Mummies, Museums and Year 7s

The Year 7 cohort visited the Egyptian Exhibition at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane, Wednesday, August 15. Read the experiences, as told from two students.

The students were fortunate enough to come face to face with six Egyptian mummies and the secrets behind their wrappings, during a recent trip to the Queensland Museum.

These individuals included a female temple singer, a priestess, a wealthy married woman, a young man, a priest and a two-year-old boy. The world renowned exhibition also featured over 200 Egyptian artefacts that are part of the British Museum collection. Part of this collection included ancient texts, funerary objects, sarcophagus and the mysteries behind their past.

The display gave us an insight into six individuals lying under five centimetres of bandages and cloth. I found it a fascinating experience, especially to identify the processes of embalming and mummification. Individually I believe that for us to have the opportunity to listen to the stories of these museum pieces and individuals should make us rethink our own fatality.

Personally, I felt this excursion allowed us to gain a new understanding of how the Ancient Egyptians lived 3000 years ago.

- Gianni Restaino

Our study for our IAS focus question took us to the Queensland Museum to see ancient Egyptian artefacts. Firstly, my group went to the section with the sea creatures and the Australian animals. Some of the fish there were bigger than me!

We then set off for the fossils on the floor below.

Afterwards, everyone went to the ancient Egyptian exhibit. We were given a work booklet so that we focused on each artefact closely. The displays were impressive. To me, the most intriguing part of the trip was the realization that the bandaged mummies actually had dead bodies in them! It was so weird knowing that these displays were once important people in the AE society.

I learnt a lot about Ancient Egypt, my research topic (hieroglyphics) and also a lot about the general life of one of the first successful ancient civilizations in the world.

Of course, none of this could have happened without Mrs. Smith so I’d like to take this opportunity on behalf of the Year 7 cohort to thank her as well as all of the other Year 7 staff, who helped out to make it such an enjoyable day.

- Hayden Goldsmith