Every now and then an interesting exhibition comes to town. This time it's the Egyptian Mummies From the British Museum - Exploring Ancient Lives. The exhibition has been on since the middle of November and is closing soon, Feb.18.
Last Friday I finally took the kids to see the exhibit. The downside of exhibitions from abroad is that they are very crowded, it's hard to believe that so many people would be interested in the ancient Egypt. It was quite obvious that most of the people were learning about mummies for the first time, it was taking them for ever to read all the information on the walls.
The whole exhibit is divided into six parts, each one showcasing a different individual who lived in ancient Egypt from about 900 BC to about AD 180. First we saw Nestwedjat, a wealthy married woman from Thebes. Next was Tamut, a Chantress of Amun and a daughter of a priest of the god Amun, king of gods. Third was Irthorru, a priest from Akhmim who was serving several gods. His body has been carefully mummified and quite a few amulets were placed on his body to protect him in the afterlife. Another mummy is the one of a temple singer from Thebes. She was portrayed as a young woman wearing delicate jewellery. It was interesting to see a small mummy of a young child, about two years old. It was not usual to mummify children in ancient Egypt, but this mummy is from the Roman times during which more and more children were mummified. CT scans showed that it's a small boy, the intricately decorated coffin shows a child holding a rose and myrtle bouquet. The last mummy and coffin are completely different to the previous ones, it carries a wooden panel showing the portrait of the deceased. The picture shows a young dark haired man with thick eyebrows and big eyes.
Before visiting the museum I read with Ania a few books on ancient Egypt. Thanks to that she was well prepared and even had some interesting questions.
W also watched two videos (both in Polish):
If you are in Taipei and have a bit of time in the next three weeks, be sure to drop by the Palace Museum to see the Egyptian Mummies.
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