To Ancient Egypt and Back

After a typical Aussie Breakfast of toast and Vegemite I left my hotel in a taxi for the Melbourne Museum (a ten minute walk away!)

 outside the front entrance to the museum

Mary is not quite so sprightly as I am and would not have been able to walk that distance – hence the taxi. Today we were to visit the Tutenkhamun Exhibition (I had been brought up to spell the boy king’s name Tutankhamen – with an E – but it has changed, as has the pronunciation)

No photography of any kind was allowed in the Tutankhamun Exhibition but since photos of the exhibits are in many books that I already own there really was no sense in trying to sneak snap! The exhibition was in dark rooms with spotlights on the exhibits so after two hours of reading and admiring these awe inspiring treasures, my eyes were really tired. It was almost overwhelming to be able to stand so close to these wonderfully preserved and intricately detailed ancient burial items. The audience were able to walk all around each of the exhibits and see them from every angle.

After a normalizing cup of coffee we wandered into the rest of the museum. The animal section was interesting because of the huge number of stuffed animals and the way they were displayed. One exhibit of possums appealed to my “photographic design” way of looking at things!

I just HAD to take a photo of the Tasmanian Tiger – this stuffed beastie was the very last of its kind – they are now extinct. It was in captivity before it died. The tigers were destroying sheep so were exterminated. Then it was realized that the species had been wiped out completely.

Another shot I tried (all, in the museum, were taken hand held with slow shutter speed and no flash) was of a rather magnificent stain-glass window. I am not sure of the reason of its presence in the museum but it is rather lovely. The lower part of the window did not have lighting behind it so I only aimed at the top two “panels”. remember that if you wish to see any of my pictures larger, click on them. Click the "Back" arrow to come back to this article.

Museums have really changed since my earliest memories of them – they are now far more interesting places to go into. I love the way that modern technology is used to further enhance the information about the exhibits. There was even a diorama that included two robotic dinosaurs (that I have taken video of to share with the littlies back home) they look quite real!

Coming out of the museum the weather had taken a nosedive – it was raining! It had better dry up by morning – I have another day of photography ahead of me!

AJ