Epoxy…they used epoxy….
Just…I just can’t…wrap my head around it…
I was lucky enough to gaze into the eyes of King Tut’s mask years ago when my second contract took me to Alexandria and the Cairo museum. Never before, and never since, have I seen eyes like that on a non-living artifact; although, I would argue that perhaps the mask is not non-living. It depends, I suppose, on what you believe. Those lapis eyes seem to see directly into your soul, they stop you and you are suddenly completely unaware of the people buffeting you on either side, the world shrinks to just those eyes…those eyes that have seen so much….
Either way, the way that the boy king has been treated has oft disgusted me, and this newest development brings again to light the age old debate of archeology and art history alike.
What right have we?
If belief is – as so many hold to – the foundation of truth, then what do we do when we rip these artifacts from their intended homes for the sake of furthering our knowledge? Our plans? Our needs? What do we destroy? These individuals, whether peasants or kings, were laid to rest with the expectation that they would stay there; what are we but grave robbers with degrees? Are we not, in our own way, risking ripping those at rest out of their concept of heaven, for the sake of a few trinkets. Yes, we should always learn more about the world around us, but at what price? And what good is that knowledge that has been so dearly gleaned if we continue to fail to learn anything of import from it; do we take into our hearts the lessons of the ancients? The concept of balance and death as a part of life? The incredible technology which to this day we have yet to fully understand let alone replicate? Do we really listen to what they have to teach us? No, not truly, we are too rational for that, to scientific, to ‘intelligent’ instead we hold it at arm’s length and therefore can hold ourselves above it. If the ancient Egyptians themselves are to be believed, we risk ripping their eternal soul to pieces in order to learn about it…
How would you feel, if someone tore up your loved one’s grave, without consent, or permission or any reason given except “we need to know more about them”…how would you feel, and – if you believe such things – how would they feel?
While ignorance is the curse of the world….in cases like this one must also ask, at what cost comes knowledge? And when does a thirst for knowledge give way to greed?
And if we must, if we must put things under glass, can they not be treated with some modicum of respect. Of understanding. Of…love?
Of those who would answer in the negative, the Cairo museum would seem to be among the worst. When I was there, there was no semblance of crowd control, no safety barriers, nothing controlling flash photography within steps of delicate parchment, no one and nothing stopping children from clambering on marble statues…the mask itself was a small island of calm in the chaos…
And now, he has been damaged forever…when never was a human eye supposed to meet his gaze in the first place.
I asked one of my art history professors once, how I could resolve the battle in my head…how I could balance the fact that the more I learned about what came before, the more I felt guilty for intruding on the past…the more I felt that we had no right to pursue it at all…
She told me that if I ever figured it out to let her know…
Nearly 10 years later…I still don’t have an answer for her…
You really cut to the chase on this one hon,I’m with you part of me is so glad things have been” preserved for posterity” but it was only supposed to be between the person passed and their god…it’s one I’m going to be working on for a long time and I’m not expecting to get an answer Love you
While I never took the classes, I have always had an interest in Archeology. I believe if we don’t understand the past, we can not see into the future. That being said, you are right, we have not right to disturb these burial sites, if we want our own graves left intact. Just because one is sacred to us, doesn’t make the other any less sacred, maybe it makes it more so.
I wonder how they would wrestle with the sacred should they discover the resting site of Moses, Christ or any of the disciples? Would they brush the Pope and the church aside in the GREATER interest of science? Would politics come in to it?
What I do know is that antiquities should not be tinkered with, and should at all times be treated with the care that we, as the current generation, have been entrusted with, by those before us. We dig these items out of the earth with great reverence and care, why give them any less once on the surface?
This reminds of an episode of Dr. Who (What doesn’t). Specificaly “Planet of the Spiders”. A question is brought up of the Doctor’s greed for knowledge and the consequences of indulging that greed. Each archeologist, art historian, or even art or history lover comes to a point where they ask “How much is knowledge worth to me”. Personally I feel that knowledge is for the living. I do believe we should be respectful of the beliefs of any given culture but if the culture’s time has passed and it has fallen we have a responsibility to keep its memory alive and to learn what we can of and from that culture. Now that being said the execution of such leaves a lot to be desired since what drives many of these things is not a desire to learn but a desire to make money.
To comment on something Don said I truly believe that if the tomb of Moses, Jesus, or the disciples was found the church would be the first to speak of its sanctity. That would last for a year or two tops before it was a tourist attraction. The resons being both for monetary gain and to bring people to a deeper understanding of their faith. Respect for religion or even kowledge historically takes a back seat to the acquisition of money or power.
” I do believe we should be respectful of the beliefs of any given culture but if the culture’s time has passed and it has fallen we have a responsibility to keep its memory alive and to learn what we can of and from that culture. ”
Yes…but we have no right to desecrate, dissect or destroy in the name of that “preservation”
Tell that to the Vatican… 😉
You know full well I have precisely the same argument with myself when I walk into any museum…*definitely* including the Vatican 😛 so there!
(besides, sadly I don’t think they’d listen to me)