Some weeks ago, Singapore had an interesting exhibition at the National Museum of Singapore. I normally don’t visit the museum, since it is normally not free. However, this particular time, to encouraged visitors to the museum. The National Museum of Singapore decided to have an open house, this means it is free entrance. It just so happened that the exhibition at that time is one that interests me and probably most of the people out there. The exhibition is about ancient Egypt entitled the Quest for Immortality.
Thoughts of ancient mummies, Sphinxes and other Egyptian artifacts tickled my senses and I couldn’t resist not going, more so since it is free entrace. I tried to go early in anticipation of a long queue at the museum entrance and sure enough it was really long. However, at that time, the queue was still tolerable and I was able to enter within a few minutes since the queue was moving fast.
The exhibit started with tiny scupltures dating back several millennia, with most of the artifacts depicting figures known in Egyptian mythology, relgion or history. Surprisingly, photography was allowed just no flash. Who needs flash anyway, most of the artifacts were protected by clear glass and using camera flash would just wipe out the image.
In one of the open areas was a large collection of sphinxes another familiar Egyptian icon. These sphinxes were smaller than the one seen in on television. I didn’t even had an idea there were figures of the Sphinx others than the one at Giza. Naturally, the figures were already in poor condition with a lot of parts already crumbling away. One would have to admire how such precious artifacts manage to survive for several thousand years.
The next hall was probably the centerpiece of the entire exhibition. It was time for mummies! I find mummies immensely fascinating. Although other cultures also have them, ancient Egypt is probably most famous for their mummies. There were several sarcophagi on display and each one was elaborately designed, which probably indicated the rank of the deceased. There is a video showing how the deceased is mummified step by step. There was no actual mummy on display but two of the sacrophagi were sealed all throughout. Sealed within the elaborately decorated sarcophagus was a female mummy. The sarcophagus was a little small for a full size adult and it must was taken them some effort to fit the mummy in there what with so little space to move.
Surprisingly, a CT scan of the sacrophagus revealed the presence of children within the same sarcophagus, presumably the children of the deceased. It is amazing how science can now see such things without opening the totally sealed sarcophagus. I spent a few minutes marveling at it and thinking how much time has gone by since it was made. A friend of mine noted that the colors of the sarcophagus were quite bright and wondered whether it was already restored.
By the time I went out of the museum, the queue had already grown so long it had already spilled out into the parking area beside the museum. I guess word did get out but it was already too late for them. It will take them more than an hour to enter the place and there won’t be much time for them to view the exhibit. I was impressed by the crowd control done by the museum staff. Although there were a lot of people visiting the exhibit, it didn’t feel crowded at all. I hope they can continue to bring in more high quality exhibits such as these.
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