Egyptian Dreams

Ajaya · Citizen Joined: 10 Feb 2004 Posts: 51 Location: UK

Hi All,

What got you interested in Ancient Egypt.....?

Personally, I had a casual interest in egyptology for a number of years. Casual in the sense that I bought books about Akhenaten etc... through curiosity. But my now serious interest was ignited in early 2002 during a trip to Luxor.

I found myself in the great hypostyle hall at Karnak at night and the atmosphere and vibe sent shivers through my spine, goosebumps...the lot. Suddenly I felt like I was in a trance...as the all the other tourists melted away from my consciousness leaving me alone with the temple and thousands of years of history.

I guess a spell was cast that day!!

Jay

anneke · Queen of Egypt Joined: 23 Jan 2004 Posts: 9305

I found a book in the library when I was 14, have been hooked ever since Very Happy

First it was the Amarna period, but lately I find some other periods more and more interesting. Such as the Old Kingdom.
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Meresankh · Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:39 pm Post subject:

In my case, it just grew out of a general interest in history, really.

Dampwater · Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 2:26 pm Post subject:

I'm Egyptian, need I say more ??!!!
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Men fear time, but time fears the Pyramids.

kmt_sesh · Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 12:27 am Post subject:

And we all envy Dampwater for that fact! As for myself, I'm about the same as Meresankh. I've always loved ancient history, and some 20 years ago I narrowed it down to ancient Egypt. I still love to read about and study the ancient history of much of the Middle East, including early Biblical history, but nothing does it for me like Egypt! faroah

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Dampwater · Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 8:54 pm Post subject:

well, it doesn't matter, history doesnt segregate between an Egyptian Egyptologist or an American Egyptologist. But, ever since i was a little boy i always loved temples and egyptian statues. When you see those statues or the huge obelisks or the Hypostyle Hall in real life, u feel this immense rush and pride, its like u can fly, like a trip back in time. To me, its just a part of my ancestry that i feel obliged to learn, and urge every Egyptian to do the same.
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Men fear time, but time fears the Pyramids.

kmt_sesh · Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 11:47 pm Post subject:

Ajaya · Citizen Joined: 10 Feb 2004 Posts: 51 Location: UK

Meritaten · Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2005 11:11 pm Post subject:

Moved to NY when I was a bit over 6 years old in 1980, and began attending the United Nations School. One of the books in the Library was a large format, heavily illustrated book or catalogue for the 1979 Tutankhamen exhibition. I had to wait my turn to borrow it, as it was very much in demand, but once I did it opened up a whole new world. Fortunately my parents and grandmother were very accomodating and used to spend hours taking me to the Met (I remember my father nodding off on a bench there in the Egyptian galleries).

Other interests - particularly maritime history - began to dominate my late teens and early twenties, although I really lost interest in Ancient Egypt. Working around the block from the British Museum rekindled it in full-force!

kmt_sesh · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 12:29 am Post subject:

Meritaten · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 1:25 am Post subject:

Lol! He's a sweetheart, and very patient, but he does like his sleep! He was a major influence though - he'd visited Egypt many years before with his mother when he was working as a journo in London, and I grew up with his stories of what he saw there. The oldest Egyptology book I have that has lasted Last weekend I had a bit of an 'issue' with my eyes (woke up nearly blinded and in great pain - spent Friday night in Emergency). Most of Saturday I was on my parent's settee, eyes swollen shut. They indulgently flipped channels until they found an Egyptian doco that I could listen to, even if I couldn't see any of it.

Very self-sacrificing!

kmt_sesh · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 1:47 am Post subject:

Meritaten · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 10:44 pm Post subject:

Weeeeelllll...I found out that '2 week contacts' does not mean 'three weeks or whenever you happen to remember it's time to switch lenses.' First incident of this kind, as I'm usually fanatical about changing and cleaning them, but I've only recently switched from monthly disposables. There was no discomfort that day, just a bit of cloudiness...

I had swollen, heavy lids when they were finally pried open about 12 hours later, with a heavy use of anaesthetic drops. No infection, thank goodness, and the Doctor in ER had experienced the same thing himself so knew exactly what to do and how to reassure him.

A few charms and amulets wouldn't have gone astray, though!

I notice I utterly garbled my message above - I meant to mention that the oldest book about Egypt that I own, that hasn't been lost in multiple overseas moves, is a book about Tutankhamen that my father gave me for my 10th birthday. I'd almost forgotten about it, but relocated it on the bookshelf after I returned from the UK, and was very surprised to see who the photographer was - the remarkable Bill McQuitty! I had interviewed him regarding his film 'A Night to Remember' a couple of years beforehand - he was a lovely chap who was delighted to talk about his diverse range of interests, but I'd forgotten his interest in Egyptology and it was one topic we didn't touch upon. I was so sorry when I learned he passed away recently - he was such a wonderful, fascinating man.

kmt_sesh · Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 12:54 am Post subject:

LMiss_Sunshine · Citizen Joined: 09 Jun 2004 Posts: 85 Location: UK

Cool idea for a thread Ajaya!

A book got me going when I was very young! I still have it!

It's called Ancient Cities and Civilisations I think!
Other civs were in there too!

That's where it all started then a project in Primary school, then more books and documentaries. My mum and dad bought books on it coz their both ineterested in history. Ancient Egypt's one of many places and time frames I'm interested in. It's a defo fave!
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