New Ancient Egyptian Gallery

Two hundred years after acquiring its first Egyptian artefacts, the (now) National Museum of Scotland* has opened a new Ancient Egyptian Gallery and it is fabulous!  Far too quick a visit and a smattering of photos later - 

statuette of a man c2494-2345 BCE

the endlessly fascinating Akhenaten c1352-1336 BCE

a tiny mongoose coffin - c644-332 BCE

- and I am definitely raring to go back!  One visit is not enough.


(* then The Society of Antiquarians of Scotland, founded 1780)

Spring 2

Nothing is so beautiful as spring— 

 When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush; 

 Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush 

Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring 

The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing; 

 The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush 

 The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush 

With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.

extract from Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem Spring

(I'm stopping it there.  I don't want to anticipate the end of spring today.  I just want to enjoy it.)

Back Home and Raring to Get Writing/Reading/All That Stuff

Or maybe not just yet ...

Cornelis Bisschop (1630-1674) Old Woman Sleeping

wiki commons

ROM - What a Great Building!

I'm in Toronto again, and looking forward to revisiting the Royal Ontario Museum - what a collection! What a cafe! What a building! (These photos are from 2016 - it's been too long!)