How did the Sumerians of the Mesopotamian civilization use cuneiform clay tablets to write letters to protect their privacy? In addition to mummifying human corpses, what did the ancient Egyptians mummify? What was the name of the earliest gold currency discovered in China? When we visit an exhibition of cultural relics, how should we visit it? On 9 April, this reporter came to the special exhibition of "Great River Civilization" at the National Maritime Museum and asked Zhu Ci, deputy director of the museum's scientific research and popularization center, to give a detailed explanation to the readers.
The exhibition "The Civilization of the Great Rivers" is co-organized by the National Maritime Museum and the China Cultural Heritage Exchange Center, with the support of the Embassy of Italy in China and the Cultural Center of the Embassy of Italy in China. Nearly 200 pieces (sets) of cultural relics from a total of 16 cultural and museum units in China and Italy are "unveiled", and the exhibition lasts until July 28, which will describe to the audience the historical trajectory of the birth, development, evolution and flow of different civilizations under the nourishment of the source of the great river for more than 4 months, and deeply explain the relationship between rivers and human civilization. All exhibited cultural relics come from the collections of the Egyptian Museum of Turin, the Italian Museum of Oriental Art, the Royal Museum of Turin, the Museum of Ancient Sculpture of Baraco, as well as the collections of Henan Museum, Gansu Provincial Museum, Xuzhou Museum, Hangzhou Linping Museum, Zhengzhou Museum, Luoyang Museum, Jiaozuo Museum, Xi'an Museum, Baoji Bronze Museum, Baoji Zhouyuan Museum, Ancient Pottery Civilization Museum, and National Maritime Museum. With the theme of the ancient civilizations born in the world's great river basins, this exhibition is presented from the three chapters of "breeding", "shaping" and "city and country", and tells the audience about the wonderful process of ancient people relying on the great river basin to develop agricultural civilization with the precious cultural relics left by the four ancient civilizations. Among the nearly 200 pieces (sets) of precious cultural relics, 108 pieces (sets) are from Italy, except for the relief statue of King Sargon II as a replica, the rest are all original treasures. It is worth mentioning that this stop will also be the last stop for these 108 treasures to be exhibited in China.
What, the ancient Egyptians were the first "cat slaves"?
In the "Conception" chapter, several special exhibits attract the attention of the audience. This is a mummy of a cat and a fish.
The ancient Egyptians believed that the soul could live forever, so in order to give the soul a place to stay, they wrapped the body in linen cloth and embalmed it to make mummies. According to Zhu Ci, in the process of making mummies, the ancient Egyptians would also mummify some animals, some as the soul mates of the deceased, accompany them underground, some as their food, and some sacrificed animal mummies to the gods. The ancient Egyptians regarded cats as the embodiment of gods, and also regarded cats as important family members, and when the cat died, its owner would fall into deep sorrow, and some would even shave off their eyebrows. Its owner will make a mummified of it, and when it is buried, the owner will also bury some of the food it likes to eat, such as fish. In this way, the ancient Egyptians were probably the first "cat slaves" in the world.
Right next to this cat mummy, the mummy of the fish is on display, and next to it is the coffin of the fish.
The "Breeding" chapter also exhibits some pottery, such as a variant fish-pattern painted pottery pot, which belongs to the Neolithic Yangshao cultural temple ditch type in mainland China, which can be said to be one of the earliest cultural relics in the entire special exhibition era.
Variant fish-pattern faience pot
In the "Conception" chapter, you can also see the ancient Egyptian ship model more than 4,000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians believed in the sun god, they believed that the end of the Nile is the seat of the sun god, and the boat model is the carrier of the extradition of the soul on the river of the underworld, if you look closely, the sides of the ship model are also painted with the amulet of the Eye of Horus, the ancient Egyptians believed that the Eye of Horus can play an important role in the resurrection and rebirth, it is regarded as a talisman to distinguish good from evil, and defend health and happiness.
Fischer Saber figurines
This chapter also includes figurines of Fians, one of the earliest synthetic materials in human history, a glass-like material. The ancient Egyptians believed that after death, people would take on some tasks of labor, which could be done by figurines instead of their owners.
Book of the Dead
Also see the Book of the Dead, which, according to Egyptian religion, will serve as a passport to the afterlife, guiding the dead through the difficult and dangerous underworld.
It turned out that the Sumerian letter was so "encrypted"
"My love for you was written before the Common Era, buried deep in the plains of Mesopotamia, and unearthed dozens of centuries later, and the handwriting on the clay tablets is still clearly visible", one song once sang.
The Mesopotamian civilization, also known as the two-river civilization, refers to the civilization that developed in the Mesopotamian plain (in present-day Iraq) between the two river basins of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and was the earliest civilization formed in Western Asia. The Sumerian civilization, founded by the Sumerians, was part of the Mesopotamian civilization.
In the "Shaped" section of the "Great River Civilization" special exhibition, Sumerian cuneiform tablets dating back to about 5,000 BC (around 3500-3000 BC) are exhibited. Zhu Ci said that one of the world's oldest scripts, Sumerian cuneiform, was written on clay tablets. When the tablets were about to dry, the Sumerians carved on the soft clay tablets with sharpened reed stalks or sticks, and then burned them hard or dried after they were finished. So, if the Sumerians communicated with the Sumerians on clay tablets, how could they prevent the messenger from seeing the contents of the letters? After receiving the letter, the recipient knocks off the soil covering the letter, and the contents of the letter can be seen.
The Han Dynasty "villa" 2,000 years ago used to look like this
In the "Shaping" chapter, two pottery barns are also exhibited. In the Han Dynasty, the pottery canglou model was a burial building artifact, showing the residence and life scene of the Han Dynasty manor owner.
One of them is a seven-storey Han pavilion-style painted pottery warehouse building, which is composed of four parts: the main building, the annex building, the courtyard and the pavilion road, and the overall structure is exquisite and complex. Among the many pottery warehouses unearthed at present, the seven-storey pavilion-style painted pottery warehouse building of the Han Dynasty is the Han Dynasty building with the largest number of layers, the highest and most complete and the most representative Han Dynasty architectural artifacts found.
The four-storey painted pottery warehouse building of the Han Dynasty next to it, although it is not as magnificent as the seven-storey one, but the only one known in the mainland is a full-body painted pottery warehouse building, which has very important historical and artistic value, and is called "the most beautiful pottery warehouse building".
In the pre-Qin period, the Yingzhan and Qin "half taels" copper coins can be seen here
China, as one of the four ancient civilizations, has a long history and culture, rooted in the vast land. In the chapter of "City and Country", many precious cultural relics related to the Yellow River and Yangtze River basins on the mainland are exhibited, which are not only witnesses of Chinese history, but also the source of cultural self-confidence of the Chinese nation.
Gluttonous pattern bucket
Divisions are the same
Here, there are bells in the Western Zhou Dynasty, Boduo's father, and Shi Tongding. "Shitong" is the name of the person, and there are inscriptions of 7 lines and 54 characters on the inner wall of the abdomen of Shitongding, which is an important historical material for studying the history of the Western Zhou Dynasty and the relationship between the Zhou Dynasty and the powerful clans in the north.
Father Peter
In the special exhibition of "Great River Civilization", there is also an exhibition of "Ying", which is the earliest gold currency found in archaeology, "Ying" is the name of the capital of Chu in the pre-Qin period, and "Zhan" is believed to be the weight unit of Chu, which is about 250 grams. Chu had abundant gold resources, and at that time, the circulation of gold was limited to the upper class, and it needed to be cut when used, so most of the unearthed Yingzhan were scattered fragments.
郢爰
Qin "half tael" copper coin
In 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang unified China and established the first unified feudal empire in Chinese history. The Qin "half tael" copper coin is the earliest unified currency in the mainland, with a round square hole, and this form has also become the style of the coins of the feudal dynasties since then. In the chapter of "City and Country", there is an exhibition of Qin's "half tael" copper coins. Weighing is a tool to measure the weight of an object, and the copper edict next to Qin's "half tael" copper coin is a kind of balance, which is equivalent to the role of today's scales.
Is there a explanation?
Many readers are concerned about whether there is an explanation at the special exhibition site. The reporter learned that on weekends and holidays, the National Maritime Museum will provide public welfare manual explanations at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. On weekdays, you can rent an audio guide or scan the QR code at the entrance of the exhibition hall to listen to the free explanation.
It is understood that since the launch of the "Great River Civilization" special exhibition, it has received more than 10,000 visitors. It is expected to receive 70,000 visitors throughout the exhibition period.
What other exhibitions will be held this year?
According to Zhu Ci, since the beginning of this year, the National Maritime Museum has held three new exhibitions, namely Xiang Hai Tuqiang - a special exhibition of ship models of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, a special exhibition of "Great River Civilization" and a "Meet Blue Tears" microscopic marine digital light and shadow exhibition. In terms of introduction, it will hold a special exhibition of "Strengthening the Army", "Chart Exhibition", special exhibition of wildlife protection, and special exhibition of cultural relics and culture of the Maritime Silk Road. In terms of going out, he has gone to Wuhan Zhongshan Ship Museum to hold a special exhibition of Tongcao watercolor paintings. In addition, the 2024 Ocean Decade Conference will be held in Barcelona on April 10~12, and the National Maritime Museum and the United Nations Ocean Decade Ocean Climate Collaborating Center will hold satellite activities at the conference, and an exhibition related to ancient Chinese navigation technology and culture will open tomorrow. On June 8, the "World Oceans Day", the Museum will also go to Zhuhai to hold an exhibition related to the achievements of the mainland's ocean scientific expeditions.
When we visit an exhibition, how exactly should we visit it?
Zhu Ci suggested that when visiting the cultural relics exhibition, we should not only look at the cultural relics in the display case, but also read an exhibition like reading a book. Whether it is the text on the display board or the video shown on the live TV screen, it is part of the whole exhibition. The reporter saw that in the video played on the scene of the "Pregnancy" chapter, it was the production process of papyrus made of the book of the dead, which was also one of the important contents of the exhibition. "I hope that the audience can stop for a longer time, read the instructions on the wall, observe the details of the cultural relics, and maybe have a different experience. He said.
Source: Jinbin Net