As I wandered round the British Museum with my camera, I found the Egyptian rooms. Filled with many amazing things, I once again decided for the purpose of my blog I needed to focus. I was struck by this
small statue of a hippo, which in some ways looks remarkably modern. And as I went
around the various glass cases, I started to notice more and more
hippos.
I do not associate Egyptians with hippos. But apparently they lived on the banks of the River Nile in Ancient Egypt, and were greatly feared, but also respected, which eventually led to them being worshipped.
These are small hippos around the edge of this dish.
Two Egyptian gods were represented by the hippo: Tauret was a goddess of fertility, representing childbirth. Women wore hippo amulets round the neck for protection. While Seth, a god of violence, who represented the destructive forces of the
Nile like excessive flooding. This seems contradictory, but it is easy to understand if you consider that the home of the hippos, the River Nile, was the source of fertility in the land, but could also be destructive.
The
hippo was also represented by quartz figures using a process known as faience. These
figures were
usually used as grave goods, serving as protective figures for one’s
journey through the Nile into the afterlife. The faience hippopotami
were often decorated with lotus flowers, reeds, and other plants found
living along the Nile, and were usually a beautiful turquoise or green
color. Unfortunately despite hunting I couldn't find one of these, so here is a link to a photo of one.
For eight weeks I have to take my son in to central London on Saturday morning, as he is doing what is called a mathematical masterclass at Gresham College. This is pretty exciting for both of us. I think I have mentioned that he is dyslexic, and struggles with much at school. But not maths, where apparently he is a bit of a whizz. So being picked by his school for this special course is really great for his self-esteem.
But I was also a bit worried about what I
will do each week, for the 3 hours 30 minutes when he is doing
maths. Although I live on the edge of London, it is quite unusual for me
to spend time in the centre especially with nothing specific that I must do.
Isn't the outside of The British Museum impressive, but I also love the view of the ceiling once you go inside? The modern and classic architecture has been combined in a really interesting way.
The British Museum is absolutely enormous, and full of antiquities from all over the world (which I'm not completely sure that we should have, but that is a whole blog post in itself). So what to photograph? I thought I had to limit myself a bit, and focus. My first idea was to look at the human form in different cultures. But even that would be a huge topic.
So puzzling what to do, I wandered into the Greek section, and was enchanted by these tiny metal animals, and the numerous animals paintings I found on pots. I came home with 84 pictures on my camera, so expect a few more museum posts.
I suppose the horses most associated with Ancient Greece, are the famous Trojan Horse, and also the winged horse, Pegasus. There are other grander and bigger horses in Greek art, but I love the elegant simplified forms of these little models, and paintings. You can really imagine the metal forms having been held and smoothed in a Greek hand all those years ago. Or the artist making the brush strokes on the pot. They look so fresh.
So expect a bit of history over the next few weeks, although I am also pondering if I could knit a Greek horse ...
