Silk Road Curator's Update

The last few days at the museum have been focused on uncrating, unpacking, condition reporting and installing objects for the Secrets of the Silk Road exhibition. We have had a lot of interest in the exhibition generated by the NY Times and USA today articles that have come out this week and it has been wonderful to receive phone calls and emails from all over the country from people eager to see this historic exhibition. When checking the condition of objects I usually find that I am so focused on the details and possible weaknesses of an object that I forget that I am looking at, or even holding in my own hands, an artifact of great historic significance - I see the scratch instead of the Frida Kahlo collage or the cracks not the terracotta warrior. This was not the case however when it came time to examine the infant mummy from Zaghunluq (the same mummy featured in the NY Times). Even though this 8-10 month old baby lived around 1000 BC there is no question that it was deeply loved by its parents. The baby was sweetly wrapped in brilliant red and blue wool textiles, a tuft of blond hair on its forehead peaks out from under its bonnet. A horn for drinking and a sack filled with milk were placed at the baby's sides so that even in the afterlife it had sustenance. Two flat rocks were placed over each of the eyes before it was laid to rest (one stone is removed in the picture below). Three thousand years later it is possible to feel the love the parents had for this child and for me, experiencing an emotional connection with ancient people has been extraordinary.