Born in Arizona, Moved to Babylonia…*

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

During the Julie-moving/Mom-in-Indy weekend Andy and I got to head to the Children’s Museum for the King Tut exhibit. Which, seriously, Indy dwellers who are reading this, you need to hightail it downtown and see it before it leaves in a few weeks.

Maybe I’m a little biased, though, since Egyptian art and artifacts are my absolute favorite. It was my Egyptology class in college that spurred me into getting my bonus degree in anthropology. I find their religion (or religions, I should say, since it all changed quite often) to be incredibly beautiful. The Eye of Horus, the Book of the Dead, weighing your heart against a feather to see if you can pass to the afterlife, the scarab beetle rolling the sun across the sky each day.

The exhibit was filled with many beautiful objects, belonging not only to King Tut but also to other rulers. Lots of busts and statues, as well as intricate jewelry and even a latrine. My favorite non-Tut item was a gorgeous wooden box with vibrant blue inlays; the color was gorgeous and it had a blessing for the recipient repeated around the circumference.

The King Tut items were staged in order of what tomb rooms they were discovered in. We saw his bed and a chair and a wooden coffin. A plain wooden box forced us to hide our tears from the other exhibit-goers; its description said it hadn’t been looted by the ancients because it contained coffins of his infant daughters. Andy and I will always feel a kinship with others who have lost babies, even if they’re Egyptian leaders who lived thousands of years ago.

We saw the gold sandals that Tut’s mummy wore and his gold finger and toe coverings (gold was said to be the skin of the gods). My favorite gold item—favorite item of the whole exhibit, actually—was a gold and inlay coffinette that held some of Tut’s organs. It was so intricate that I could have stood there for an hour looking at it, despite it being only a little over a foot high.

All of the treasures were beautiful, but sadly, photography wasn’t allowed. Have no fear, though, Andy and I were nice enough to reenact the exhibit for you.




*you were totally singing the Steve Martin song while you were reading this, weren't you?

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