Layla Quinones
Professor Harmon
HUA101.1102
September 12, 2008
Museum Journal Entry 1
The Egyptian Exhibit
I visited the Metropolitan Museum of
Art in NYC and took photos using my blackberry cell phone. The first artifact that I saw
that showed a lot about the Ancient Egyptian society and culture was an ancient
sarcophagus that the Egyptians kept a mummified woman. This sarcophagus depicts a
woman who was obviously of important due to all of the jewelry, accessories and flowers
shown on her body. The top of the head of the sarcophagus was decorated and painted
with geometric symbols and pictures of the Gods lined up next to each other all facing
RA, the highest raked god. The hand gestures given by the other gods towards RA show
me that he is worshipped and important to the Ancient Egyptians. The perfect geometric
symbols show the importance of perfection and the presents of geometric mathematics.
The gold snake bracelets on her wrists also show the snake’s importance in Egyptian
culture and are a symbol for power within society. Lastly, the makeup and hair dressing
of all the females depicted on the top of the sarcophagus and as well as on the woman in
front show a popular way of dressing and style of ancient Egypt. This also shows the
important role that cosmetics had in this culture.
The second artifact that I observed was used by the pharaoh’s wife in ancient
Egypt during the 18th dynasty: the rein of Thutmose III (1479- 1425 B.C.) It was made of
gold, glass, gesso, and carnelian formed into small wheel shapes with red and gold color.
The top of this wig also had a gold plate that would sit on top of the women’s head with
fake hair attached to it. The bottom of this fake hair was knotted and styled to look as if
the hair were in neat dreads. This special wig is a very important in telling us what
women looked like in ancient Egyptian times. It was also a symbol for women of the
upper class; it was one of the many pieces of attire that separated wealthy women from
women who were of the lower class. This is a great example of an item that distinguished
the social class among Egyptian women and shows its importance in their culture. It also
shows that the women who were wealthy wore colorful decorative accessories while
women who where poor did not.
I then viewed this sphinx which was quite large; I was able to walk around and
view it from all sides. This sphinx was actually a representation of the statue made for the
female pharaoh Hatshepsut (1472-1458 B.C.). It was made of red granite and it was
placed in the temple of the pharaoh. Here Hatshepsut has a body of a strong lion which
shows the ancient Egyptian culture to worship powerful animals as well has powerful
human beings. She is wearing a nemes headcloth and a royal beard to identify her as the
powerful ruler. This also shows an importance of attire and social class. It was part of the
Egyptian culture to wear was appropriate for the class you were in so it is possible to
identify importance and rank in the society. The size of this sculpture itself also shows
the magnitude of importance for this woman pharaoh.
The Mesoamerican Exhibit
This ceramic artifact was made by the inhabitants of present day Mexico in the 78th centuries. It depicts a person who is intoxicated on the popular drink that results in
puffy cheeks and a swollen tongue. The decoration on its hat also symbolizes motion and
festivities. This shows the celebration was a big part of the ancient Mexican culture.
Another interesting detail about the Mexican culture that this artifact shows is the
gauging of the ear piercing. This form of self mutilation was associated with style and
religion in the Mexican culture and was often worn by both women and men.
This artifact is a sculpture of the sun god Cihuateotl made out of Andesite by the
Aztec Indians during 1300-1500. It stands for all the spirits of women who died during
battle or childbirth. It was believed that this god would come to harm their babies on a
certain day of the year and that feared date was carved on the forehead of the sculpture.
The vicious appearance, facial features and hand gestures of this sculpture depicts a
harmful creature with bad intensions. This shows how important religion was to the
Aztecs. They would worship a god however fear that same god as a powerful being
powerful enough to harm living children.
This last artifact was sculpted by the
Mayan Indians out of limestone. The figure is wearing a helmet and is holding some sort
of hook-like weapon. It is also wearing a skirt, long footwear and a knot necklace around
its neck. The historical context of this artifact shows a lot about the cultural influence the
Mexican tribes had on the Mayan Indians. The Mexicans introduced the Mayans to
sculpting after the 10th century. This figure appears to me to be some sort of soldier
which shows a lot about the attire of soldiers on the battlefield and the respect given to
them by the making and size of this statue.