The Tomb of Meketre: Insight to Ancient Egyptian Burials
Type of Tomb
This tomb belonged to Pharaoh Mentuhotep’s chancellor, Meketre. The tomb of Meketre was a common burial tomb used at the time for officials, a rock-cut tomb. Just as it sounds, the structure of the tomb was carved from existing rock formations. Mostly, the rock architecture is carved from a cliff or sloping rock face. Rock-cut tombs originated in ancient Greece, causing the Egyptian tombs to have Mycenaean influences in their design. So, these types of tombs are seen throughout the Mediterranean.
The Tomb of Meketre
The tomb is located in a main necropolis at Thebes, a very popular destination with many different archaeological sites. Due to this though, there are quite a few looters that hang about the area. Unfortunately, the tomb had been looted multiple times over the generations, but luckily one room had gone unseen until it was discovered in 1919. The room had 25 wooden models, depicting various scenes from everyday life. The purpose of the models was to provide the means to live in the afterlife. With these models, the ancient Egyptians believed that they could then have food and drinks, servants, luxurious clothes, and so much more with models depicting these things. This would allow them to live as or even more lavishly in the afterlife than real life.
Models
Above, this model displays both a bakery and brewery together. The making of bread and beer were quite related in the times of ancient Egypt. They both used the same typical ingredients, grains and barley. Although both had complicated processes, they were still very similar. In this model, an overseer guards the room with a baton. On the right side is the bakery. Here, a man is crushing the grain with a pestle. Others are grinding, working with dough, etc. Next, the other side is the brewery. Overall, what is being shown is the fermentation process, with grain being fermented in the pots.
Next, the model above consists of cattle being fattened up with fodder for slaughter. There are cattle managers feeding the animals as well as an overseer at the entrance. The overseer has a baton and is prepared if an animal decides to try and escape.
Similar Model
Lastly, the model above is one that is often compared to those found in Meketre’s tomb. Again, since many tombs have been raided prior to being found by academics, these models are not easily seen. But, they allow incredible insight to the belief in the afterlife. For example, this one is from the Middle Kingdom and depicts a funerary barge. Much like the previous models, this one is also related to the afterlife. It was believed that these boats would help the deceased to be transported to the afterlife. This would happen while the soul was judged. If one was deemed good, this boat would take them to the “Field of Reeds”. Essentially, that was the afterlife of pure bliss and happiness. Once again, displaying the importance of the afterlife, even in the burials and tombs after one has died.
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Gusoku: Japanese Samurai Armor
Samurai
The samurai were a military class of strong warriors starting in premodern Japan. They held themselves to high standards of self-discipline and live according to the ethic code of bushido, living “the way of the warrior”. The term samurai was originally used to identify the warriors who were aristocrats, the bushi. Using a wide range of weapons, the samurai needed strong armor in order to protect their bodies. Their main weapon of choice and used as their symbol was the sword. Other weapons included bows and arrows, spears, and guns.
Strongly inspired by Confucian practice, the main concepts include deep loyalty and respect, especially to one’s master. Their deep pride and stoicism was exemplified in their refined behavior while at imperial court. Honor and respect were quite prevalent and harsh, to the point that as opposed to dying dishonorably or by defeat, there was an institutionalized ritual suicide of disembowelment, called seppuku.
Gusoku
With most battles being carried out by calvary with a bow or sword, flexible armor was a must. The flexible armor “Ō-yoroi” or “Great Harness” was developed. The cuirass, or the armor piece that covers the torso, consisted of multiple smaller plates to allow for movement and flexibility. There are two shoulder pieces that fall down to protect any exposed underarm. There would be a lot of exposure when fighting with arms being raised. Then there is a skirt made from the same linked plates that protect both the lower abdomen and thighs. The armor protecting the arms consisted of both mail and solid plates. This allows for the protection to be defensive but suitable for great movements.
Helmets were solid iron plates, not the ones used for the body as it would be more flimsy. Traditionally, the helmets have a pointed shape called ‘shii-nari’, or acorn-shaped. Besides the main iron piece that covers the skull, there are flaps hanging from the top. These are made to protect the neck from injury. The neck guard is called a shikoro. Shikoros are often made of multiple covered plates, normally silk or various leathers.
Samurai Gusokus on Display
Above is a set of ceremonial Gushoku armor but made into a stand. This set comes form the Edo period, one of the most prominent and the height of the samurai. Took place in the 18th century.
This set is quite unique as it is a revival of earlier styles present during the Edo period. But, the overall construction is that of classical 16th century Gushoku. During this time, as you can see, the armor was covered in cloth as it was based off of classical armor. The shape is typical with being boxy in order to allow for the most protection.
Periods of Armor
There are three different periods of gusoku armor: ancient, classical, and modern.
Ancient armor is classified as the armor that was worn up until the 10th century. Unfortunately, not much ancient armor has been preserved. But it is known that there was continental Chinese and Korean influence in the armor.
Classical armor, worn between the 10th and 15th centuries, were considered to be Japan’s ideas and creations brought to life. This is the period in which Japanese armor got its distinct figure and look of the classic gusoku, with the flexible multi-plated protection.
Lastly, there is the modern period of armor. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, this era is the one with most variety in the design of the gusoku. This is when different designs and materials were used most often. This included an increased use of leather and silk coverings.
Like this blog? Check out many more just like it here. Join us on one of our treasure hunts to discover cool objects just like these ones and many more. Participate in hunts at the V&A, the Natural History Museum, the British Museum, the Louvre, the Orsay, and on the streets!
Do you know how the Ancient Greeks dealt with death? Start by looking back to the Geometric period where there’s Hades’ Underworld, elaborate burial rituals, and detailed ancient Greek funerary vases like the terracotta krater!
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Why would anyone want to bury a ship? This question is asked in the Netflix original movie “The Dig” which explores the 1939 Great Ship Burial excavation at Sutton Hoo. Read on to find out about the true story behind the movie!
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The British Museum holds a coin collection bearing the faces of Roman emperors and empresses, including Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger. While not all these coins are currently on display, the stories behind them are filled with politics and drama. They tell a dramatic tale about those who ruled one of the largest empires in history.
One particularly interesting empress was Faustina the Younger (130-175 AD), the daughter of Roman Emperor Antonius Pius (ruled 138-161) and empress Annia Galeria Faustina (more well-known as Faustina the Elder). In fact, a coin of Faustina the Elder is displayed at the British Museum and is part of a future British Museum THATMuse digital hunt! Stay tuned and follow us on Instagram for updates! She was married off to her cousin, Emperor Marcus Aurelius (ruled 161-180), by her father. Together they had twelve to fourteen children, only six of which survived to adulthood, five daughters and one son. Their son, Commodus, became the Roman Emperor after his father.
Rumor Has It
Rumors flew around the Roman Empire that Faustina the Younger had committed adultery multiple times – the most memorably with a gladiator. Though probably false and created by Faustina’s biggest enemies, the rumors are a lasting piece of Faustina’s legacy.
According to the legends, Faustina fell head over heels in love with a gladiator – despite her marriage to the emperor Marcus Aurelius. In the Roman times, gladiators were seen as sex symbols and as an aphrodisiac. Rich women in the Roman Empire would swoon over the gladiators. Some hired them as body guards to protect them, as well as have affairs with them. The story goes that when Marcus Aurelius found out about the affair, he was advised to take an unusual approach!
As told in the Historia Augusta, Marcus Aurelius had the gladiator executed and forced Faustina to “bathe in his blood” — ick! A gladiator’s blood was a way to renew passion between the adulterer (Faustina) and their spouse (Marcus Aurelius). Therefore, afterwards, Faustina and Marcus Aurelius slept together.
Family Affairs
Alongside gladiators, Faustina is believed to have slept with sailors and soldiers. One lasting legacy of these affairs were the rumors about her son, Commodus, as people said he was the son of Faustina’s gladiator lover or another lover making him an ‘illegal’ child. Though never confirmed, many believe it true based on descriptions of Commodus acting like a gladiator during his ruling. There were also rumors about Faustina ordering deaths, including poisoning and executions, which made many believe she was an evil.
Despite the turmoil which surrounded her reputation, upon her death, Marcus Aurelius buried Faustina the Younger at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome, and claimed her a deified mortal. In a life of scandalous love affairs, executions, and rumors, Faustina’s story would be at home on reality TV today. Would you turn on “Keeping up with the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty”?
“A half-blood of the eldest gods, Shall reach sixteen against all odds, And see the world in endless sleep, The hero’s soul, cursed blade shall reap, A single choice shall end his days, Olympus to preserve or raze.”
This epic prophecy guides the events of Rick Riordan’s beloved Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, fantasy adventure novels based in Greek mythology. If you’re a fan of the series, you’ll remember how important prophecies are and they are central to classic Greek mythology. If you’ll let me play oracle for a moment, here is a prophecy for you as you read this THATMuse blog post:
A reader shall delve into the spirals of endless learning,
From one post a thirst for knowledge you are affirming,
Stories woven together from mouth, to paint, to text, to screen,
Heroes of centuries and years, in museums and novels beg to be seen,
Raise a glass to wedding guests and parents one in the same,
A beginning to a treasure hunt we do proclaim.
To begin your endless learning (after all, we learn something new every day, right?) I will be introducing you to the Sophilos Dinos, which illustrates a result of (yet another) prophecy about Zeus and Poseidon.
The depiction of Sophilos Dinos starts out as a wedding, and actually has a direct tie to the Percy Jackson series! Believed to have been created between the years 580BC and 570BC in the Attica region of Greece, this black-figured wine bowl was acquired by the British Museum in 1971. The dinos were painted by Sophilos, who specialized in the black-figure painting of complex, continuous narratives.
The story of Sophilos Dinos is essentially a wedding between two individuals known as Peleus and Thetis, which is also a Greek myth. The sea-nymph Thetis was adored by the king of the Gods, Zeus, and his brother, Poseidon, the God of the sea. However, their love turned sour when they learned of the prophecy that Thetis’ son was destined to be more powerful than his father. In order to prevent this from happening, Thetis was betrothed to the mortal hero Peleus and promised a wedding of grandeur.
In the top register of the dinos, Sophilos depicts the arrival of the gods at said magnificent event. The first arrivals include the God of wine Dionysos, who is followed by Hebe and the centaur Chiron. Then enter the chariot procession of the gods, led by Zeus and Hera, followed by Poseidon and Amphitrite, then Hermes and Apollo, Ares and Aphrodite, and Athena and Artemis. Between the chariots are Fates, Graces, and Muses. What a grand affair! And how nice of Sophilos to create a family portrait – as siblings, sons, daughters, uncles, aunts, and in-laws make up the entirety of the wedding guests. This wedding began a string of events that triggered the Trojan War, but that is a story for another day!
How do Thetis and Peleus’ nuptials – and their prestigious guests – relate to our favorite demi-god Percy and his five-book (or two-movie, if that is more your thing) journey? Well, many of the guests captured in Sophilos’ detailed vase painting appear in Rick Riordan’s story!
The hero, Percy Jackson, is the son of Poseidon, Thetis’ at-one-time admirer and wedding guest. Annabeth, Percy’s best friend (and — spoiler alert — girlfriend!) is the daughter of another wedding guest, Athena, the Goddess of wisdom.
Remember Camp Half-Blood (and the epic game of capture the flag?) well, the ever-eccentric director of camp, Mr. D, is the God Dionysus, who, in the Percy Jackson tales, was sentenced to one hundred years of “rehab” as camp director with an endless supply of Diet Coke replacing wine. In the Sophilos dinos, the centaur Chiron enters after Dionysus, and at Camp Half-Blood he is the beloved activities director (you might also remember him as Mr. Brunner when he posed as a teacher at Percy’s school in The Lightening Thief!).
Many of the rest of Thetis and Peleus’ wedding guests are important pieces of the Percy Jackson stories. All of the major gods and goddesses – such as Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Ares, and Aphrodite – all make appearances in the series, and many are the parents of the demigods (half-god, half-human) attend camp Half-Blood with Percy! One notable example is Hermes, who arrived on a chariot with Apollo to the wedding, was the estranged father of Luke Castellan, sometimes friend and oftentimes foe of Percy.
To Conclude on this epic adventure of comparison and history…
The crazy cast of characters that appears in both the Sophilos Dinos and the Percy Jackson books make for some interesting stories! If you’re interested in learning more about ancient Greek mythology, you can check out our other blog posts here or you can do a book hunt where you’ll have the opportunity to see important artifacts like the Sophilos Dinos up close! With that, your prophecy has come true! Book your THATMuse treasure hunt now as to not disobey the fates!
According to an article on the British Museum blog in 2017, the most popular seach term on their website was “Egypt”. This isn’t very surprising, but the second most popular term, “shunga” is more interesting. But what is shunga? And why are so many people searching for it? Well, shunga is a type of Japanese erotic art. The British Museum hosted a great shunga exhibition in 2014, which perhaps goes some way to explain the search term.
In this post, we’ll discuss the history of shunga, and the influence it had on later artists around the world. But first, a warning. Since we’re talking erotic art here, this post does of course contain some content that is decidedly NSFW.
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For as long as there has been VR technology, there have been half-excited, half-scaremongering think pieces proclaiming that a new age of tourism has begun. Physical tourism is out, and “virtual tourism” is in. Well, we haven’t quite reached the stage where a vacation mean a trip to the living room. We haven’t given up on visiting museums in favour of touring them with only a VR headset.
But, since we’re all more or less marooned at home at the moment, it is useful to know that museums have, apparently, been preparing for the apocalypse all along. From basic functions allowing you to explore museum collections online using their websites to fully-fledged virtual museum tours, there is a way to see all five of our museums online, from the comfort of your own home.
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London might have more iconic landmarks than any other city in the world. Big Ben, Tower Bridge, St Paul’s Cathedral and the London Eye are all instantly recognisable to people all over the world, even if they’ve never so much as changed flights at Heathrow. A lot of this is down to film and TV. Hundreds of establishing shots of London’s skyline have fixed it firmly in the public imagination. Let’s have a look at some of the most famous London film locations. And once the lockdown’s over, you can go and find them yourself!
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Getting bored at home? If you’re anything like us, you’ll be missing visiting museums, and learning about history. So why not use some of the extra time on your hands to make (and play!) one of these ancient board games? After all, if there’s one thing we know about at THATMuse, it’s making history into a game.
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Money has always been an important part of the British Museum’s collection. Coins allow us to learn more about the kings and rulers who issued them, and the messages they wanted to send to their people. The British Museum has a whole department dedicated to coins and medals, and now money more widely: the Numismatics Department. In this fascinating gallery, you can observe the evolution of money across the world, and across the centuries.
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Ever heard of the terrible 5th century Plague of Athens? Over 2400 years later we’re living though another dreadful health crisis. How did the Greeks handle theirs? And is coronavirus comparable to the many illnesses that have hit the world so far? Historians and art-historians like us love to say that the past always teaches us something. Some stories, like that of the Plague of Athens, are timeless, and we can learn from them even today.
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