I was eight years old – stumbling through 3rd grade. My new school system wouldn’t put me in a gifted class until I had been given a trial year in a normal class (despite the fact that I had been in gifted classes since Kindergarten), so I was quite bored, indeed. I did a LOT of extracurricular reading that year, primarily non-fiction. I think I read every book about animals that I could reach in the library at least once. Somewhere along the lines, though, I discovered ancient Egypt.
I don’t remember what exactly it was I was reading. It might have been a Kids Discover or Contact magazine. It may have been a book about the desert. I’m not sure. But I do remember flipping through some such thing and coming across a picture of several strangely positioned people standing around an embalmment. I was thoroughly freaked out by the guy with the pointy dog mask (I was scared of everything), but I read on. After finishing the article, I immediately sketched a crude picture of “Is-is” and ran around telling all of the neighborhood kids of my discovery. Looking back, I’m sure their parents were worried that I was trying to convert them to the occult or something, but I was fascinated.
And I still am. My Sphinx candle, Tutankhamun bust, 3 papyrus bookmarks (one with hieroglyphics, the other two with various deities), cartouche earrings, and the Eye of Horus I am rarely without, not to mention my vast library of books and a ‘zine by the name of American Isis (which I really should be working on…), should make that fairly obvious.
I’m not sure why exactly I am so drawn to the culture, but I’ve watched virtually all of the Discovery Channel and TLC shows on the subject, many four or even five times over. In 4th grade, I learned to write my name in hieroglyphics. In 5th grade, I finally met a couple of people my age who were even more interested in the subject than I and learned quite a bit from them. In 6th, my class held an Egyptian style show, in which I took great pains (and I mean that in a most literal sense) to make my Selket outfit as accurate as possible. In 7th, I inadvertently led someone to believe that I worshipped the Egyptian deities. 8th grade found me viewing Prince of Egypt for the first time (and you can bet that my favorite scene is the dream sequence, followed closely by the chant before the priests’ song). And my 9th grade year brought about The Mummy and Terry Pratchett’s Pyramids, which is easily one of my favorite Discworld novels (it would be better if Rincewind were in it).
One day, when I’m rich off of the vast entertainment empire Lily, Gesture, and I are going to create (ha ha), I’m going to take a trip around the world. I’m going to Brazil, New Zealand (again – New Zealand is awesome), Singapore, Madagascar, Greece, the UK, and, most importantly, Egypt. Maybe Italy, too. But the main point is, I’ll be going to Egypt.
Mwa-ha-ha! Be warned!
Thanks to Mysteries of Egypt for the excellent picture.
