Dashing and eclectic scholar-about-town. Have keyboard, will travel!
Another mythologizing animal sharing a spark of intellectual passion!
I've been working on manifesting change in my life, using my Granddad Bob's "Law of Higher Potential." You may be more familiar with him as Robert Collier, who was quoted in the surprise blockbuster movie The Secret -- and with his "law" as the "Law of Abundance," from that movie. One of the things the movie unfortunately does not emphasize, which Granddad mentions as critical, is expressing both gratitude for what one has and seeks, and action towards the desired goal(s). So I've been working on gratitude, as well as action.
It's surprisingly enjoyable -- the opening oneself up to gratitude, I mean. Just for this morning alone, I am grateful for the sheer sensual pleasure of a cool morning's walk in a lovely neighborhood. I'm grateful for editing jobs which leave the client incredibly overjoyed that I've fixed his or her writing issues -- and which pay my bills and leave me with more besides. I'm grateful for fresh-made bread and a simple fried egg. I'm grateful for hot spiced tea that fills the kitchen with delicious scents, and the sweet croon of the love ballad I'm listening to as I cook and eat my breakfast. I love seeing the early morning sunshine falling through the screen door onto the floor in curlicue patterns.
Most of all, I think I'm grateful for the opportunity this summer offers me to simply write. I've wanted to write the stories in my head for quite a while; now I get to!
So share a bit, if you will: what are you grateful for?
The speaker noted that of the 33 revolutions since (and including) the American Revolution, only six of them were led by Freemasons, which would seem to indicate Freemasons are not the dreaded revolutionaries they're portrayed as. I was amused by his comment that the more revolutionary the Freemasons were believedt to be, the more revolutionary they became -- because young hotheads looking for revolution naturally went to where they believed it could be found! There's a case of social expectations creating precisely the effect they didn't want.
The speaker also listed the six revolutionary Freemasons, discussing them at some length. They were, in order:
For all that the Freemasons were known as revolutionaries, I find it telling that Franco, Mussolini, and Hitler all distrusted them intensely as hotbeds of undesirable democratic, progressive, and liberal tendencies. However, I also find it telling that (if my limited memory of my high school history classes is not failing me) each of the revolutions listed above got more progressively bloody and lasted ever longer, often dragging the afflicted country into desperate economic straits well past whatever the original leeching effect was of the previous government. At this point I'm only surprised anyone would ever wish to revolt violently, considering the dreadful costs in human lives and blood, fire and rapine, and pointlessly wanton destruction.
I cannot help but also wonder if there was a qualitative difference in the American Revolution, as opposed to the others mentioned. Why was the US the nation to later became the most powerful? Was it because the US of the time had more product to sell in Europe, thus forestalling the usual post-revolution economic collapse? Was it because it was the only one led by what was believed to be a "virtuous man"? Was it because the US did not have a traditional caste system of nobility over serfs or peasants? Was it due to the familial ties with Europe being deliberately cut, thereby curtailing the frustration and anger of South American "half-breed" noble sons returning to their European familial homes -- only to discover they would always be considered second-class citizens? I don't know, but it's fascinating to speculate.
Regarding the presentation itself, I was curious to note the graphics choices made by the speaker. The first picture for George Washington, for example, depicted him in prayer; that's him at the top of this posting. It was easy to believe this man was considered virtuous by his people. The one for Simón Bolívar, however, showed a brooding, shadowed, grim man with a sword in hand. Looking at it during the talk, I was reminded of Shakespeare's Caesar commenting to a friend, "Yon Cassius hath a lean and hungry look; He thinks too much: such men are dangerous." Cassius, of course, later organizes Caesar's assassination.
Was it an unconscious choice of graphics? It certainly subtly underlined many of the perplexities I had regarding the qualitative differences between the American Revolution, and all the others. Short of asking the speaker, however, I have no way of knowing for sure.
Sadly, the speaker apparently thought PowerPoint slides should only recapitulate the actual talk. Consequently the audience effectively got to read precisely the same words they were hearing. The author did add a few nice graphics, as I noted here -- but having your slides exactly state what you're going to say anyway is not, in my not so humble opinion, a good idea.
More about the conference as I get it written! :)
The conference was closed by the sacred dance which I wrote about yesterday, and everyone was invited to participate in the Epagomenal Festival as well. I very much enjoyed the attitude at the festival -- while it was kid-friendly, it wasn't something just for the kids, and I received only cheerful invitations when I asked if the event booths were available for the adults to try as well. All in all, it was a truly lovely end to a fascinating and enjoyable weekend.
So, about the seminars! :)
I'll have to write about the first Sunday presentation (Rosicrucian Principles & Scientific Discoveries) later, as the one on Fiat Lux is what came flooding out of my head as I sat here thinking and remembering.
The Fiat Lux presentation was quite interesting. Apparently there is a fear of Freemasonry as a group or cult which is attempting to establish a so-called New World Order -- whereas they apparently see themselves as agents of the Enlightenment. The speculative premise of the speaker, who was himself a very high-ranking member in the Freemasons, is that this fear is unfounded, as the New World Order arrived with the establishment of the United States of America -- a democracy ostensibly dedicated to justice, tolerance, freedom of thought and teaching -- all of which are apparently also Freemason beliefs.
I was interested to hear those Enlightenment ideals, and democracy in action, were occurring in the various lodges as early as the very late 1500s. What a great way to train generations of men to think for themselves! In fact, over the years the very word "enlightened" has come to be synonymous with "civilized."
If I'm understanding correctly, the Freemasons were originally actually artisans working with stone and buildings, who gathered as a guild and in their meetings expressed their (Hermetic?) beliefs in their gods and nature. Over generations, "gentlemen volunteers" were allowed to join as well, as non-laboring but financially supportive members, which helped evolve the democratically governed and almost franchise-like lodge system. Further, many of the ideas of the approaching Enlightenment (such as advancement by merit rather than birth, democracy rather than divine right, and the equality of man -- although they still do not allow women to join) were freely discussed in all the lodges.
Over time, of course, Freemasonry became linked to high social status. Also, according to what I was told by someone at the conference, when the Freemasons achieve the order's highest-possible rank, they're invited to join the Rosicrucians. I was quite interested to hear it was Benjamin Franklin, in fact, who inducted Voltaire -- what a fascinating meeting of the minds that must have been! I suspect it was the influence of remarkable men like those two which helped move the originally esoterically based Freemasons toward a more political, revolutionary bent. Nowadays, since there's little need for violent revolution, the Freemasons are shifting back towards being a more esoterically based group.
However, apparently in the mid 1600s to the 1800s, revolution is what the Freemasons were known for -- to their dismay. The speaker noted, however, that revolutions occur when there's a need to utterly change society -- most often when desperately needed socio-economic change has occurred, but the associated political modernization is lagging. In those situations it is frequently the citizenry that makes the change -- by violently replacing the government.
I'm rambling, but I think I'll continue to do so, as it makes writing anecdotally easier. Fair warning: I'm recapitulating my hastily scribbled notes here, so I can try to remember as much as possible. ;)
The last day of the Hidden in Plain Sight: The Influence of Western Esoteric Movements on Modern Thought conference was a light one. There were only two seminars offered: Rosicrucian Principles & Scientific Discoveries and Fiat Lux: Freemasonry, the Enlightenment, & the Emergence of A New Sociopolitical Order.
At noon, just as on the other three days, there was a Council of Solace ritual in the Grand Temple, which I was not able to attend due to being the gopher for the authors at the book signings in the museum proper. From what I've been told, these rituals occur every day to offer solace for the world's pain. While they're ordinarily for Rosicrucian members only, apparently there's a Tuesday one which is open to the general public as well. I want to get to one; they say the rituals are quite lovely.
Being the gopher for the book signings was actually quite relaxing, although I was a bit surprised at how many books sold out at the bookstore, leaving the authors nothing to sign. Surely the bookstore should have known to order more for the weekend? (note to self: if I'm ever doing a book signing tour, I shall always carry ten extra copies of my book with me!) In regards to being gopher for the book signings themselves, from what I could tell I was there mostly as back-up -- whether it was due to the authors needing someone to chat with them and keep them entertained momentarily until more eager folks arrived with books to sign and stories to tell, or whether the regular museum staff was being overwhelmed with something at any particular moment. I was happy to go get napkins or lunch or whatever for the authors, in such situations.
On the first day alone, just as an example, the museum staff (as separate from the conference staff, which had to deal with nearly a third again more folks than they'd expected!) had to cope with a disabled volunteer groundskeeper having a seizure -- which necessitated a firetruck's paramedics to help out and take the gentleman to the hospital -- to a wheelchair lift becoming disabled in the museum itself -- while someone in a wheelchair was on it! In both situations there was a happy outcome, but I can see how it would be a bit hair-raising for them in the moment.
Thinking about the museum and conference staff over that weekend, I think what stands out for me is the extraordinary friendliness of them all. I've never been to a conference with so many courteous, smiling, pleasant people! Even the attendees were unfailingly polite -- somewhat to my surprise, since I've been to several gaming, science fiction, and furry cons. Of course, at this convention they were all adults attending what was a very intellectually based conference; that probably had something to do with the very high level of good manners. :)
I was also impressed by all the museum officials being willing to dress up in the costumes for the weekend Egyptian Epagomenal Festival -- it wasn't just the interns and volunteers. I get the feeling they all try to have fun there; I heartily approve! Also, as a completely irrelevant aside, the museum director (I think?) made an extraordinarily handsome pharaoh! There were several extraordinarily good looking men there, in fact. I'm pretty sure my tongue didn't hang out, though... too far. Ahem. So, some personal notes for giving presentations! When I present, I wish to do a good job. Here are some thoughts I want to keep in mind while giving a talk:
That's it for now! If this helps anyone else, or if you can think of something to add, let me know, please. :)
I'm back from Hidden in Plain Sight, the Rosicrucian Museum's lovely four-day conference on esotericism. Not only did I have a wonderfully mentally stimulating time, but I was thanked repeatedly for all my volunteer work during the con, which I'll freely confess was really nice to hear. Further, after the conference was over we were able to all wander about in the beautiful grounds around the museum. At the same time as the conference -- at least on the weekend -- there was a festival the museum was hosting, called the Egyptian Epagomenal. From one of the entries on their Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum facebook page for last weekend:
In addition to the regular 360-day ancient Egyptian calendar were five days "out of time" that paid tribute to the birth of the goddesses Isis and Nephthys, and the gods Osiris, Seth and Horus. In honor of this ancient Egyptian tradition, we celebrate by hosting a festival weekend at Rosicrucian Park. Please join us in a variety of special gallery talks, guided tomb tours, planetarium shows, workshops and special children's activities. Outdoor booths will be held during the weekend festival, and include hands-on activities such as henna, crafts and even an ancient Egyptian "photo booth." Museum staff will be dressed in Egyptian costumes, and we encourage guests to dress up and join in all of the fun!
I got henna'd -- for the first time! Quite fun; I shall have to try this again. Also participated in a sacred dance in the Garden of Peace, which made me happy despite the heat. I was interested to hear the explanation of sacred dance offered by the dance's organizer, a Brazilian flautist, dancer, and Rosicrucian whose name I didn't get. According to him, sacred dance was incredibly ancient and one of the first forms of both spiritualism and interpersonal communication, since it is believed to have occurred before the spoken word.
That, as far as I know, is true -- but then he mentioned only two relatively recent and (according to him) strictly male dances as examples of sacred dance: the Shiva Nataraja, or Hindu Lord of the Dance, and one from the American Plains Indians. I found myself wondering: what about all the prehistoric shaman women and priestesses who lived, prayed, and danced for centuries before Hinduism and the American Indians came about? For that matter, if we're discussing Hindu dances, what about the dancing Dakinis, or the dance of Kali? If we're remembering we're on the grounds of a museum dedicated to the Egyptian mysteries, then why not mention Bast, the goddess of music, dance, and sensual pleasure -- or the famous dance initially developed by Egyptian women, called then raqs sharki, and now known as belly dancing?
However, modern erasure of historical women is a discussion for another time. At that particular moment I was still quite enjoying myself, especially as the first sacred dance we did was based on the Cherokee Ghost Dance, and very simple. The Brazilian musician either sang a simple, almost wordless tune while encouraging us to sing along; or played lovely haunting flute music as we danced. That part was lovely, and as he'd promised, the musician kept the dances and songs he taught us very simple and straightforward. However, I bowed out of the dance that came after that one, and ended up quietly departing during the song-teaching portion of the following dance, since they both had songs which were extraordinarily Christian. Since I don't consider myself christian, and don't care much for the androcentric focus of the religion and its deity, I felt a bit awkward in participating in its glorification. ;)
Having the music as a vague background hum while wandering about the various booths was much nicer for me. As I mentioned before, I had some henna painting done on one hand. It was funny later, glancing around and noticing all the people who were sitting in the shade, but with one hand (or other limb) stuck out into the sunshine so their henna would dry. I also ended up making a little beaded, protective-scarab-amulet bracelet; painting on papyrus precisely as the ancient Egyptians did -- which was surprisingly easy and fun to do; admiring the cheerful and exotically dressed museum staff and volunteers; and generally wandering around the gardens in a tiredly happy daze. Considering the conference started on Thursday, after all, it was intellectually a rather long weekend. ;)
It was a truly gorgeous weekend, too. The Rosicrucian gardens are well-shaded by all the trees, and the big fountain in the center means you can hear running water almost everywhere on the grounds -- which I remember reading was one of the definitions of paradise for some desert culture which I cannot now recall. All the various flowers were sweet-scented and blooming in a rainbow of colors, the kids scampering madly about were generally excited and happy, and it was one of those moments where I was sitting surrounded by beauty and thinking just how lucky I am. :)
Urgh. Sorry for lack of post recently. After three full days of listening to six or seven fascinating presentations per day, I come home with utterly no brain juice left -- which tends to make me want to eat dinner and then go flop!
Today's the last day of the Hidden in Plain Sight conference, though, so I should be able to digest this huge bolus of nifty ideas and get back to Xiaohe Woman by Monday.
Thanks for your patience, and enjoy your weekend! :)
Some random notes I found of interest about Yingpan Man: the "boots" were almost just little sacks for the feet, and clearly not designed for walking. My guess were that they were ceremonial, intended just for the burial. Also those little curving items visible on the tops of the boots and up on the chest are tiny decorated pieces of gold. I don't know what their meaning to the Yingpan people was, but I'll try to scan in my quick sketch of their pattern later. The different-looking parts of the sleeves looked like later add-ons to me, curiously enough.
Interestingly, what looks like a set of doll's clothing on the man's abdomen is a nice imitation of his own clothing -- and he had several of these in the tomb with him. What makes it doubly interesting is the nearly 4000 year old woman had something similar buried with her too, despite her much simpler clothing styles: a little wooden humanoid figure wrapped in a tiny blanket just like she was, with slim, inscribed wooden pins holding the blanket in place -- again, just like the ones on her. Further, this is not unique to these two mummies. Burying tiny copies of the deceased person's clothing was clearly of some incredibly important ritual significance -- because the habit of doing so stuck around for 2000 years.
Finally, the Yingpan Man's remarkable mask should be mentioned. Not only is that a layer of gold foil over the forehead -- and part of me so wants to know why?! -but also the face itself is very clearly Caucasian. It's not as obvious in the photo, but it is when you can lean over and look on all sides. Further, we had another gold death mask for what was clearly a Mongoloid type of face, and when you walked back and forth between the two of them you could really pick out the differences.
Yingpan Man's face is longer and slimmer than the other mask, with a cute little pencil-thin mustache. His nose is long and thin, standing tall all along the length of the face between cheeks with long planes. His lips were also thin, and I think those black lines on the side were supposed to be indicators of where his face ended and started the curve into the back of his head. Finally, the mask is white, as opposed to the warmer gold tones of the other death mask.
The final mummy I got to see is the so-called Beauty of Xiaohe (try here if that link is dead), which is apparently pronounced a bit like 'ksyow-HUH.' There is a more famous female mummy found near Loulan that is also very well preserved -- although not quite as well as Beauty of Xiaohe -- which has a similar type of name: she is known as the Beauty of Loulan. I am not sure, but I think she's more famous simply because she was found before Beauty of Xiaohe was found.
What perplexes me is this obsession we have with the supposed prettiness of these dead women. Why are all the well-preserved female mummies always known as 'Beauty of [town-name]'? Is it really that important that they appeal to our modern day sensibilities? Is it absolutely necessary to fake up drawings of what the women would have looked like while alive, and assure each other that she'd have made an attractive wife? (if you think I'm overstating the case, this actually happened!) Can we not appreciate these remarkable women unless and until we have reduced them to attractively sexual entities?
The males are usually given titles like Yingpan Man, or Ur-David. They're not Beauty of Yingpan or Male Beauty of Urumchi. Why aren't the women just Loulan Woman, or Xiaohe Woman -- or even something like Ur-Rachael? I think I shall refer henceforth to the woman mummy I saw by what I believe is a more respectful title: Xiaohe Woman.
- - - - -
Coming back to writing this later, after a pleasant day spent helping out at the Rosicrucian Museum's "Hidden in Plain Sight" conference (more on that later), I have some interesting new information. One of the presenters at the conference was chatting with me about the Tarim Basin mummies. He'd actually visited the area, and pointed out to me that the Chinese culture is one where female attractiveness is still the most important characteristic about them. Further, referring to someone to their face as "beauty" is apparently commonplace, somewhat as we might call someone "good lookin'," I think.
So while I still don't agree with judging a person solely on the basis of their looks, I now have a better idea of the reasoning behind the name choices on the women mummies discovered so far. More on Xiaohe Woman tomorrow!
The Bowers Museum clearly has someone working for them who is both extremely persuasive, and very well-connected in China, in order to negotiate such an amazing collection for their exhibition. I consider their exhibition title, Secrets of the Silk Road, quite accurate. Keep in mind the Chinese allowed only a tiny handful of Western scientists to examine these amazing mummies and their gravegoods -- and you can perhaps understand my amazement at hearing there would be not one but three of these mummies allowed out of China!
There was the "Cherchen Baby," which I mentioned in my previous posting, the woman referred to as the "Beauty of Xiohue," and a 'younger' male mummy from the second or third century BCE, with extremely rich and beautiful grave goods. Last I heard, the exhibition was on a US tour of only two cities -- the other was somewhere in Texas, I think? I hope more museums are able to negotiate a visit so these astonishing and beautifully preserved people can be seen by more.
From listening to one of the docents, it appears there was one unfortunate hitch in bringing over the mummies: when the male was lifted, he started immediately disintegrating. However, his grave goods were sent over, and they hold pride of place as you walk into the darkened first display room. I was initially quite disgruntled at seeing this first room, in fact. It is the central of three sections of rooms dedicated to the exhibition, with the "newest" items in the room to the left and the oldest articles in the rooms to the right.
I did not know this when I entered, and so was initially somewhat disgusted with the Chinese for only allowing out items from the second-third centuries BCE, rather than the really old, 3 to 4 thousand year old mummies which I'd hoped to see -- such as the mummies from Urumchi which I mention in my previous post. Those mummies are the ones Mair was allowed to bring Barber in to examine, and about which Barber wrote her fascinating book titled (appropriately) The Mummies of Urumchi
I highly recommend Barber's book if you're at all interested in this subject, by the way. She not only writes with all the enthusiasm of a dedicated scientist, but she also takes the time to clearly and entertainingly explain how weaving is done and why the textiles discovered with the mummies are so marvelous.
True, Barber's book covers only the mummies of Urumchi, while Mallory's and Mair's The Tarim Mummies
So where was I... ah, yes, the exhibition! In retrospect I have to laugh at myself for being such an intellectual snob that I was disappointed at a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see mummies that were "only" about 2000 years old, rather than the almost 4000 year old ones I wanted to see. As it turned out, I did get to see the truly ancient ones, but the "young" one (try here if that link is dead) in the center room was also quite interesting once I got over my snit. They call him Yingpan Man, since he was found near Yingpan, and date him at the second or third century BCE.
His clothing, as you can see, is still brilliant and beautiful, made of a silk and wool mix. The outer coat has sleeves longer than his arms, which I think is how they kept their hands warm in the winter? -and is reversible, with the same pattern as you see on the front, but in "reversed" colors.
Click on the graphic and get the big version, and you'll be able to see the weirdly cool part: in a far distant, frigidly barren Chinese desert around the second or third century BCE -- this man was wearing a coat patterned with a distinctly Greek or Roman style of art! You can see the wavy-branched trees of life alternating with cavorting bulls and long-horned goats, as well as rather corpulent looking, mostly nude, male, cherub-like entities brandishing a variety of short javelins and shields, or bows and arrows -- which the museum signage said were "warrior putti."
While I can agree with the designation of putti for the little creatures, I had to cover a snicker at the firm assertion that they were warriors. If they were indeed supposed to be warriors -- rather than symbols of fertility, sexuality, and life, just like the bulls, goats, and trees of life, as well as their Greek look-alike Eros -- then they were the cutest, chubbiest, most adorably artistic little "warriors" ever... and consequently very hard for me, at least, to take seriously as warriors!
I was going to write in a rather scholarly mode about my visit to the Tarim mummies, but I think all my "scholarly" has been temporarily burned out of me by my intensive month or so of thesis writing. I'll have to write about that too at some point -- what a trip that was! -but for now I'm going to just ramble on about the lovely weekend trip to the Bowers Museum and its amazing Secrets of the Silk Road display. This exhibition closes on July 25th, so if you get a chance to see it, hurry!
The Tarim mummies... goodness, where do I possibly start?! It's one thing to write about a marvelous archaeological discovery in my thesis, and think a bit wistfully how nice it would be to see someday -- knowing full well the odds of my heading off to some far-away place in Russia or China are quite slim. It's absolutely another thing entirely to stand there, almost choked up as I stare down in awe at the actual body of this infant, or this woman -- both of whom lived almost four thousand years ago. I feel a connection between us, even if it is merely in our shared human mortality.
There is another connection between myself and the baby in particular, which is why I feel slightly choked up while studying her: I know her story. It is not mentioned in the display signage -- curiously, even her true gender is not mentioned -- but from reading books I know at least part of what happened to her.
There are two excellent books which discuss her, as well as the other astonishing finds in the Tarim Basin: The Mummies of Urumchi
Buried above them, and thus at a later date, the archaeologists found the baby girl I got to see. She was maybe 8 to 10 months old at her death, and because she was buried in this particular tomb it is a good bet one of the women was her mother. From her grave goods it also seems clear whomever buried her cared very much about her, and tried very hard to keep her alive. For example, interred with her was the tip of a cow horn on her right, and the udder of a sheep on her left. As Barber writes so movingly in her book, it would seem every effort was made to continue to feed the infant, with the cow horn as a tiny cup to attempt to pour milk between her lips, and the sheep's udder as a try at a primitive baby bottle.
The family wore wool, which is not native to the area -- so apparently they or others like them brought wool-bearing sheep to that region. The baby girl wears two beautifully dyed felt bonnets that tie under her chin: a red one, and over that a blue one. The wool the felt is made from is a type of cashmere, which is both incredibly soft, and holds colors wonderfully -- which means her bonnets are still brilliant and vibrant looking. From under the red bonnet framing her face you can just see a few wisps of her strawberry blonde hair. She's wrapped warmly in a loose-weave blanket dyed a rich rusty red color, which has been snugly bound about her with a colorful piece of yarn made of two strands twisted together -- one blue, the other red, just like with her bonnet.
Laid over each eye are two tiny pieces of bright blue or blue-green stone. These are remarkable for a number of reasons. There is speculation that the stones are the color of the baby's eyes -- blue -- which becomes part of the marvelous mystery of these ancient and clearly Caucasian mummies located in China. Further, these stones are not native to the area. They had to be brought in at some point, which also means they were deliberately chosen to be interred with this baby -- like a precious gift given to someone beloved who is departing.
The baby is a tiny little thing as I stare down at her in the darkened room. I cannot help but wonder which of the buried three women was her mother. It had to be one of the two that were not well preserved, since the female that mummified well was older, and no one has mentioned any signs of being a lactating mother on her. Of those two, was it the one off on her own in the northern end of the tomb? Or was it the one curled next to the well-mummified female? Is the infant the daughter of the man who was there, as is widely presumed? What sort of family did they have; did they all care for her, cuddle her, sing her to sleep as they traveled? How old was she when her entire family died, and how long were the kind-hearted natives able to keep her alive?
Why would the Cherchen baby's family bring such a tiny infant to such an inhospitable area? What was their goal; why did they travel so far from any others who looked like them? The burial was found in the Tarim Basin, near Cherchen. Tarim is on the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert, and according to one of the museum docents, "Taklamakan" translates literally as ''go in and you don't come out.''
So many questions, such an intriguing mystery; I want to know, and I don't know how to find out.
Planning a trip down to the LA area this weekend for a potentially once-in-a-lifetime experience. Some of the astonishingly well-preserved Tarim mummies from China will be in a little Santa Ana museum, and considering I mentioned them in my thesis, I am definitely going to see them!
To explain my comment about once-in-a-lifetime, I quote a short passage from my thesis:
This subtle, perhaps unconscious, negation or belittling [can also be seen] in the behavior of the Chinese concerning the Tarim mummies, mentioned previously in this thesis. It is never stated directly, of course, but the information derived from these excavations is quite disturbing to current Chinese assumptions. When mummified Caucasians buried with worked bronze items and exquisitely woven cloth (including silk) are found to be older than any similar burials of people of Chinese extraction, it raises difficult questions about who exactly invented what, and who was there first. While this may seem insignificant to us, compared to the thrill of such marvelous ancient discoveries, it is apparently a matter of national pride to some of the Chinese. Consequently an attitude of what appears to be benign neglect pervades treatment of the mummies:"It is surprising that, at this rather late date and so far to the east, all of the individuals from Subeshi that Paolo and Victor examined were still clearly Caucasoid; there was not a single Mongoloid among them. The corpses and most of the artifacts were kept in a damp and cramped basement storage room at the Institute of Archaeology in Ürümchi. After their condition was revealed in the worldwide press, they were moved to a dusty upstairs room. Yet they are still completely exposed to the atmosphere (the windows of the room are kept open all year around); with the exception of several that have been moved to the museum, no measures have been taken to conserve the Subeshi mummies. The situation is particularly frustrating since Victor made a large donation to the Institute of Archaeology in 1994 that was specifically earmarked for the construction of glass cases for the Subeshi mummies. It was promised that the cases would be built in Shanghai and installed within a year, yet by 1999 nothing had been done. There is a desperate need to provide these precious specimens with surroundings that are better designed to ensure their preservation." (from Mallory & Mair's "The Tarim Mummies," pgs. 25, 27)This not-so-benign neglect extends to the graveyards as well. No effort has been made to stop grave robbers, who tear through body parts, strewing them around the desert in an effort to find anything of value. Unfortunately the true value of such graves is not in gold or other expensive items, but rather in the knowledge which can be gained through archaeological study of the mummies. As the authors unhappily note, "It is astonishing that, to date, no systematic archaeological study has been made of this or any other residential area associated with the prehistoric mummies of East Central Asia" (27).
I cannot help but wonder if my comments above could also explain why these fabulous artifacts are appearing in only two small museums in the US. Still, I'm thrilled they are at least here, within driving range for me.
More on this breaking story! Film at 11! :)
Dashing and eclectic scholar-about-town. Have keyboard, will travel!
Dashing and eclectic scholar-about-town. Have keyboard, will travel!
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