Antiquities Exhibits

 The Greeks probably started using a folding pair of wax tablets, along with the leather scroll in the mid-8th century BCE. Metal spatulas were used to spread wax on the tablets. These had an iron blade which could be heated (and is usually missing) and a bronze handle which often depicts the head of Minerva, the goddess of literacy and learning.  Writing on the wax surface was performed with a stylus which was usually made of metal but sometimes of wood or animal bone, with one end pointed and the other end flattened so it could be used like an eraser to smooth the wax for reuse. The modern expression of "a clean slate" equates to the Latin expression "tabula rasa". To write on sheets of papyrus, slips of wood, or pottery sherds, the Greeks and Romans used a reed carved into a sharp nib and ink produced from soot, plant juices, or cuttlefish ink.  Hella Eckardt of the University of Reading observes, "Scrolls and wooden leaf tablets were written in ink using a ...

Closing soon! Gods of Egypt through March 31, 2019 at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, Netherlands. The exhibition Gods of Egypt brings together more than five hundred objects from domestic and foreign museums: impressive statues of gods and goddesses, magical papyri, golden jewelry and colorfully painted mummy boxes. The exhibit focuses on the function of the temples in the country, the numerous rituals with which the  gods were worshiped, and the journey to the underworld. It then concludes with an examination of the Greek and Roman conquerors of Egypt who brought the Egyptian gods back to their own cultures. Votive image of Thoth, god of wisdom and writing, depicted as a mantle baboon. Faience with silver muzzle and sickle, and gold sun disc. Ptolemaic Period 332-30 BCE.  Image courtesy of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden.