I’ve been fascinated by Ancient Egypt ever since I was a child. I used to nag my parents to take me to the British Museum and the Ashmolean where I could stare at mummified objects and ogle at tomb paintings; I even had a pencil case based on Tutankhamun’s famous death mask! So imagine my surprise when I recently discovered that I’d been walking past a museum that housed one of the largest collections of ancient Egyptian artefacts without ever realising it was there! I decided it was about time I paid a visit to the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology.

The first thing you see when you walk into the building is a display of photographs from Flinders Petrie’s archaeological digs in the late 19th and early 20th century – he’s the one the establishment is named after. It was actually founded by novelist and musician Amelia Edwards, who bequeathed her antiquities and a large sum of money to UCL – University College London – in 1892 and insisted that Petrie be made professor of archaeology there. Hundreds of ancient pieces – including jewellery, pottery, stone slabs from tombs and even a real coffin – are exhibited across three rooms and a staircase. The amount crammed into such a small space is amazing and, unlike a lot of museums, you can get really close to the cabinets so it feels very intimate. The lf that the amethyst and carnelian necklaces I was looking at were around 5,000 years old. The ancient Egyptians really were ahead of their time!

I saw items that I’ve never seen anywhere else, like a beaded dancing dress from around 2400 BC and even children’s toys, and of course there were lots of incredible tomb paintings and ankhs, which reminded me of Alchemy’s Ankh Of The Dead necklace [P221]. I spent a truly magical afternoon taking it all in and I’m already planning my next visit.

The Petrie Museum is part of UCL and is a short walk away from Goodge Street tube. It’s free to visit but has limited opening hours so do check the website before you venture out. Vampire enthusiasts might also be interested to know the Petrie Film Club will be presenting a screening of cult film The Hunger on 18 February as well! Find out more at: www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/petrie.

By Natasha Scharf. The author of the books ‘The Art of Gothic’ (Omnibus Press/Backbeat Books) and ‘Worldwide Gothic’ (Independent Music Press).

This entry was posted on Friday, January 30th, 2015 in Uncategorized.