I don't think I'll ever be able to describe the way I felt when I visited the British Museum.
Ever.
Ever.
My visit to the British Museum was the first time I had ever been close to Egyptian artefacts, and for me this was such a big thing!! Let me explain...
Egypt is my thing. It always has been. It always will be. It's essentially my lifeblood, my passion, perhaps the very foundations of my soul? Few of you will understand... most will think I'm crazy. :)
This is because of my Nana. She is my biggest inspiration in life, and although she is gone now, she still remains a massive part of my life -to the extent that I am getting a tribute to her inked eternally into my skin in a few weeks. She went to Egypt when I was about 2 years old, and when she returned to England she brought back postcards and souvernirs... I was amazed. She told me stories of Egyptian gods and showed me pictures of tombs and pyramids. The feeling I experienced then was like nothing ever before - I needed, needed, to know who the Egyptians were. I wanted to know what they built, why they built it, why they wrote in heiroglyphics, what they thought,, how they were different to us... I wanted to know absolutely everything. As a young child, Ancient Egypt captivated me... and that feeling has never changed.
When Nana passed, she left me all of her Egyptian things - amongst them was a scarab amulet that she had wore for as long as I can remember. It is my single most treasured possession, and I doubt that that will ever change.
ANYWAY! Back the the British Museum!
When Mum and Dad told me that we were going to England for a holiday, I demanded that we needed to go to the museum. In fact, I remember telling them that if they didn't take me, I'd make the trip myself. (We were visiting Northern England, by the way, so we weren't close to London at all.) So, near the end of our English adventure, we planned to visit London. My parents fervently hate cities, so we were going to the museum and only the museum. No arguments.
We awoke at 4am and piled into the car ready for our 3 hour drive down to London. I can't even remember what the temperature was, but I remember it hurt. A lot.
I slept most of the way, and when we got into London, we found a car park way too easily. Everything was falling into place. :)
It was a delightful -4 degrees - Welcome to England.
Egypt is my thing. It always has been. It always will be. It's essentially my lifeblood, my passion, perhaps the very foundations of my soul? Few of you will understand... most will think I'm crazy. :)
This is because of my Nana. She is my biggest inspiration in life, and although she is gone now, she still remains a massive part of my life -to the extent that I am getting a tribute to her inked eternally into my skin in a few weeks. She went to Egypt when I was about 2 years old, and when she returned to England she brought back postcards and souvernirs... I was amazed. She told me stories of Egyptian gods and showed me pictures of tombs and pyramids. The feeling I experienced then was like nothing ever before - I needed, needed, to know who the Egyptians were. I wanted to know what they built, why they built it, why they wrote in heiroglyphics, what they thought,, how they were different to us... I wanted to know absolutely everything. As a young child, Ancient Egypt captivated me... and that feeling has never changed.
When Nana passed, she left me all of her Egyptian things - amongst them was a scarab amulet that she had wore for as long as I can remember. It is my single most treasured possession, and I doubt that that will ever change.
ANYWAY! Back the the British Museum!
When Mum and Dad told me that we were going to England for a holiday, I demanded that we needed to go to the museum. In fact, I remember telling them that if they didn't take me, I'd make the trip myself. (We were visiting Northern England, by the way, so we weren't close to London at all.) So, near the end of our English adventure, we planned to visit London. My parents fervently hate cities, so we were going to the museum and only the museum. No arguments.
We awoke at 4am and piled into the car ready for our 3 hour drive down to London. I can't even remember what the temperature was, but I remember it hurt. A lot.
I slept most of the way, and when we got into London, we found a car park way too easily. Everything was falling into place. :)
It was a delightful -4 degrees - Welcome to England.
I was so so sooooo excited...
When we got in there, it was... amazing. The museum itself is a masterpiece. If the artefacts were removed and the building alone remained, I would pay entry just to see it again.
When we got in there, it was... amazing. The museum itself is a masterpiece. If the artefacts were removed and the building alone remained, I would pay entry just to see it again.
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| This is the inside of the British Museum. It boasts perhaps the most beautiful contemporary Romanesque architecture I have ever seen. |
We toured the whole museum, but there were only a few rooms dedicated solely to Ancient Egypt. While they were amazing, I was devastated. In my head I had envisioned towering Egyptian statues, but they were no where to be seen..... yet. ;)
In the Egypt room we encountered countless artefacts; including mummies, canopic jars and jewellery- lots and lots of jewellery... and not only mummified people either - no, no, no... mummified animals too! There was a mummified Water Buffalo, Falcon, Ibis, Baboon and an Eel. 'Twas pretty cool, if I may say so myself.
In the Egypt room we encountered countless artefacts; including mummies, canopic jars and jewellery- lots and lots of jewellery... and not only mummified people either - no, no, no... mummified animals too! There was a mummified Water Buffalo, Falcon, Ibis, Baboon and an Eel. 'Twas pretty cool, if I may say so myself.
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| An Ancient Egyptian mummy. |
Some people were creeped out by the mummies, but I personally think they're pretty damn awesome. I mean... theres a body of an Ancient Egyptian... an actual Ancient Egyptian... right there, underneath those wrappings... Can you imagine what that person would have experienced?! That person once lived, breathed and saw Ancient Egypt in all of its glory.
I'm so jealous of that person lying there, encased in thousands of years old bandages.
I wandered these rooms encapsulated by the displays for what felt like only 20 minutes, turns out it was about an hour. I photographed everything, every single little thing, hoping to relive my visit when I flipped through my photo albums but, of course, it will never be the same.
We came across the other Egypt room by sheer chance. And I'm so so SO happy that we did.
One of the things I wanted to buy at the museum was a book that has essentially become my bible over the years, 'The British Museum Dictionary of Ancient Egypt'. Previously, I had been continually loaning it from the local library and copying out the pieces that intruiged me most, as the book was not sold in Australia. As it is quite big and heavy, the postage charges from another country would have been almost painful. My mum and I found it in the main gift shop, but the cover was all scratched and marked, and being quite perfectionist about the condition in which I keep my books, this simply wouldn't do. So, I took to the map to find another shop, and found a book shop inside the museum. To get to the book shop, we had to go through a massive room - but the map didn't say what was within this room... turns out this room was an Egypt-lovers heaven.
Thankyou so much for scratching those books, unknown British Museum worker... without you I wouldn't have found one of my favourite places on this Earth.
I'm so jealous of that person lying there, encased in thousands of years old bandages.
I wandered these rooms encapsulated by the displays for what felt like only 20 minutes, turns out it was about an hour. I photographed everything, every single little thing, hoping to relive my visit when I flipped through my photo albums but, of course, it will never be the same.
We came across the other Egypt room by sheer chance. And I'm so so SO happy that we did.
One of the things I wanted to buy at the museum was a book that has essentially become my bible over the years, 'The British Museum Dictionary of Ancient Egypt'. Previously, I had been continually loaning it from the local library and copying out the pieces that intruiged me most, as the book was not sold in Australia. As it is quite big and heavy, the postage charges from another country would have been almost painful. My mum and I found it in the main gift shop, but the cover was all scratched and marked, and being quite perfectionist about the condition in which I keep my books, this simply wouldn't do. So, I took to the map to find another shop, and found a book shop inside the museum. To get to the book shop, we had to go through a massive room - but the map didn't say what was within this room... turns out this room was an Egypt-lovers heaven.
Thankyou so much for scratching those books, unknown British Museum worker... without you I wouldn't have found one of my favourite places on this Earth.
I vividly remember walking into the room.
It literally took my breath away.
It literally took my breath away.
I was surrounded by statues, towering iconic Egyptian statues, the kind that I had dreamed about seeing for over a decade. I can't even begin to describe what they were like... There were simply incredible.
If there is ever a zombie apocolypse, THIS is where I am going. I want to - scratch that - need to live there, and this is the only situation in which this will become possible. If any of you guys become zombies, and come looking for me - that's not cool.
Tashhh x
