Ah, Alexandria

[selenak]

The undisputed highlight of my time in Berlin: the new exhibition Ägyptens Versunkene Schätze ("The Sunken Treasures of Egypt") which hasn't been shown anywhere else in the world yet and was only opened last week. It shows the findings made in the bey of Alexandria - the lost cities Heraklion and Conapus, and the part of Alexandria which had been taken by the sea, the Alexandria of the Ptolemies. It's Hellenistic Egypt which you see there, this unique mixture of Egyptian and Greek - and later Roman - style expressed in the statues of kings and queens and Gods. Coins of Cleopatra VII, the most famous and last of that name, which show her in her Greek hairstyle, curly hair tied back in a knot, and statues showing Cleopatra as Isis, utterly Egyptian. A huge, gigantic tablet/monument with both Egyptian and Greek writing, like the famous stone of Rosetta, by Ptolemy II. The Nile presented as a bearded river god, which was a Roman contribution (the Nile having been female for the Egyptians). The second of the Arsinoes, probably the most famous queen of that name, looking more individualistic than any Egyptian ruler (safe for the Ankhenaten period), and yet with that small belly that Greek representations of women lack and which makes the Egyptians look that much more real. Gold from all areas, even a few Byzantine coins. And everywhere the eerie projections of film, showing how these artifacts looked in the water where the archaeologists unearthed them. Ah, Alexandria.

***
eirena wrote a fantastic Sydney point of view on the last Alias episode, Cause & Effect. And a lot of CDs from karabair arrived. Off I go, checking whether my computer plays them...

Comments

[artaxastra.livejournal.com]

*sigh*

I would give quite a lot to see it. :(

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I thought of you quite a lot while walking through it...

[eirena.livejournal.com]

The exhibition sounds absolutely stunning -- we're both a little envious! How exciting...

(Also: Thanks for the fic rec! *hugs*)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I loved it. Another reason for you two to make a Europe tour.*g*

[eirena.livejournal.com]

Oh, sweetheart, if we only had the money, we'd be doing just that. As soon as we sorted out her citizenship. Bah, immigration.

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

sounds lovely!

*knock on wood* re: CDs

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Having now watched the first episode, I can happily report they do indeed work. *g*

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

yay! and that should motivate me to write the essay on that episode that I've been meaning to write for some time --

[pjferret.livejournal.com]

That exhibit sounds wonderful. We were supposed to visit Alexandria when we were in Egypt last year (wow, it's exactly a year ago this week, come to think of it!). Unfortunately, we all ended up with a really nasty stomach bug (to put it politely), and had to skip it to stay in our hotel room. Not fun. Alexandria was one of the days I had been most looking forward to. It was the vacation of a lifetime even without it, but I still regret having to miss it.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Oh, my sympathies about the ill-timed stomach bug! That had to suck.

I hope you'll make another journey to Egypt, though...

[pjferret.livejournal.com]

It was our own fault. They say to avoid the water (Americans, at lesat - I guess there are chemicals in it our systems can't handle) in all forms - even food cooked or washed in it. We made the mistake of eating hot dogs on our second to last day there. We were so desperate for familiar food, we didn't think. And boy, did we pay for it. *sigh*

Maybe someday I'll be able to take a Mediterranean cruise or something that stops in Alexandria.