This weekend I travelled back in time. To a land of glittering gold and ivory, powerful pharaohs and priests, mystical mummies and burial masks. This weekend I travelled to ancient Egypt.
The last room had exhibits from Tutankhamen’s burial chamber and his mummy trappings. Although the actual shrines and mummies could not be transported out of Egypt, copper outlines on the floor gave a good sense of the size and complexity of the nested shrines and sarcophagi. Very Russian matryoshka doll-like. Also there were the mummy trappings, found in the bandages wrapped around King Tut’s mummy, including a pure gold dagger and sheath with stunningly intricate carvings.Outside the main exhibit, a National Geographic stand shows videos of the different researches and examinations carried out on Tutankhamun, and, finally – a full size replica of the mummy itself. In yet another proof of the immense impact of modern technology on the study of ancient history, this replica came out of a 3D printer. Yes that’s right. A company called “Materialise” uploaded scanned pictures of a mummy into their computer and “printed” a 3 dimensional clone of the Tutankhamun’s mummy. The process ofcourse is more involved and painstaking than clicking the print icon on your laptop, but it is fascinating how advances in technology makes ancient history so much more accessible to the common man. It is thanks to technology that these artefacts can be easily and securely transferred across continents. It is thanks to technology that 3,000 year old mysteries can be solved. And it is thanks to technology that this weekend I could travel back in time.
Growing up on a more than healthy dose of curse-of-the-Egyptian-mummy stories, the myths and mysteries of ancient Egypt have always fascinated me. So when the world famous Tutankhamun exhibit finally came to Melbourne, there was no force on earth that could keep me away. And I came back as spellbound as I had hoped to be. Thanks to the marvels of modern technology, the life and times of these kings who lived well over 3,000 years ago came alive in a steel and glass building just metres away from the hustle and bustle of Melbourne on a spring weekend.
The exhibition started with a short 3D film on researchers and explorers piecing together these ancient puzzles using technologies of the times. Exploration and finding of the almost intact tomb in the 1920s, an anatomical examination of the unwrapped mummy soon after, X ray in the 1960s, a CT scan in 2005 and finally a DNA testing around 2009. Evolution of technology helped scientists solve more and more of these mysteries, including charting out a family tree! Just from a collection of shrivelled up 3,000 year old mummified bodies, and microscopic amounts of organic material injected out from them, we now know how Tutankhamun married his half-sister, and his mother was not his father’s wife but his sister. We know who his grandparents and great grandparents and great aunts were. Hieroglyphic notes together with DNA proved relations tell us stories of which relative gifted each of the treasures in these tombs. History had never been more real and interesting!
The exhibition started with a short 3D film on researchers and explorers piecing together these ancient puzzles using technologies of the times. Exploration and finding of the almost intact tomb in the 1920s, an anatomical examination of the unwrapped mummy soon after, X ray in the 1960s, a CT scan in 2005 and finally a DNA testing around 2009. Evolution of technology helped scientists solve more and more of these mysteries, including charting out a family tree! Just from a collection of shrivelled up 3,000 year old mummified bodies, and microscopic amounts of organic material injected out from them, we now know how Tutankhamun married his half-sister, and his mother was not his father’s wife but his sister. We know who his grandparents and great grandparents and great aunts were. Hieroglyphic notes together with DNA proved relations tell us stories of which relative gifted each of the treasures in these tombs. History had never been more real and interesting!
There were room after room of dazzling displays. Wooden chairs inlaid with ebony, ivory and gold that hardly looked a 50 years old, let alone 3,000. The remarkably intact string seat on one of the chairs. Egyptian throwing sticks that looked uncannily similar to Australian boomerangs. Figurines of slaves that would run errands for the kings in their afterlives. Tiny models of games that the pharaohs could play. Golden shrines that housed incredibly artistic canopic jars to house the internal organs of the king. Coffins. Elaborately designed jewellery found in the wrappings around the mummy. Chests to hold the jewellery. Splendid gold death masks studded with expensive jewels and gems. Shiny blue scarabs that made me shiver, making me wonder if they would suddenly come alive and tunnel into our bodies for daring to disturb the eternal rest of the Boy King.
An audio guide told me more about the significance of the articles, sometimes pointing out black and white pictures showing where and how the objects in that room were first found.
As an aside – interior designing must not have evolved much by 1300 BC. These priceless items were pretty much stacked on top of each other like the backroom of a warehouse. Or maybe the dead did not care for furniture placement, who knows!
As an aside – interior designing must not have evolved much by 1300 BC. These priceless items were pretty much stacked on top of each other like the backroom of a warehouse. Or maybe the dead did not care for furniture placement, who knows!
The last room had exhibits from Tutankhamen’s burial chamber and his mummy trappings. Although the actual shrines and mummies could not be transported out of Egypt, copper outlines on the floor gave a good sense of the size and complexity of the nested shrines and sarcophagi. Very Russian matryoshka doll-like. Also there were the mummy trappings, found in the bandages wrapped around King Tut’s mummy, including a pure gold dagger and sheath with stunningly intricate carvings.
To look out for this and other exhibits in Melbourne:
1. Subscribe to websites that collate events in your city. The top ones for Melbourne are What’s on - That’s Melbourne and Only Melbourne. Ticket selling organisations such as Ticketek or Ticketmaster also have a good collection of upcoming events and you can customise based on types of events you like.
2. Check Friday editions of local newspapers for their suggestions on what to do that weekend
3. Keep your eyes peeled for event advertisements, especially around the CBD and on public transport.
