There Be Dragons(and Mummies)!

Dragons and other mythical serpents mark dangerous or unexplored territories on some maps produced in or before medieval times; contemporary satire sometimes invokes this practice by labeling a contended or controversial region with 'Here Be Dragons' on a modern map or mock atlas. If I could slap that phrase across Hull on every tourist map, bus route pamphlet, and map quest printout in the province I would. I'm almost tempted to go right off the topical rails and talk about how tempted I was to just swim across the river back to Ontairo after a half hour of fruitless searching failed to turn up a serviceable Ottawa-bound bus route, but instead I'll go with the dragon thing.

Civilization's 'Mythic Beasts' exhibit, which I visited with M and Tim, was a treat. Since it was designed to appeal to all ages it's necessarily a little shallow insofar as analysis of these myths goes, but most of the creatures 'on display' were accompanied by artifacts depicting them, which did alot for me insofar as contextualizing these legends went. Given the amount of necklaces, cloak clasps, dresses and paintings humanity has produced in homage to dragons, mermaids and gremlins I'd have to say that fascination, rather than fear, drives our attitude toward the half hidden wonders of the natural world.

And many of these monsters, which seem so outlandish in form to our eyes, grew out of life's debris; cyclops for instance are thought by some scholars to be the product of ancient speculation on mammoth skeletons. Giant Squid are based on slightly less giant but still decently huge squid. The legendary Roc, a bird so massive that they could make off with an elephant without much trouble, may be the mythological decedent of the now extinct 'Elephant Bird' or Aepyornis. The creatures were organized thematically rather than chronologically, depending on their defining element, so it's hard to work out a time line of how mythology and mythological creatures 'evolved'. Still, I'd say there's a shift from the metaphysical, demi-divine fairies of certain cultures to the simply unusual, slightly symbolic animals that populate some medieval bestiaries, such as the unicorn.

But I don't really know much about the subject. Either way, the exhibit was well crafted and we all enjoyed it very much. After passing through that particular cave of magic and wonder(and the gift shop set up right outside the exhibit exit), we took in the much less crowded series of displays on Egyptian afterlife mythology and burial practices.

Looking back, all I can think is: if these guys wake up in the afterlife, they'll be eating with their hands, because we made off with all their kitchenware a looooooong time ago.

Along with their jewelry(that goes without saying) and miniature servants. There's a bloody army of tiny clay(or whatever; the museum was kind enough to list the construction materials of each piece so I could forget them immediately) cooks and soldiers idling behind glass panels down at Civ; who's looking after Pharaoh?

On a more serious note, it was rather incredible to contemplate the actual mummies on display. To imagine that these dessicated museum pieces were alive once, and to consider the journey they've made in death, leads me to wonder who will be reading this 10,000 years from now, as an example of what some nobody thought of those things called mummies that we used to have before Komodo dragons evolved into actual dragons and wiped out 90% of humanity.

There was a prayer at the end of that exhibit, recommended by the Museum for those who wished to honor, by name, the mummies present and those whose tombs had been raided for artifacts. I found it touching, partly because it was frankly unnecessary considering the slightly more carnivorous attitude researchers have held at times toward the ruins of Ancient Egypt and our utter disconnect from their religious beliefs. I said a prayer from the Christian tradition for the souls of the long(long) departed.

And that was that; the Museum was closing so we didn't the traditional look at Canada Hall, but perhaps next summer. We did walk about the grounds for awhile, which while excellent would benefit from de-pooping near the river. Nice throwing rocks, though. ^_^