British Museum - Lesson 1

Welcome to the British Museum



I'll be your guide for today (Sorry, you don't have much of a choice)



Our tour today will be about the Egyptians and their neighbouring countries...

You would have to climb this nice flight of steps to reach the Egyptian exhibit. Please do not stop to take pics as we would want to avoid crowds today.. the Egyptian exhibit is popular with the crowd.




To your right, you would be able to see a chic cafe or eatery ... but please do not be distracted and pause here.. we'll come back here later after the tour (riiiight... as if...haha)



As you are about to enter the Egyptian area of the museum, look at what is hanging above the entrance...



Here's the information about the panel hanging above the entrance...



Walking further to our Eyptian sector of the museum, you would be able to see the Phoenician Coffin below of the 5th Century B.C. This white marble anthropoid coffin shows a male head wearing an Egyptian style headdress. Coffins of the Graeco-Egyptian type have been found in large numbers at the Phoenician city of Sidon, but examples are also known from Cyprus, Sicily and Gades (Cadiz).



Moving on ... to the center of the room you would be able to view the granite head of a 19th Dynasty Pharaoh. The granite head is wearing a royal headdress which depicts a new kingdom pharaoh, possibly Ramses II.



The next head you see here is a basalt head of an Ammonite King (during the Iron Age II, 8th Century B.C, from Amman). It is wearing an Egyptian style headdress and was found in the Zarqa river bed of Amman. It's one of a number of pieces that are similar in their designs that were recovered from the region of Amman and which seem to represent a local school of free-standing sculpture. The piece is thought to depict a king or possibly a god.



And the from the picture below, you can see ammonite face potteries made of granite.



Next, will give you 'insight' to how the insides of an Egyptian coffin looks like:



Ever wondered how an Egyptian harp looks like? Check this out:



Does it fit your imagination closely? Well, good on ya if it does!

Further down the Egyptian room, you will be able to find many fragments of Egyptian scrolls and one of them can be seen from the picture below:



Before you read the words, look at the sculpture in the picture below.... notice that the sculpture has got big ears as compared to the one above (e.g. Ramses II.), there is a symbolic meaning... read the information in the picture!!! (hahaha.. no spoon-feeding.. if it's 2 small u can let me know..I'll run that with you on a personal level..)



The 'Gayer-Anderson' Cat...



To know more about this cat... read on...(too long to type here... ur guide is lazy.. sorry..heheh)



These are the linen clothe and some items used for mummification:



Look at the intricate design of the coffin. This coffin is for males.. See the coffin head.. portraying a male figure.



And the female coffins:



Riight... okie, enough of coffins for now (Shudder..shudder) as it is 1147pm currently, ur lazy guide here is about to knock off for bed already... so we'll continue our next exploration lesson of the British Museum yah?

Hope you learn something new today...