Grade 8's,
Here is where you will post your comment regarding the article "Mummies." Please post only your formal response to the question here. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
Question:
It became almost costume for tourists of Egypt to bring back mummies as souvenirs. Do you think that this practice is appropriate? Why or why not?
Ms. Swanek
Here is where you post!!!
ReplyDeletethis is where you post!
ReplyDeletesuccess
ReplyDeleteHaha I posted!
ReplyDeleteHello everyone! I successfully posted a comment!
ReplyDeletealso success from Ola
ReplyDeleteI got on
ReplyDeleteI'm AWESOME!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete"I posted a blog and I liked it!"
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNo I don't think it is right that people can bring back mummies from their trip. Because first of all this is a dead person I don't know why people are even allowed to sell them. What if someone sold you so you could sit in someone's house for the rest of eternity. Also how would you dispose of it, say the person who bought it dies and their family was cleaning out their house would you throw it in the garbage or sell it or what. Also mummifying was expensive I don't think they would spend all that money so they could go and sell their dead child.
ReplyDeleteMummies Response
ReplyDeleteI believe that mummies displayed in museums should be supported. By uncovering and studying mummies, we gain valuable insight into a culture that existed thousands of years ago. By reading the hieroglyphics on the coffins and by determining the cause of death, researchers can teach us about the numerous accomplishments that the Ancient Egyptians made in the areas of science and medicine as well as help us better understand their religious beliefs and how those beliefs influenced their lives. More importantly, we can appreciate the contributions the Ancient Egyptians made that are still evident in our society today. Keeping mummies in a museum not only honours that civilization by attracting and encouraging people to learn more about them but it in effect helps preserve the memory of Ancient Egyptians. If we never uncovered mummies and studied them, then a large part of our knowledge about that civilization would be lost forever. For these reasons, I believe that mummies should be displayed in museums.
Well I don’t believe the practise of tourists taking mummies back as souvenirs, I believe museums should bring them back for scientific and historical research. Tourists bringing back dead bodies as souvenirs from Egypt would be just as bad as people coming into our Canadian cemeteries and digging up dead bodies to bring them back to their countries. Why should this be supported? The dead bodies in question are not being examined by scientists, their just sitting in people’s living rooms as a reminder of that trip to Egypt that one time. Also, if you were dead, would you want to be put on display in someone’s home? For scientific purposes, the study and display of mummified bodies is not something that shouldn’t be questioned as it has been a traditional practise for many years. I know that in the 1920s and 30s “mummy collecting” was very popular but now it is something that should be generally frowned upon by the community for the reasons I have just stated and I believe this custom should stop because it is immoral to treat dead human beings such as this.
ReplyDeleteSorry for any spelling mistakes, I'm not certain if the copy and paste cut out anything our not, but I did spend alot of time editing it and I made sure there were minimal mistakes.
ReplyDeleteMummy Response
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article, I do not think that it was appropriate for tourists to be bringing back mummies as souvenirs from Egypt. First of all, a mummy is the body of a human being, and should be treated with respect. Instead, it was desired as an exotic item people would put in their homes as a decoration. Dan Rahimi, the vice-president of the gallery development at the ROM said, “We honour the dead the way Egyptians did. We’re not going to interfere with the body unless there’s a really good scientific reason. It’s a sign of respect.” We must also remember that a body preserved for thousands of years is the least bit sanitary. There should be precautions taken while handling the mummy, to prevent diseases or bacteria from being transmitted. But in the early 1900s, I doubt people knew enough about germs to be careful.
Also, I know that some mummies taken from Egypt ended up in museums, like the baby mummy that was “acquired in 1910 by the museum’s first curator, Charles Currelly, an archeologist who worked in Egypt.” But many times that mummies were purchased, I can imagine that private individuals kept them. If anything, they should at least be on public view for others to see. Lots of us are visual learners, so it’s much more exciting and effective to see something in real life rather than just learning about it from a book. The title, ‘Tiny mummy awes museum goers,’ proves my point, since this mummy captivates everyone who passes by.
Lastly, I would think that many of the mummies brought home by tourists were not kept in ideal temperatures or protective cases to preserve the body. They were probably damaged or harmed in some way over time. The museum takes great caution while displaying and storing mummies. This is because there is a lot we can learn about Ancient Egypt from mummies about their customs and afterlife beliefs. For example, “According to the ROM, the well-preserved shroud’s colourful symbols and images speak of parental love and show the baby being embraced by the jackal god Anubis, while a grieving parent makes offerings to its spirit.” If modern-day archeologists hadn’t taken as much caution while examining mummies not to damage them, our knowledge of Ancient Egypt would be severely cut back. Overall, I am definitely not in support of tourists bringing back mummies as souvenirs from Egypt.
No, I don’t believe that the practice in which people buy mummies as souvenirs is appropriate. I feel this way because mummies were once living human beings, and people are basically buying deceased humans. Once someone dies, they should be given utmost respect and peace. They should not be regarded as souvenirs that people put on display in their homes. It is different if museums have mummies in their collections because they are properly maintained. They are not mishandled and constantly touched or put in rooms that don’t have the right temperatures to care for them. In museums, many people can observe and learn from them with the help of knowledgeable staff. Like all deceased, mummies too deserve respect.
ReplyDeleteI personally think that not only is this custom inappropriate, but it is degrading too. Mummifying Egyptian Pharaohs is a sacred tradition that has been alive for many millennia, and it should not be marked as commonplace, but as something special. I completely support archaeologists or Egyptologists taking and studying mummies, because I know that it is wonderful to learn about the ancient Egyptian people’s unique culture. Also I know that these individuals will treat the mummies with utmost respect. I doubt that all of the tourists of Egypt who take mummies as souvenirs treat the mummies with the same well-deserved respect. Ancient Egyptian mummies were once revered, as they were once powerful Pharaohs, and now had travelled into the afterlife. The ancient Egyptians took this very seriously, and I’m sure they would feel like their culture was being degraded if tourists were taking mummies simply as souvenirs. Mummifying Pharaohs was a long, challenging, and expensive process. The ancient Egyptian took their rituals very seriously and celebrated with luxurious feasts after the dead Pharaoh had passed into the afterlife. I think that we should take it as seriously as they did: it was a beautiful culture, and it should not be belittled because some people want to take a mummy home for a souvenir. I think that this culture should be specifically reserved for those who wished to be educated in Egyptian culture and who truly appreciate the beauty of Egyptian artistry and society.
ReplyDeleteMummies Response
ReplyDeleteI am against the practice of tourists of Egypt bringing mummies back as souvenirs. I back up those people who believe that if you take a mummy then you are interrupting the person’s rest, it sounds wrong. And there is no shame in buying a fake mummy at a gift shop, it still has the same sentimental value and plus to buy a real one it would cost more money, that is if you actually buy it. I think it is okay to take one or two but not every time you go to Egypt and if you are not going to display them because think that the mummies are too fragile then don’t take them in the first. Plus if you keep taking them from Egypt after a while there aren’t going to be any mummies in Egypt because tourists and museums kept taking them. That is my perspective on tourists bringing mummies back home.
Thank you