Leeds Museum

Today, I went to Leeds City museum. The museum was again another insight into the vast subject matter I have chosen as my summer brief.  Below are some  photographs from the Museum.

Exeter Museum

I decided to pop into my local museum to see if they had any exhibits on ancient Egypt/civilisations. Fortunately they did. They didn't have anything on the sacred geometry of giza, or nothing on the pyramids and sphinxes but they had a Egyptian tomb exhibit. They had some really beautiful artefacts. 

The tomb was of Shep en-mut, she died around 3,000 years ago. Her family must have paid a lot for her burial. Her body was carefully mummified and placed in a painted coffin. This was probably buried in a tomb cut into a cliff face. There are clues in the paintings that suggest Shep en-mut was married. The remains of her body revealed that she was about 50 years old and suffered arthritis. Her coffin was given to the museum in 1897. It probably came from Thebes but we don't know who excavated it. 

A River Kingdom 

Egyptian civilisation grew up around the Nile. This great river flows though northern Africa into the mediterranean. Around 10,000 years ago the wet Egyptian climate began to get drier, and people moved to the fertile ground near the river. The nile usually flooded once a year, covering the fields with a dark silt, which was great for growing crops. 

Around 5,000-6,000 years ago, the lands along the Nile became a kingdom ruled by a single leader. The first Egyptian kings were probably Namar and Aha, who ruled the city Memphis.

Orion Nebula

The Orion Nebula is 1,500 light-years away, the nearest star-forming region to Earth. Astronomers used 520 Hubble images, taken in five colours, to make this picture (first one below). They also added ground-based photos to fill out the nebula. The ACS mosaic covers approximately the apparent angular size of the full moon.

The first image below  offers a peek inside a cavern of roiling dust and gas where thousands of stars are forming. The image, taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, represents the sharpest view ever taken of this region, called the Orion Nebula. More than 3,000 stars of various sizes appear in this image. Some of them have never been seen in visible light. These stars reside in a dramatic dust-and-gas landscape of plateaus, mountains, and valleys that are reminiscent of the Grand Canyon.

I've collected some images of Orion's Nebula taken from the hubble telescope. 

While the Orion constellation is named after the hunter in Greek mythology, it is anything but stealthy. Orion, which is located on the celestial equator, is one of the most prominent and recognizable constellations in the sky and can be seen throughout the world

Locating Orion the Hunter
Orion is clearly visible in the night sky from November to February. Orion is in the southwest sky if you are in the Northern Hemisphere or the northwestern sky if you are in the Southern Hemisphere. It is best seen between latitudes 85 and -75 degrees. Its right ascension is 5 hours, and its declination is 5 degrees.

Alnilam, Mintaka and Alnitak (see my blog post) , which form Orion’s belt, are the most prominent stars in the Orion constellation. Betelgeuse, the second brightest star in Orion, establishes the right shoulder of the hunter. Bellatrix serves as Orion's left shoulder.

The Orion Nebula is a formation of dust, hydrogen, helium and other ionized gases rather than a star, is the middle "star" in Orion’s sword, which hangs off Orion's belt. 

Isis/Osiris

After watching a documentary on Egypt, I thought I would do a bit of research on the prominent God/Godesses of Egypt, husband and wife, Isis and Osiris. These are perhaps the most iconic gods in ancient Egypt. 

Isis

Isis is one of the earliest and most important goddess in ancient Egypt. She was regarded as the feminine counterpart to Osiris, a role she probably occupied before the dawn of dynastic Egypt. No other Egyptian deity has stood the test of time as well as Isis. Her cult was not extinguished with the other Egyptian gods, but was embraced by the Greeks and Romans, her worship has even lasted into the present day.

She was revered by the Egyptian people as the great mother-goddess and represents the maternal spirit in its most intimate form. She is often seen suckling a young Horus. In the Osiris legend she is seen as a dutiful wife, a grieving widow and as a protector of the dead.

As a winged goddess she may represent the wind. In the Osiris legend there are references to Isis wailing and moaning like the wind. She is also continually travelling up and down the land in search of her lost husband. Upon finding Osiris' body, she takes the shape of one of the swiftest birds, a kite. Flapping and darting above his dead body she wails in mourning. She restores life to Osiris by flapping her wings and filling his mouth and nose with air.

Isis was a great enchantress, the goddess of magic. Together with Thoth, she taught mankind the secrets of medicine. She was the embalmer and gaurdian of Osiris. She is often rendered on the foot of coffins with long wings spread to protect the deceased.

Osiris

Osiris was the god of the dead, and ruler of the underworld. Osiris was the brother/husband of Isis, and the brother of Nepthys and Seth. He was also the father of Horus. As well as being a god of the dead, Osiris was a god of resurrection and fertility. In fact, the ancient Egyptians believed that Osiris gave them the gift of barley, one of their most important crops. A large temple was built to honour Osiris at Abydos.

The Orion Mystery

The three pyramids of Giza are a perfect reproduction of the three stars on the orion's belt (shown below) Like the pyramids, the three stars of orion are not perfectly aligned, the smallest of them is slightly offset east. Their orientation to the Nile recreates orion's orientation to the milky way. The layout of the pyramids, and their relative sizes were a deliberate design plan and not the result of Kings/Pharaohs egos. 

The pyramids were much more than just tombs; they were nothing less than a replica of heaven on earth. With astronomical precision, the pyramids were created to serve as pharaohs gateway to the stars. 

Orion

Orion is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous and recognisable constellations in the night sky. It was named after Orion, a hunter in Greek mythology. Its brightest stars are Rigel (Beta Orionis) and Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis), a blue-white and a red supergiant. Many of the other brighter stars in the constellation are hot, blue supergiant stars. The three stars in the middle of the constellation form a unique asterism known as Orion's belt. The Orion Nebula is located south of Orion's belt.

BBC: Egypt's Lost Queen

Tonight there was a documentary on BBC Two on Egypt's lost queens, queens a long time before Cleopatra. By watching this documentary it has given me a really insight into what ancient Egypt was like.  Professor Joann Fletcher explores what it was like to be a woman of power in ancient Egypt. Through a wealth of spectacular buildings, personal artefacts and amazing tombs, Joann brings to life four of ancient Egypt's most powerful female rulers and discovers the remarkable influence wielded by women, whose power and freedom was unique in the ancient world.

Throughout Egypt's history, women held the title of pharaoh no fewer than 15 times, and many other women played key roles in running the state and shaping every aspect of life. Joann Fletcher puts these influential women back at the heart of our understanding, revealing the other half of ancient Egypt. Below are some screenshots I took from the documentary.

Eye of Horus

The eye of Horus is an ancient symbol of protection royal power and good health (all-seeing eye) It is also known as the 'eye of ra' a powerful destructive force linked with the fierce heat of the sun. It is believed to have hearing and protective power. Horus was an ancient sky god whose eyes were said to be the sun and moon.