Alphabet Blog Challenge: A is for.....

Quick recap, my next 26 blog posts will feature something starting with ... whatever letter of the aphabet im up to... See my intro post here for more information. Feel free to join me in this alphabet blog challenge!!

Alchemy

I like the sound of that word, it conjures up thoughts of dark dingy rooms in castles, full of potions and scientific tubes and beakers and other scientific or magical paraphenalia. Swirling symbols and velvet curtains on the walls and covering the windows, and large leather bound gilt edged tomes balanced precariously on tables and jewel encrusted chairs.

Enchantments and potions, precious metals and acid, books about earth, fire, wind, water ....

Earth, fire, wind, water: the elements that formed the base of the Alchemists world. More than wanting to transform base metals into gold, alchemists were the forerunners of the chemistry we know today. Historically alchemy was a sacred path of learning incorporating, mysticism, science, philosophy, and the constant path to unravelling the mysteries of the world.

The word Alchemy is thought to derive from the Ancient Greek word khymeia, with 'al' the definite article from Ancient Arabic. Al kymeia ~ alchemy... Get it???

Ancient Alchemists produced findings and invented laboratory items and procedures that are still in use today albeit in modern form.

Further Reading

Medieval History on about-com
Alchemy Lab
Alchemy Timeline
Etymology of Alchemy

 

QLD Museum: MUMMY Secrets of the Tomb, brilliant exhibition!

The mysteries and science of ancient Egypt have long intrigued me, so im sure all you batlings out there will know how excited i was when i found out about an exhibition travelling from the British museum that featured the discovery information, artefacts and mummy of the ancient Egyptian Priest Nesperennub.


We booked ahead so we didn't have to line up on the day to book tickets... I'm not the most patient of goths and really have a string aversion to waiting in long non-moving lines. Tickets were nicely affordable at $21.45 each from Foxtix, and we could pay using Paypal which was convenient.


Prior to entering the exhibit room we were led into a small theatre where, upon donning '3d' glasses printed to resemble the Eye of Horus, we were transported into the world of the Historians and Scientists who had researched the mummy subsequent to it being purchased by the British museum. CT imaging was used to scan the mummy so as to avoid disrupting the wrappings and amulets of the preserved priest. The film took us through the CT scan process and explained the findings. It was a very interesting documentary that made a tasty precursor to the actual exhibition.


We then traversed into the exhibition, greeted with cabinets and shelves of all sorts of amazing original and some replica ancient Egyptian artefacts, we wandered through the exhibit enthralled. At the far end of the room the first mummy we encountered was that of a young female who was apparently a child singer in the court of an Egyptian noble who died at a young age. We also saw another mummy partially unwrapped and no longer sealed in decorated resin. In the last room of the exhibit rested the cartonnage mummy case with mummified body inside of the Priest Nesperenub.


This exhibit was educational, interesting, and a must see!