Monday, November 12, 2012

"Cherish Old Knowledge So That You Can Acquire New"

I love museums. I openly admit it. I am a nerd, and proud of it. I love learning new things and making the historical connections whilst seeing them in front of me. If a picture is worth a thousand words, I wonder what the real life object is worth? Much more than a thousand, I can tell you that.
Yesterday I had the privileged of going with my friend John Purcell to the Ashmolean Museum in downtown Oxford; famed for its archaeological exhibits and artwork. We wandered through ancient Greek and Roman statues  ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, Oxford farming, and textiles...all within the first two floors. Now I said I love museums, and I do, but the Ashmolean was filled with a lot of little things. As if they put up on display everything people have dug up in that last fifty years or so...it's an astonishing amount, believe me. because of this, and my ADD, John and I quickly lost interest and steam going through everything. When we hit the art rooms on the second floor we turned tail and fled. John had a mad hankering for fried chicken so we went American and ate at the local KFC. I have to say it does taste pretty much the same. We then shopped around a bit, and then parted ways. I know this all seems really short however going through the museum (even if it was only half of it) took a good solid three hours.

The music room: John's favorite



Japanese tea house


Assyrian 'Winged Genie' Relief


Byzantium cross




Swedish Rune stone. These were cool to see. I have heard of rune stones and have seen pictures of them, but to see one in real life was something else! Definitively much more than a thousand words!



Anything horse related I find I take a picture of. I am a horse lover so it goes without saying I will take their picture. Plus, it has always fascinated me how horses are portrayed throughout history. 

Poor guy...or girl. Can't really tell.


The great goddess Athena. Goddess of wisdom and war.

Ancient Egyptian tomb directly from Egypt.





Limestone with cuneiform. One of the most interesting languages I have studied over the countless history classes.  It is very small and incredibly hard to read, much less decipher. 

Whats up Zeus? Or as John said, "They dipped Zeus in chocolate. Yum"




Ancient bronze sword, another part of a sword, and spurs. 


Stone with ancient Greek or Roman writing on it. 


The above two pictures are of a rare, crystal rock sword. 

Another rune stone!


The above two pictures are of a gorgeous (and probably very expensive) virginal. 



A messiah violin. According to John, one of these baby's cost about as much as a luxury car. Pick and choose people, pick and choose. 





Above pictures are of the only bronze casting of a Bernadine statue.

Sewing box made entirely out of ivory. I don't sew, but I will learn if I can get one of these!

This was one of the only art rooms we went in, and it  was all about food...and  oddly enough the room  itself smelled like freshly baked bread. 

Beautiful painting

Japanese screen: Lacquer on wood. 

Every museum I go to there seems to be a mummy. Fascinating but spooky. 


Today, well today was not as exciting as yesterday. I had my 'Art of Poetry' class where some guy did not know what a Siren (in Greek Mythology) was. The poem we were reading said, "The song that the Siren sings" or something like that and the guy said, "siren's don't sing." To which my mouth dropped open. Luckily I was sitting in the front so no-one saw my expression. Unfortunately I was sitting in the front so our teacher saw my expression and asked me to correct his statement. Poor guy. 
After class I went to the library, and sat down to do work until 7, came back to my flat, got dinner, and guess what? I'm still doing work! I have a lot of things to get done since I am going traveling with my family (they are coming up to visit) from Saturday to next Wednesday and I have all of my final projects coming up.  no rest of the weary. I tell you one thing though, the Brits are more insane than I thought. I left the library to get more coffee and come back but was refused entrance until I finished my drink! They would not allow coffee in the library. excuse me, how am I supposed to get work done or feel motivated or energized without caffeine? Insane. Absolutely insane. Now I am on mug number two back in my flat and still going strong! Until next time. 
-Collier

P.S. Feel free to send/ post questions about my trip and what I am doing here. I would love to hear from you!

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