Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Got a condo made of stone-a

Oh wonderful boy king, I can't wait to see you!

In a week or so, we're making a pilgrimage to Philadelphia to see the Tutankhamun exhibit. Well, I call it a pilgrimage, Ken would call it a "long weekend."

This is so exciting for me, because when I was little, I was fascinated by ancient Egypt and I wanted to be an archaeologist. I loved the story of Howard Carter lifting his candle to peer into the tomb and seeing "the glint of gold." Read this:

At first I could see nothing, the hot air escaping from the chamber causing the candle flame to flicker, but presently, as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues and gold—everywhere the glint of gold…I was struck dumb with amazement, and when Lord Carnarvon, unable to stand the suspense any longer, inquired anxiously, “Can you see anything?” it was all I could do to get out the words, “Yes, wonderful things.”

Oh, just magical stuff for me. When the exhibit toured back in the seventies, my folks took me up to the Field Museum to see it, but by the time we got there, it was sold out. (This was back in the days where we didn't have the Net, or pre-sales on tickets, or anything like that. Man, I feel like an old fogey!) Tut is back, and while we fully intended to go see him at the Field Museum, circumstances and schedules made it impossible. Ken said to find out where it was going next, and we'd go. Thus, Philly! (Next stop is London, and we did briefly consider that.) I can't believe I'm finally going to get to see it! Yes...wonderful things.

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