Unwrapping a mummy...
Yesterday daiseechain and I went up to the Barts Hospital pathology museum for the Odette Toilette Mummy Unwrapping event. We met up at Farringdon station and walked around to the museum in Barts Hospital, where we were greeted with a choice of either gin, dry sherry or madeira to drink (I had the sherry which was very nice). We then had around half an hour to look at the exhibits before the event started.
The museum is not for the squeamish as the specimens on view on the floor we were allowed to look at consist mostly of organs and bones with various nasty diseases. We were only allowed to view the specimens that were over 100 years old (for various legal reasons), so the diseases included such nasties as 'chimney sweeps lung' and syphilis (which truly does awful things to various parts of your body!). daiseechain and I loved it!
The evening started with an introduction to the mummy unwrapping party and what became of the mummys which were brought back to the UK and Europe. We heard that mummy dust was used as a face powder and used as a medicine in an attempt to grant immortality or to cure all ills (more here). The dust was also used to form the pigment of a brown paint used by the Pre-Raphaelites. So much for respecting the dead!
The venue was really atmospheric - the upper galleries of the museum:
The lights were dimmed and after the introduction the mummy was brought out:
We were taken through the unwrapping by John J Johnston and items such as shallots were found in the wrappings. The basic principles of mummification were explained as the mummy's bandages were removed. It was very interesting, but the light levels were very low so I didn't manage to get many photos. However there are a selection here on John J Johnston's Twitter account.
As we went through Lizzie Ostrom (Odette Toilette) took us through the scents we would have been exposed to including the tobacco scent from the people who were smoking while excavating the mummy, green beeswax (beeswax cooked in copper vessels) sealing the bandages, shallots from the mummy, lichen used to pack the body, frankincense and myrhh used as part of the embalming process and bitumen. It was all very fascinating.
The hour was over too quickly, and right at the end the 'mummy' was revealed to be someone who had been made up to look like a thousand year old corpse and he sat up :) Great fun!
A very blurry photo:
Here he is afterwards having a well deserved drink (still too dark for my iPhone!):
After which we had a quick chat with all the participants and then set off to make our ways home. I got in at 9.30 which was less than an hour of travel (good old South Eastern trains). Lizzie Ostrom was quite heavily pregnant so I expect we shall not have an opportunity to attend one of her events for a little while, but I shall certainly look out for some more events next year as she does have some good ideas for ways to experience scent!
Today I have been putting up pictures and I have cleaned up the printer's tray and put it on the wall. I think it looks good and I do like the handle of the tray.
Youngest Cee says I need more colourful things on there - so I shall be on the lookout for more little items to display.
The museum is not for the squeamish as the specimens on view on the floor we were allowed to look at consist mostly of organs and bones with various nasty diseases. We were only allowed to view the specimens that were over 100 years old (for various legal reasons), so the diseases included such nasties as 'chimney sweeps lung' and syphilis (which truly does awful things to various parts of your body!). daiseechain and I loved it!
The evening started with an introduction to the mummy unwrapping party and what became of the mummys which were brought back to the UK and Europe. We heard that mummy dust was used as a face powder and used as a medicine in an attempt to grant immortality or to cure all ills (more here). The dust was also used to form the pigment of a brown paint used by the Pre-Raphaelites. So much for respecting the dead!
The venue was really atmospheric - the upper galleries of the museum:
The lights were dimmed and after the introduction the mummy was brought out:
We were taken through the unwrapping by John J Johnston and items such as shallots were found in the wrappings. The basic principles of mummification were explained as the mummy's bandages were removed. It was very interesting, but the light levels were very low so I didn't manage to get many photos. However there are a selection here on John J Johnston's Twitter account.
As we went through Lizzie Ostrom (Odette Toilette) took us through the scents we would have been exposed to including the tobacco scent from the people who were smoking while excavating the mummy, green beeswax (beeswax cooked in copper vessels) sealing the bandages, shallots from the mummy, lichen used to pack the body, frankincense and myrhh used as part of the embalming process and bitumen. It was all very fascinating.
The hour was over too quickly, and right at the end the 'mummy' was revealed to be someone who had been made up to look like a thousand year old corpse and he sat up :) Great fun!
A very blurry photo:
Here he is afterwards having a well deserved drink (still too dark for my iPhone!):
After which we had a quick chat with all the participants and then set off to make our ways home. I got in at 9.30 which was less than an hour of travel (good old South Eastern trains). Lizzie Ostrom was quite heavily pregnant so I expect we shall not have an opportunity to attend one of her events for a little while, but I shall certainly look out for some more events next year as she does have some good ideas for ways to experience scent!
Today I have been putting up pictures and I have cleaned up the printer's tray and put it on the wall. I think it looks good and I do like the handle of the tray.
Youngest Cee says I need more colourful things on there - so I shall be on the lookout for more little items to display.