Museums of Interest to Visit

So, while in the UK we are a fair way away from Egypt, there are still plenty of interesting places around the UK, and in Europe a bit further afield to visit that have relevance to the study of ancient Kemet. Here is a place in which we can discuss such places.

UK:

  • British Museum (London) - an excellent starting point, aside for needing to travel to London for this, which can be expensive. However, the collection is stunning, and huge.

  • The Petrie Museum of Egyptology (London) - not far from the BM, the Petrie Museum is a small gem of a museum tucked away on a side street round the corner from the Gower Street Waterstones. It houses some very impressive items, including teh world famous net dress, and the oldest surviving clothing ever found.

  • The Oriental Museum of Durham - only a small room in the museum, but Durham University’s Oriental Museum is still pleasant to visit if you’re in the area. It has a couple of Romano-Egyptian mummies.

  • World Museum (Liverpool) - home to over 16,000 items from Kemet and Nubia.

  • Sir John Soane’s Museum (London)

That should be a good starting place for now.

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So love the Petrie. Lots to see while small, you can still spend all day there. I did a wonderful hands on day there with the EES a year or so ago. Well worth looking out for another curator trip, got to see lots of bits in the draws which they don’t have out that often, handled some amazingly small articles and a great talk too. Plus, we were alone so just a small group.

BM I love but can get a bit too busy for me. Again the EES visit to the Book of The Dead some years ago was amazing. Late at night with no one in there, just a few of us running around like kids all excited. :slight_smile:

I really want to may the Ashmolen a visit.

I adore The Petrie. I only managed a super short flying visit there once, but I want to go back. I’d love to get to have a really in depth chance to examine stuff and properly chat with the more experienced people working there about the collection. I find it utterly heartbreaking that it’s under threat.

I’ve not managed to get to The Ashmolean yet, but would like to go some day.

I agree, the BM is amazing, but a tad busy. I love the main Egyptian galleries, but hated the Gallery of Enligtenment. The feeling in there was not nice, the statues and figures in there felt sad and unhappy, with numerous items feeling not at home and out of place. The room lacked the joyous or reverent and dignified abundance of heka bouncing around the main Egyptian rooms, the heka in there felt muted and sad. :(. Has anyone else felt the same way there?

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Yes i agree there. The big sculpture gallery is my fav too though ive never really got close enough to see the Rosseta stone yet!

There are some other nice finds in the Enlightenment room which is often less crowded (and of course the awesome Dr John Dee exhibits).

When im in the area i will always go in and give my regards to the Sekhmet statues too :slight_smile:

You must go to Petrie there are some amazing gems.

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I don’t know if it’s because its importance is a modern thing, but I find that the Rosetta Stone itself doesn’t have a huge amount of inherent, ancient heka to it. It’s a nice object, but I find that everything else in the room drowns it out.
An interesting thing I’ve noticed is that the ‘back entrance’ doorway for the large statues room, the one flanked by the pair of sphinxes, really hums with power. I’m not sure whether it’s just a cumulative thing from the whole room, but standing there is an energy rush. That room is powerful. The row of Sekhmet statues in the large statues room are rather lovely. I often feel though that the big one in the Enlightenment room would like to be with the others.

Oh, I really want to return to The Petrie. The net dress, and the linen shirt, in the back room, and a few of the statuettes just sang to me. I want to go back and really examine the various stellae.

Will have to take a look at that ‘back entrance’ then. Not sure if I often go down that end often. I tend to get stuck at a sarcophagus thats on the back wall. Its quite a late one but I think is the only one in that room that has a picture of my goddess Selket inside it :slight_smile:

I get what you mean by that odd left out Sekhmet statue. I think so too. It seems to be of similar design, but can’t remember if its from the same location. Will have to take a look.
K

I love the BM, my favourite pieces are on show there yet nobody gives them a second look. They are the soul houses that were used for Akhu rites and to ensure ancestors would have sustenance forever. I am working on making a modern version for my own ancestor shrine.

I have never been to the Petrie, so that’s going to be my next outing when I work in London. Thanks for the recommendations.

Soul houses? Which bits in the BM are they?

I think there was one in the room where the mummies are, and two more in the next room.
I am going there tomorrow morning so i will feed back on exact locations live from BM in the morning

Cool! Thanks very much. I’m well over due for a trip to the BM and the wonderful Atlantis and Tredwells. Not sure when I will get up there though :frowning:

I told my boss it was for research purposes for a course so he said i could go there first them get to work later :slight_smile:

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british museum, london

here you go, for those of you too far from London. A few glimpses of my visit there last week

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Fabulous pics! Thanks. I really need to get up there, been too long :frowning:

Don’t forget the Egypt Centre in Swansea! It’s a wonderful museum completely dedicated to Egyptology!

If anyone visits let me know and I’ll come say hi!

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I do hear its a great place. The other side of the country for me but its on my todo list :slight_smile: Still not been to the Oxford ones and a very long time since I went to the Bristol one. Argh! So many places to go. :slight_smile:

we need to organise a kemetic tour of the british isles then :slight_smile: call it our pilgrimage haha

haha yeah. Way too many museums to go and see though!

so, I have now finally seen the Petrie. OMG. this is going to be my new haunt for the forseeable. The people there were ever so helpful, and their collection is mindblowing.

a few pics on there for you:
petrie

also check out my BM album, more pics in there too :slight_smile:

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I thought you would like it! It is pretty awesome isn’t it? :slight_smile: Been ages since I’ve been up to London though and getting withdraw symptoms.

might have to organise a kemetic temple uk day out :wink: