Busy couple of days.....
Mr Cee took Wednesday off and we went to the Saatchi Gallery to see the Tutankhamun Exhibition. It was a lovely sunny day so travelling up to Sloane Square was so easy and rather pleasant. The exhibition has quite specific times for entry, but we didn't wait long to get in and we spent about two hours looking at all the amazing artifacts. This is the last chance to see them as they will being returning to Egypt to a specifically designed museum there which will display all the artifacts from the tomb and they won't travel again as they are getting too fragile. It was wonderful to see the different items close up, and we really enjoyed it - it's astounding to think that these items are over 3,000 years old and fashioned by artisans who were working with only the simplest of tools. Under the cut for some photos.
All the photos get bigger with a clicky - worth it for the detail......
Amazing treasures....
One of the wonderful statues which guarded the tomb and a close up
More treasures
We couldn't believe that textiles which are over 3,000 years old are still in one piece!
Ornamental shields showing Tutankhamun catching a lion by the tail - probably to show he was a great military leader (the lion representing a foe), and again as a sphynx subjugating the Nubian people.
The king making his way to the underworld
The God who opens the mouth of the dead once they have come back to life in the underworld.
We loved these little figures called Shabti - representations of the 'staff' for the Pharoah which would grow to full size and serve once the Pharoah was reborn. They were beautifully detailed...
I adored the wig on this one.
Coptic jar which would have contained mummified organs from the body and the cover above it.
A model of how the mummy was found and the golden items found near the wrappings over the mummy (there were items of jewellery under each set of wrappings, and there were many layers before you actually got near to the mummified body itself). We didn't get to see the wonderful golden mask as it's too fragile to travel now.
Annoying overhead lights are reflecting on the glass case.....
Some of the jewellery - astounding to know that they made this using crude tools.
This is one of the first necklaces to be found.
Modelled by the waterboy (Hussein Abdel-Rassoul) who first saw the step in the excavations which ended up leading down to the tomb and the amazing treasures.
This gold chest had some lovely images of Tutankhamun and his wife Ankhesenamun in their daily life doing things together....
Like this one -
Wacking great statue of Tutankhamun which would have stood in the tomb.
After his death a lot of the evidence of Tutankhamun was destroyed by the dynasties that followed. No-one quite knows why - it makes you realise how amazing it was that the treasures were found at all!
It was a really good exhibition although it was very crowded in parts - we couldn't believe how long we stayed there, but it was pretty stunning.
Today Mr Cee went into London to work, so I had a free day and decided to go to my local cinema to see Judy starring Renee Zellweger. It was shown as a Silver Cinema presentation which means I was entitled a free coffee and a biscuit as part of my £3 ticket price, however I decided to pop down early and treat myself to brunch in a nice local restaurant which was lovely. The film was very good I thought - the make up to transform Renee Zellweger was clever and she can certainly belt out a tune!
Thursdays are proving to be a bit of a challenge for me as I'm this is the second week I've not gone to bellydance class which is making me feel quite depressed as I really miss it.. I have to call a new consultant to see if they can sort out my knee tomorrow. This is the same consultant Mr Cee saw for his knee and he seemed to get much better advice than I got from the sports therapist I got referred to. I'm hoping that perhaps he can sort out whatever it is that's wrong with it (as I think the Posterial Cruciate ligament I originally damaged is pretty much OK now, so who knows what else I've done!).
Anyhoo - I'm trying to stay positive!
On to the 365 meme:
5 Would you rather go to an amusement park, a zoo, or a sporting event?
I do like a well run zoo - there are a lot in this country where the welfare of the animals is very clear to see is the most important part of the zoo. I like how breeding programmes are running in almost all the zoos here. I also like the fact that if you can't see the animals very well this is because they need to have some privacy! It's almost as if we are spectators on their world rather than them being there for our amusement. It's as it should be.
6 If you were to win a “shopping” spree in a store, where you could grab anything you want in five minutes, what store would you choose?
Jewellery! I'd just go nuts for the gold and diamonds :)
All the photos get bigger with a clicky - worth it for the detail......
Amazing treasures....
One of the wonderful statues which guarded the tomb and a close up
More treasures
We couldn't believe that textiles which are over 3,000 years old are still in one piece!
Ornamental shields showing Tutankhamun catching a lion by the tail - probably to show he was a great military leader (the lion representing a foe), and again as a sphynx subjugating the Nubian people.
The king making his way to the underworld
The God who opens the mouth of the dead once they have come back to life in the underworld.
We loved these little figures called Shabti - representations of the 'staff' for the Pharoah which would grow to full size and serve once the Pharoah was reborn. They were beautifully detailed...
I adored the wig on this one.
Coptic jar which would have contained mummified organs from the body and the cover above it.
A model of how the mummy was found and the golden items found near the wrappings over the mummy (there were items of jewellery under each set of wrappings, and there were many layers before you actually got near to the mummified body itself). We didn't get to see the wonderful golden mask as it's too fragile to travel now.
Annoying overhead lights are reflecting on the glass case.....
Some of the jewellery - astounding to know that they made this using crude tools.
This is one of the first necklaces to be found.
Modelled by the waterboy (Hussein Abdel-Rassoul) who first saw the step in the excavations which ended up leading down to the tomb and the amazing treasures.
This gold chest had some lovely images of Tutankhamun and his wife Ankhesenamun in their daily life doing things together....
Like this one -
Wacking great statue of Tutankhamun which would have stood in the tomb.
After his death a lot of the evidence of Tutankhamun was destroyed by the dynasties that followed. No-one quite knows why - it makes you realise how amazing it was that the treasures were found at all!
It was a really good exhibition although it was very crowded in parts - we couldn't believe how long we stayed there, but it was pretty stunning.
Today Mr Cee went into London to work, so I had a free day and decided to go to my local cinema to see Judy starring Renee Zellweger. It was shown as a Silver Cinema presentation which means I was entitled a free coffee and a biscuit as part of my £3 ticket price, however I decided to pop down early and treat myself to brunch in a nice local restaurant which was lovely. The film was very good I thought - the make up to transform Renee Zellweger was clever and she can certainly belt out a tune!
Thursdays are proving to be a bit of a challenge for me as I'm this is the second week I've not gone to bellydance class which is making me feel quite depressed as I really miss it.. I have to call a new consultant to see if they can sort out my knee tomorrow. This is the same consultant Mr Cee saw for his knee and he seemed to get much better advice than I got from the sports therapist I got referred to. I'm hoping that perhaps he can sort out whatever it is that's wrong with it (as I think the Posterial Cruciate ligament I originally damaged is pretty much OK now, so who knows what else I've done!).
Anyhoo - I'm trying to stay positive!
On to the 365 meme:
5 Would you rather go to an amusement park, a zoo, or a sporting event?
I do like a well run zoo - there are a lot in this country where the welfare of the animals is very clear to see is the most important part of the zoo. I like how breeding programmes are running in almost all the zoos here. I also like the fact that if you can't see the animals very well this is because they need to have some privacy! It's almost as if we are spectators on their world rather than them being there for our amusement. It's as it should be.
6 If you were to win a “shopping” spree in a store, where you could grab anything you want in five minutes, what store would you choose?
Jewellery! I'd just go nuts for the gold and diamonds :)