Ancient Egyptian Collection
I make a point of visiting the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh a couple of times a month. It’s one of my favourite places and although I have only an hour for lunch, I manage to get around most of it during the year. There are always changes of course, with new exhibits making a welcome appearance, so I’m never sure what new treasures I’m going to find and enjoy from visit to visit.
I made a point of checking out the Ancient Egyptian Collection having recently been to see the interactive Tutankhamun exhibition. It’s not a huge exhibition, but there is still plenty to see. On display is one of four original plaster casts of the Rosetta Stone which was discovered in Egypt in 1799. One of these casts was sent to the University of Edinburgh and is now on show in the museum. I recall I saw the original in the British Museum in London in November 2019 when I was down giving a talk at a cyber security conference. My hotel was just round the corner from the museum, and I opted to take the hour tour they provide. This is free, and you grab a leaflet which highlights the location of what they consider to be the best pieces on display and then you follow the directions provided. The Rosetta Stone was on the list. The stone is covered in a script consisting of hieroglyphics, demotic and ancient Greek. The work on deciphering it by Jean-Francois Champollion led to a greater understanding of the Egyptian Coptic language so this find was of immense importance. I always like to buy a souvenir on my travels, so I purchased a small replica of the stone.
Back in the National Museum of Scotland, there is a mummified woman on display along with a fascinating film of the CT scanning process that displayed what was hidden within the bandages that she is wrapped in. These include an amulet which has been 3D-printed and put on show alongside her. This is a winged scarab which represents the sun god and rebirth.
There are some great examples of hieroglyphics (called ‘god’s words’) in Egyptian to look at along with various examples of objects that were buried along with the deceased. Of particular interest to me was a game described as a Senet board, with game pieces and knucklebones. The limestone board itself is a replica. It’s rectangular in shape divided into ten rows of three squares each. Five of the squares have symbols on them, one of which I imagine could be water. It reminded me that I may have a similar game based on this somewhere, but I haven’t seen it for years.
Having seen the display of writing materials, I’m glad I have my laptop and indeed my pens and paper. I can’t imagine writing much with what the ancient Egyptians had to use. Having said that, the items on show are around 1500 years BC so they did the job. I didn’t realise they had plaster-coated boards that could be wiped and used again, making it easy for students to practice their writing skills.
Another highlight for me was seeing the coins on display. I collect coins, though clearly in recent years with the move towards contactless payment, using cash is a rare thing. It got me thinking that the next generation coming into view this exhibition may never have handled or used coins and will be curious to know just what those round shiny, gold and silver objects are. Change, it seems, is constant.
The Fiction Factory 