The journey to the Egyptian Afterlife is complicated and dangerous. First of all there are various evil spirits that will try to lead your soul astray and then there are the judgments. During one judgment you will be asked a series of questions by a council of 42 gods. Each question must be answered […]
By Emma Boehme, Marketing Intern This limestone wall carving which can be found in our Hall of Ancient Egypt depicts Nefertiti and her two daughters. The artifact seems normal at first glance; however, upon closer look you can see that the cartouche at the top left, which would usually contain the hieroglyphs for […]
Yes, the Beyond Bone Blog has hopped on the “Throwback Thursday” bandwagon. But you know what? I’m excited about it! There’s so many amazing blogs from the past that deserve another day in the sun. For example, did you know that it’s completely possible to pet a dinosaur? It’s true! We have petrified Edmontosaurus […]
On October 26, 2016 Dr. Mostafa Waziri and Salah El Masekh will present a lecture in our Wortham Gian Screen Theater. Titled Update in Egyptology the lecture will discuss some of the most exciting discoveries being made right now in Egypt. The lecture will discuss several discoveries at the ancient temple complex of Karnak, and will […]
In preparation for the opening of “Mummies of the World” at the end of this month (Member preview: Friday, 9/23, public opening at Noon on Saturday, 9/24) we will be posting a series of blogs exploring the science of mummification. Today, the subject will be Chinchorro mummies. Photo courtesy of wikimedia commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinchorro_mummy,_south_coast_of_Peru_or_north_coast_of_Chile,_5000-2000_BC_-_San_Diego_Museum_of_Man_-_DSC06921.JPG Most people […]
by Gillian Callan Egyptian hieroglyphs. Once thought to be magic writings that contained the secrets to life, they were deciphered by Thomas Young and Jean Francois Champollion in the early 1800’s. What mysteries did they contain? For the majority of the visitors to the Hall of Ancient Egypt, the glyphs are still a mystery – […]
by Tom Hardwick and Dirk van Tuerenhout When the Houston Museum of Natural Science planned our Hall of Ancient Egypt, filling its 11,000 square feet with artifacts was not an easy job. Our own collection of Egyptian material is rather small, and that made looking for long-term loans from other museums a logical — and […]
This week, more than 400 folks interested in all things ancient Egyptian are making their way to Houston for the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Research Center in Egypt. Running from April 24 to 26, this is the first year the conference is being held in Houston, and perhaps it has something to do […]
Things took a turn for the more serious with Ankh Hap, our recently-relocated original Museum Mummy. If this is your first time tuning into our otherworldly correspondence, we suggest you catch up here. The latest stems from an unexpected invitation to the afterlife, which I was extremely flattered by and unprepared for. It’s simply not […]
Our correspondence with Ankh Hap, the original Museum mummy, continues this week with a discussion of ushabtis — miniature funerary figurines placed in ancient Egyptian tombs and meant to take the place of the deceased should they be called upon to perform any manual labor in the afterlife. Apparently one can’t even count on death […]
