The Manchester Museum is offering children an archaeological adventure as they enter the world of Ancient Egypt.
This Autumn, The Manchester Museum stages Unearthed: Ancient Egypt, an exhibition of Egyptology with a difference.
Children are invited to become an archaeologist for the day and help uncover the stories behind some of the Museum’s ancient artefacts. The Museum has one of the finest collections of Egyptological material anywhere in the UK outside London and now there is the opportunity to experience it in an innovative way.
In a newly created gallery space, visitors will be transported back to the 1920s, the heyday of British excavations in Egypt, entering the mysterious storeroom of fictional archaeologist Dr Digby - played on a specially commissioned series of films by acclaimed author Terry Deary of Horrible Histories and Egyptian Tales fame.
Dr Digby and his assistant require help in cataloguing and investigating the large number of finds from various digs and participating children will be instructed on what to do next via the films. Before they get to work sorting and scrutinising, the children will be awarded a special archaeologist’s certificate and during the investigation will discover and understand more about daily life in ancient Egypt. Through projections of pyramids, tented structures, display cases, and a reconstruction of a tomb as well as handling objects, Unearthed: Ancient Egypt creates a fascinating fictional archaeologist’s store from around 1925.
This was a time when archaeologists were carrying out huge digs in Egypt unearthing a host of treasures and ancient objects from farming tools to stone carvings and even toys.
These discoveries present a picture of what life was like for the ancient Egyptians, from their home life and work to their language and beliefs. Unearthed: Ancient Egypt will encourage its trainee archaeologists to question how these objects were discovered and identified as well as how much they reveal about this ancient civilization.
Unearthed: Ancient Egypt runs from 30 September 2011 - 6 September 2012.
Source: Asian Image [September 23, 2011]