Streets of London : Tales from stone and stele

Today turned out a wee bit wet so we packed our brollies and did the smart thing, headed indoors to the British Museum, although, as often happens, the rain stopped as soon as we entered and the weather was fine for the rest of the day.

Enroute, we came across another of the little green shelters we occasionally see on our jaunts around London. There are only thirteen of these left, we discovered, but they are a delightful hangover from an earlier era, when a group of kindly benefactors set up a fund to assist drivers of hansom and hackney cabs who, by law, were not able to leave their cab stand while they were parked, so, were often unable to get food on a shift. These Cabmen shelters were conceived, set up with attendants to make tea, cook food, and provide space for cold, tired and hungry cabbies who were able to park along side for their tea break. They function even today and the public is able to purchase a cup of tea and a bacon butty, here, as long as they allow cabbies to go first in the queue.

We shortcut through Russell Square, which, like Covent Garden, was built at the behest of one of the Dukes of Bedford, who, in the 18th century, had his old Bloomsbury home nearby demolished and its pastures converted into homes for the wealthy around this beautiful square garden made to swirl with serpentine paths leading to a larger horseshoe path in the middle, curving under a canopy of lime trees.

We entered the Great Court of the British Museum flooded with light through its glass dome topping the round Reading Room at its heart, all guarded by lions. We long ago realised we appreciate galleries and museums more if we focus on just one artist, or one era, in any one visit. So, today we decided to follow just one civilisation and learn as much as we could about it. Though we hope to come back many times to do others, as it is all so accessible.

The central display in the first gallery on the first floor really defined our day. This display was the amazing Rosetta Stone, known and treasured since my school studies in Ancient History in year 12. So, our focus today was to be Egypt. This fragment of larger stone was found as building rubble in the African desert in 1799. It came at a time when experts were unable to decipher Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, and as Egypt was one of the earliest great civilisations with many remnant steles that were still indecipherable, it became a vital discovery, as this piece shows the same message in three different languages: the top third in Ancient Egyptian, the middle in Medieval Egyptian, the lower third in Greek. The latter two languages were known and understood. So experts were now able to unlock the ancient hieroglyphs and use that discovery to read other stones and monuments that have given us rich information about early Egypt.

The key to unlocking the code can be seen in the sixth row from the top: the three elongated circles. These turned out to be the name of the pharaoh, Ptolemy. With this clarification it was only a matter of time before the meaning of the other characters became known. Not far from the Rosetta Stone we found King Rameses 11, probably the last of the great Pharaohs. Rameses 11 liked building things: big statues, big temples, big tombs and he had a very long reign, so was well able to plaster his name over many big monuments in his lifetime. ‘Foo was here’.

A huge monolithic statue of him in its original format must have been immense, but, sadly, it was found toppled, in pieces, broken in the sand. A warning to powerful men of similar ilk. As was a massive statue of the head of Amenhotep, found separated from his huge strong arm. Amenhotep's statue shows him wearing two crowns. The pointed half represents the symbol for a ruler of Upper Egypt. The flat headpiece below, is the symbol for the ruler of Lower Egypt. Together, the two signify power. Amenhotep wears bragging rites to the fact, that for time, he ruled a united Egypt. His bodyguard, the lion-headed goddess, Sakhmet, stands ready to spring to his defence on demand.

Cats were particularly honoured by the Egyptians. They were not worshipped but were considered mediators between the living and the gods. Temples had their own cat estates, breeding sacred cats who then had to have specialist feeders, priests, and embalmers. To honour their god, pilgrims visiting these temples would often leave donations that allowed cats to be embalmed. Cat cemeteries have been enlightening: some cats have been found with their necks broken. So, very likely there were sacrificial killings prior to some embalmments, as offerings to the gods.

Pharaohs were protected, Egyptians believed, by the gods. And gods were seen as animals: smarter than humans: stronger, fiercer, faster. A stone ram we saw represents the god, Amun, the king of the gods. He is cast with a pharaoh tucked under his chin, protecting him. But, not even Amun could protect a Pharaoh forever. Eventually a pharaoh died. When he did, his body was taken and prepared for burial. All the organs: the liver, lungs, stomach, and intestines, but not the heart, were removed and stored in Canopic jars. These jars were placed close to the coffin, during burial, in a special niche, or a rectangular box.

The body with the heart in situ was then mummified. Any cavities were filled with pitch, then dried out. The corpse was tightly bandaged with hundreds of yards of linen strips from head to toe. Some mummy bandages were monographed. Some were fine, expensive linen. Some were torn from old clothing and remnant bedsheets as can be seen from the recycled blue-edged linen sample. There were many layers to the process: wide lengths of linen were followed by thin strips. Mud and earth were often patted into the body cavities to make the acceptable mummified shape. Some of the linen layers were drenched in resin to get a tight fit. Some of these mummy wrappings are extraordinarily skilful, amazingly complex wrappings.

We saw mummy of a child’s left foot. The wrappings simulate the foot enclosed in walking sandals. Amulets for the dead were veru carefully arranged. Funeral recitations and incantations happened over many days as the process was taking place. Sometimes a decorated shroud, often dyed reddish-pink, was placed over a wrapped corpse. Some of these shrouds are very beautiful. Sometimes painted or carved panels were made up as images typifying the dead. Scarabs, symbols of resurrection, were often included in the burial. Oftentimes small figurines, or Shabti, symbolising helpers in the afterlife were left in the burial place. And tokens: such as this black granite offering, depicting food and drink, were left for comfort.

The mummified corpse was often placed into a wooden cask, and sometimes many layers of casks, inside the final stone sarcophagus. This was often heavily decorated in hieroglyphic extracts from the Book of the Dead, which were like magic spells giving the soul rite of access into eternity. The more powerful the person to be buried, the more amazing the burial place. Walls of tombs were often bedecked with beautiful glass mosaics, a skill the Greeks and Romans learned from the Egyptians.

Tombs the size of pyramids were likely built for the Pharaohs. While humble folk were often buried very simply, their worldly possessions placed around the folded corpse. At Ginger's burial place, a humble soul, some of his red hair was still present.

While we were at the British Museum there was a terrorist incident on Westminster Bridge just about a mile and a half away and that part of London was in uproar. None of which we even knew until we came home via our easy Hammersmith hub, and saw a temporary sign up in our bus station, noting that Westminster busses were temporarily delayed. We wondered why. We found out when we arrived home. It was a sad evening in London.