Walk like an Egyptian?

My first day at the Kelsey Museum was pretty awesome. Unlike other internships I've had in the past, they actually had relevant work for me to do. I told them about my idea to write a blog and asked them if they had any recommendations for topics to write about. They told me that the Kelsey museum was famous for its large collection of every day objects in Egypt. This is quite unusual as early excavations considered objects of great value such as jewelry and other elaborate objects that weren't already stolen by tomb raiders "great discoveries." When they told me this, I immediately thought that these objects would be more valuable as they are less common. they told me that they were probably less valuable monetarily, but as far as informational value goes they rank above many objects that come from this area.

I think most people have an idea of Egypt as being an exquisite culture where people only ate from golden plates and were commemorated through elaborate burial customs. We come up with these representation because we often don't hear about cultural discoveries outside of the burial traditions. Check out the fancy picture of Elizabeth Taylor playing her role as Cleopatra in the 1963 film. If you're feeling ambitious, search for the music video of "Walk like an Egyptian" by the Bangles.

There was an exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston that I visited called, "The Secrets of tomb 10a" and it was notable not only for the sarcophagi and human remains, but a majority of its contents were wooden figures performing every day activities such as farming, herding, and making beer. (This exhibit is running until May 16th if you're ever in the Boston area). you don't have to travel all the way to Boston the get an idea of everyday Egyptian life! The next time you have a break between classes or you're a little early to meet somebody and you're looking for some time to kill, just walk inside the Kelsey Museum and check out some of these objects. When I checked them out I was pretty amazed.

Within the collection displayed at the Kelsey, these types of objects are numerous. There are wooden doors, boxes, seats, and sandals. There's even a small wooden horse and rag doll found within the tomb of a child: very interesting. One particular object that I found of interest is a broken glass conical lamp and a set of dice. What's interesting about these objects, however, is how they were discovered. The dice were found inside the conical lamp, which has lead experts to believe that this lamp was actually used as a dice cup.

Egyptian tombs were created to bring souls into the after life, and every object placed within a tomb was put there for a particular reason and purposely arranged. It's as if the Egyptians wanted to be discovered (well, at least those who could afford proper burial). So, obviously, tombs have been a good resource of information, but rather a skewed resource of information. These discoveries of everyday objects give us insight into another whole component of Egyptian life, and for this they are extremely valuable.