Follow Jezblog:
Well, here is another in my occasional series on containers ........ Containers....... For shipping and world trade......... but right now Im really thinking of the containers.......... Yeah the actual containers themselves...... and what's in them...... if any of it could keep or would be worth keeping for a very long time........
Today I went to the British Museum to see an amazing exhibition of 'The Book of the Dead' . Really it is looking at the religion of Ancient Egypt. The beliefs and spells to guide the dead of their time into the life everlasting........ Into the 'Field of Reeds'.
"The Field of Reeds. The God who is in it is Ra.
The very high mountain.
The Mound of transfigured spirits.
The Mound of Wenet. The god who is in it is the Destroyers of Souls.
The river of flaming fire.
The Mound of Kheraha. The god who is in it is Hapi."
(spell 150 names of the mounds of the Netherworld)
The book of the dead took the form of hundreds of spells written to protect and guide the spirit through the tests that they must pass to make it into eternal life and the prospect of riding with the Sun God Ra on his boat each day as he rode across the skies.
It's amazing that 3000 year old bits of papyrus survive to this day and are on display to pass on all that was sacred to the ancient Egyptians. Hey that in itself is a pretty amazing testament to the way they preserved their dead and the containers they buried them in ...... as each individuals book of the dead was buried with its deceased owner........ Often they almost clutched it ........ Mummified in it in their sarcophagus.
I don't know if any of our religious texts will stand a reading in 3000 years time......... or need to be stuck on to embalmed corpses......... and I wonder what of our civilization of now will still survive to be marveled at in a distant future.
I don't know what could, should or would survive. But Im not sure any of the stuff in these containers is it................
I'm not sure where you would put anything you wanted to keep....... something you wanted to be presented to the world in 3000 years from now........ maybe on the internet..........??????
Although Harv must be working on a pretty amazing series of catacombs under his house........ As today he tells me he unearthed an unopened box of........ :
"This is a FULL BOX of SEALED Agfa Record Rapid (50 sheets), a paper considered to be one of the best ever made. Agfa stopped production of this paper in the 90's, it has acquired cult status as being 'state of the art' exhibition paper. The box is factory sealed, unopened, undamaged and was safely stored in cool dark conditions. (see pictures) This is a very rare opportunity, I doubt you'll see an unopened box again as they are simply not available anywhere. Much of my portfolio is printed on this paper, if I still had a darkroom I'd keep it but I switched to digital years ago."
The like of such a valuable and rare find ........ can only be dug from ancient protected places........ Protected from the desert sun and away from grave robbers and sand vipers............ Yes it can only be found in ancient hidden rare places.......... er.......... or otherwise you can bid for it on ebay ........ hehehehehehehe.......... :
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AGFA-RECORD-RAPID-NEW-Sealed-/170571000624?pt=UKPhotographyDarkroomSupplies_SM&hash=item27b6d2eb30
Cheers Jez XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
www.jezblog.com
Comment: Name: Website: Email (not visible to others) remember me
More+
.... The photography and slightly mad life of reportage artist Jez Coulson ....