I've been obsessed with Ancient Egypt since I was 9 years old. My class in primary school studied them as part of a history project and, although it was more of a "Horrible Histories" approach back then, I was instantly fascinated. My fandom of them has grown to the extent that I now have an Egyptian ankh incorporated into the tattoo on my back. The Ankh's meaning is not yet completely clear to Egyptologists; it could mean "life" or "death" and it is the current ambiguity of this symbol that really intrigues me, hence my permanent tribute to it.
I feel that the Egyptians have such a wealth of stories that they add to our world history. For example, the story of Hapshetsut, a queen who ruled as pharoh, and who's nephew destroyed her monuments because he wanted the thrown. Add to this the famous story of Cleopatra - the ancient world's first Celebrity, who's love life and suicide where talked about as if in one of today's tabloid newspapers.
Another thing which greatly interests me about the Ancient Egyptians is there belief in the afterlife, which was not just a belief but a detailed description of how to get there.
Their many rituals and poly-theistic beliefs may seem silly and unneccessary to today's secular society, but the fact that they once had 400 years of peace suggests that maybe we should take a leaf from their book. If spirituality has something to do with that, we should look into it. And that's coming from an atheist.
Oodles of Ancient love.
CC.
N.B: This Tattoo has since been touched up and looks a lot less red! I just haven't got a final photo of it yet =)
Hi Gemma, though I'd comment on your blog! Ancient Egypt's amazing- we're studying it with the Year 4s at school at the moment and they love it (getting Year 4s interested in History is an achievement in itself!). In Literacy, they had to write their own Ancient Egypt story and some of them were incredible. I love the spirituality side too and I think rituals are important even in a secular society because they 'ground' people and give a sense of purpose and reality even if not in a religious sense. Polytheism and spirituality tend to go together, although I'm more of a pantheism type person. If you're interested in Ancient Egypt, I think there's a section on it in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery atm (the Year 4s went on a trip there last week) that's meant to be really good. Sorry for random comments on your blog! Fi x*x P.S. Love the tattoo!
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