The Secrets of Tomb 10A

Yesterday Maura had the day off for Veterans’ Day and by happy coincidence the Museum of Fine Arts had free admission for the day, both to the museum and to the current exhibition of Egyptian artifacts from Tomb 10A at Deir el-Bersha, excavated by a museum sponsored exhibition in 1915. Though the artifacts have been in the museum collection since 1920 many have never been exhibited before and they are quite spectacular finds. Though the tomb, which belonged to a high official named Djehutynakht and his wife, had been looted of its most valuable artifacts the robbers had no interest in the wooden coffins that once contained the mummies of the pair or in the many wooden models that substituted for the servants the two would need to provide for their needs in the afterlife. The models included scenes of domestic and agricultural chores and a fleet of boats to carry them safely on their river journeys in the afterlife. Though perhaps not as spectacular as the gold and jewels no doubt stolen by the long-ago robbers, the models are for more enlightening because they show us how the ancient people of Egypt lived. The coffins too are enlightening and beautiful. Covered with scenes and spells in painted hieroglyphics, they tell us about what the Egyptians believed and how they saw their place in this world and in the afterlife.

The exhibit was fascinating and very well put together. Since I’m an archaeologist by training I was entranced and I think Maura was too. She loves ancient Egyptian art and finds hieroglyphics fascinating. She was interested enough in the subject matter to want to read much of the explanatory text and to listen to me talk about the artifacts we saw. I’m very proud of how she takes an interest in a subject that many kids might find dry and boring—and also of how well she behaved in the museum once she began to tire.

Once we had seen the special exhibit we spent some time in the rest of the museum. Mostly I let Maura decide what we would look at. She likes Asian art, particularly Japanese Buddhist sculpture. I encouraged her to think about the pieces we saw and she encouraged me by doing what I asked of her, answering questions about the relationships between the objects we saw. It is a real joy to visit a museum with a child who enjoys learning.