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| Treasures from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, UCL, Burrell Museum |
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On a dull Saturday, in what is supposed to be the height of summer (flaming June indeed!), assorted members of the Scottish Forum Friends met at the entrance to Glasgow’s Burrell Museum. The restrictions of the Foot and Mouth outbreak meant that we had all been disinfected on the way into Pollok Park, but I was glad to see that they were no longer making visitors walk over disinfective mats on the way into the building. Good, that obviously meant that all the shaggy beasts were outside in the park, and not inside the museum!
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The full roll call read:- Co., Jacks, Nancy (their mother), with Siobhan and Amy (both 8), Douglas, Laura, and their girls Catriona and Eleanor, Alison and her friend Lorraine, myself (Valerie), Joshua, and my friend Lorraine (yes, another one – either very confusing, or it made it easier to remember people’s names, according to one’s preference!)We exchanged greetings with old friends, and got acquainted with new ones, then moved into the museum to purchase tickets for the exhibition we had come to see. As has become customary with our visits (after all some people have to travel a fair distance to our meetings), the first stop was the coffee shop. A good natter soon got folk in the mood for the activities of the day, and we all moved into the exhibition room. We had come to see “Digging For Dreams : Treasures from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, University College London“. The exhibition had various themes. As well as the standard displays of Egyptian artefacts, and the timelines comparing Egyptian history with events in other parts of the world, the exhibition explored some less familiar ideas. The first section looked at why we, in the modern world, find ancient Egypt so fascinating. An interesting display asked the viewer to attempt to differentiate between real ancient artefacts and some very clever fakes.
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Fortunately for most of us, the answers were available underneath the label! This part of the exhibition ended with a clip from the old black and white film “The Mummy”, just to reinforce our modern stereotype of ancient Egyptian culture. The exhibition also makes an interesting point about our view of “Egyptian culture” by showing that Tutankhamun’s time was as far removed from the builders of the pyramids, as we are from the Vikings! So, to talk about one Egyptian civilisation is, at best, misleading.Another section of the exhibition looks at the career of Flinders Petrie. The catalogue of the exhibition tells us that “as well as being a scholar, Petrie was also a great popularist. He believed that archaeology had a great deal to teach and was relevant to the important issues of his time. He also believed that non-specialists deserved high quality information about the ancient world.” Makes him sound like the Tony Robinson of his day!!
Everyone enjoyed their tour of the displays, there was plenty of serious information to satisfy the academic interest, whilst at the same time there were hands-on things to keep the youngsters happy (e.g. look into a polished bronze mirror and see yourself in Egyptian make-up). There was also the obligatory computer to play with, but I was told that it could have done with an overhaul as the mouse was extremely difficult to control.
One part of the exhibition that was dealt with particularly sensitively, was that dealing with the Egyptian cult of death. There is much debate today about whether it is ethically or morally correct to display the remains of the long-dead. However, it would be difficult to get around our expectations of Egyptian exhibitions and not to display something about mummies. There were no complete mummies to be seen here, but there were unwrapped body parts – a hand and a head. They were in a case with a curtain over it, giving the visitor the choice of whether or not they viewed this particular display. Visitors were also invited to make a voice offering to the individuals represented in the exhibition, as would have been the tradition of their religious practices.
After everyone had had their fill of “Digging For Dreams”, a little extra time was spent looking round other parts of the Burrell, either the rest of the displays, or the shop (each according to his own!). At this point unfortunately, one of Douglas’s young daughters was not feeling well, and so the family had no option but to cut short their day out and take her home. Regretfully, we said our goodbyes with promises to meet at the next SFF outing! The remaining group piled into our cars and set off for the local family-friendly pub for a convivial lunch (and no, that doesn’t mean a lot of alcohol was consumed – we were driving remember!)
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| photos by co |
report by Valerie Reilly |
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