourning in Ancient Egypt – Emily Millward, University of Birmingham

Posted on September 13, 2014 by Janet Diamond

This was another unusual lecture at the Egyptology Society Taunton – delivered with sympathy and understanding by Emily Millward, Phd, from the University of Birmingham.

Female Mourners - Tomb of Ramose - 18th Dynasty

Female Mourners – Tomb of Ramose – 18th Dynasty

In this talk, Emily told us all about mourning in the culture of ancient Egypt. She discussed the traditional approaches to it and how it was represented:  that grief is felt on a personal level, but how then mourning is reflected in the art and society in the traditional style of the day.

She investigated the funeral procession, the embalming, the interment, and the gods involved.  The entire process being administered by the priests, and always followed and dictated by the strict principals of funerary ritual.

All was then carefully depicted on the tombs walls of the deceased, to enable them to enjoy their eternity in the afterlife.

Another interesting lecture with much to think about.

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The Ashmolean Museum – Oxford

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Janet Diamond

A lovely day in beautiful Oxford – I went with friends to visit the Ashmolean Museum to view the Tutankhamen exhibition being held.

It was most enjoyable: there were drawings, photos and work of Howard Carter,  some very interesting artifacts displayed and the whole exhibition had a very pleasant feel to it.

After a delicious lunch and a walk around the ‘Dreaming Spires’ we returned home very contented with the visit and the day.

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A Celebration of Egyptian Art – Lucia Gahlin, UCL

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Janet Diamond

This was my first talk on Egyptology by Lucia Gahlin  and my first lecture at Dillington House – and I was very pleased with both.

Lucia spoke on the representation of celebration and festivities in the art of ancient Egypt.

We looked at the art and design of jewellery, painting, statuary, tombs and gods.

It was utterly fascinating – I learned so much about the symbolism of the art across the centuries of the empire.

Dillington House is a great venue and I felt I had had a most enjoyable and informative day – one I shall certainly repeat when Lucia is lecturing there again

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Ancient Lives: New Discoveries – The British Museum

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Janet Diamond

I can’t praise the exhibition at the British Museum enough!  I was so keen to see it, that I visited it on the very first day and was enthralled!

The exhibition is fascinating – with scanned 3-D images of eight mummies dating from Pre-dynastic – Gebelein Man through to the Roman Period (c. AD 40–60), and including a medieval Christian mummy from the Sudan.

It was wonderful to be able to ‘watch the mystery unravel’, and ‘see’ inside of the wrappings of the mummies as the scans rotated and traveled from the outside to the inside of the mummies – the wrappings, skin, bone and internal organs – and back again.  They revealed many astonishing details which left me quite captivated!

As part of the exhibition, along with the scans are other interesting artifacts, not least an incredibly ancient and stylish wig.

I recommend anyone with an interest in ancient Egypt to go and see this exhibition – and soon!

As whilst there – I could not resist another visit to my other favourite museum – the Sir John’s Soane’s Museum – if you have never visited it yourself, I do recommend that you do so – and as soon as possible; it is a true ‘Aladdin’s Cave’.

 

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Western Thebes Pioneers – Dr Aidan Dodson, Bristol University, Chair ESS

Posted on May 17, 2014 by Janet Diamond

Another great talk given by another great speaker – Dr Aidan Dodson of Bristol University!

I have several of Aidan’s books, so I was quite excited at the prospect of attending this talk at the Egyptology Society Taunton, and I was not disappointed.

Aidan is a relaxed and easy speaker.  The content of the talk, was of course, fascinating. For me, it can be a bit unsettling to think about the attitudes of some of the adventurers of the early days of Egyptology; so much less informed and sophisticated than today. However, there were conscientious and professional Egyptologists as well those less so.  The world of Egyptology has developed in sophistication and our museums ultimately benefited from their labours and efforts – as do we, of course every time we are able to visit Thebes and the Egyptian collections around the world.

It was a great talk and the time passed in a flash.

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The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology – London

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Janet Diamond

Well, I kept my promise to myself, and with a friend, we intrepid travellers clothed, provisioned and equipped ourselves and, with archaeological trowels, compasses and maps in hand, set off on an exciting Egyptological expedition and adventure to deepest, darkest London and the Petrie Museum.  Sadly, Dr Alice Stevenson was not available to show us around as she had kindly said she would if free, nevertheless, it was still a great experience!

The museum was not an easy find; the site being buried deeply in an ancient corner of  Malet Place, University College London.  But, using our best exploratory and archaeological skills, once mapped, plotted, excavated and unearthed, and the treasures located, we entered a world of ‘Wonderful Things’.

It is like no other museum I have ever visited: it houses an estimated 80,000 objects, making it –  in its own words – ‘one of the greatest collections of Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology in the world’ and ‘The collection is full of ‘firsts’ – and I have to agree.  There are far too many amazing things to list, but it is simply packed with artifacts large and small – and very small – and very, very small – as you would expect from Petrie.  Many of artifacts had tiny, hand written identification labels, which only enhanced the feel of the place. I could just imagine Flinders Petrie painstakingly and patiently labouring over them – in fact, I half expected him to walk  in at any moment.

If you have not been to this museum, then you really should – don’t expect slick and modern, but do expect cornucopia.  And do let me know what you think.

After the Petrie museum, we had time to spare so added to the pleasure of the day, by popping into the British Museum.  I love this place and visit whenever I can; and never tire of the beauty of the Egyptian artefacts held there, not to mention the pleasures of the Member’s Lounge.

What a day!  Yummy!

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Royal Burials of the Pre-Dynastic Period – Dr Alice Stevenson, The Petrie Museum

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Janet Diamond

Dr Alice Stevenson, UCL, as Curator of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology is well placed to deliver this talk.  She gave us at the Egyptian Society a really interesting talk on the fascinating subject of pre-dynastic burials.

She is a good speaker with a relaxed and friendly manner, her presentation was well illustrated and she dealt with the subject very professionally.

In fact, I found her and her talk so interesting that I have resolved to visit the Petrie Museum as soon as I can.  I have been promising myself this treat for so long,  and now Alice has very generously said she would show me around the museum if she is free – how fabulous would that be?   I now have no reason to delay any longer!

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Experience Egypt – Living in Cairo – Janet Diamond

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Janet Diamond

This month the speaker at the Egyptian Society Taunton was me!

I had been invited to talk to the group about my own experience of living in Egypt in the early 1980′.  I don’t need to write anything here about the content – just slip over to my ‘Presentations’ page to read about it if you wish to know more.

It was a little daunting talking on home turf and to a knowledgeable group of Egypt and Egyptology lovers, but they seemed to enjoy the presentation and I enjoyed delivering it!

Thanks everyone.

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Howard Carter – Lee Young

Posted on September 21, 2013 by Janet Diamond

Well, this was a presentation given to the Egyptology Society Taunton on the art of Howard Carter.

Combining two of my favorite subjects – Art and Egyptology, I was really looking forward to this talk.  Lee went into the history of Carter and his art and showed relevant illustrations.

I learned from the presentation and enjoyed seeing the illustrations of Carter’s art.

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Where Have All The Mummies Gone? The Disappearing Mummy Pits – Tess Barber, Cardiff

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Janet Diamond

Well, this talk stood out as one of the most interesting, compelling and fascinating talks I have heard at the Egyptian Society Taunton!

Tess told us how she came upon this subject almost by accident, whilst researching old diaries and the writings of 19th century travelers and early explorers.

She took us through the attitudes of those early travelers and booty hunters who rampaged through Egypt, in search of mummies – not for intellectual gain, but for profit.  They took, destroyed and sold many hundreds, if not thousands of mummies. They were bought by collectors, by tourists as curios; they were turned into fertiliser, medicines – and many more spurious goods of trade; even the linen wrappings were turned into paper !  I was shocked and horrified.

Tess is an academic and it showed in her style of delivery – and it proved to be a really outstanding subject and talk.  Thanks Tess, I hope I get the chance to hear another of your talks.

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