Egyptian Dreams

[Montuhotep88]

The weekend before last, I had an opportunity while in Chicago to visit the Oriental Institute Museum. I had a very nice time, except for the fact that the university was having convocation ceremonies and parking was rather challenging...

While nowhere near as large a collection as some others I've seen (the Louvre, the British Museum, the Metropolitan, the Cleveland Museum of Art) I would have to say it's one of the more interesting ones. There are a number of "life in Egypt" sort of displays, including a tomb model of a combined butcher's, baker's, and brewers-- not as fancy as the famous Meketre models, but still quite interesting. There are fabrics and a child's tunic thought to be from early Dynasty 18, a monumental striding statue of Tutankhamen (successively usurped by Ay and Horemheb), half of a pair (the other is in the Cairo Museum), and an astronomical instrument with Tut's titulary on it. There are the usual shabtis and mummy, of course (Meresamun, 22nd Dynasty), but what I got a chuckle out of was some of what must surely be in the running for the title of world's stalest piece of bread! It's not listed in the catalog I bought, but it seems to me it was at least Ramesside in date. It looked something like a thick, roughly triangular pita-type bread and gave the impression of something whole-grain; but of course it might have looked rather different when fresh...

I also had a nice talk with a grad student from Pakistan studying Assyriology.

If you're in Chicago, it's worth a stop. Recommended to try for a Saturday so that you can park in the lot of the nearby church... just don't pick a Saturday when they're having convocation!

[Meritamon]

I didn't get to visit there when I was in Chicago last autumn. Now I just have to go again sometime.
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[Montuhotep88]

[Montuhotep88]

hm. Tried to post the link there but it's not showing up. Let me try again:

https://oi.uchicago.edu/museum-exhibits/egyptian-gallery