Day 17 - Children's sandals
February 5, 2018
This room (gallery 116) contains many objects from the tomb of Senenmut, Hatshepsut's highest-ranking courtier, and of his parents. One is the large stone sarcophagus of Senenmut himself. It's perhaps 9 feet long and 3 1/2 feet high and, unusually, oval-shaped. Remarkably, it was pieced together from 1000 fragments found in the tomb and in the valley below. I wonder if this is the world's largest - or oldest, anyway- 3D jigsaw puzzle. I can't imagine the patience and the painstakingness it took to put it back together again. Not a job I could undertake, I think.
Today's objects are three small sandals, an apparent pair and one extra, shown side by side. I have seen many children's sandals in earlier visits, but these strike me with unaccountable emotional force. The sandals are like flipflops, with a strap that runs over the foot and a thong that separates the big toe from the others. The pair is made of various plant materials (according to the caption, papyrus, palm leaf, and halfa grass, whatever this last is); the lone sandal is made of leather.
Maybe I'm so struck by this because of my own childlessness. I find it hard to guess how old the child who wore these sandals (assuming they were all worn by the same child) was. The sandals are perhaps 4 inches long, so maybe the child was four or five- what do I know? I assume the sandals belonged to a child who died at a young age. What was the child mortality rate among the ancient Egyptians. High, I bet. The children's parents must have suffered, as today's parents do - but repeatedly. Did losing many children dull or exacerbate the sense of loss, I wonder? In any case, it helps to explain the importance of gods and goddesses of childbearing, and I am proud of myself that, having recognized one image of one such god, Bes, carved onto a low chair that may have been used during nursing, I am able to identify another such image on the lid of an alabaster jar. A canopic jar, is my first thought, but it's not the right shape. So maybe a jar that held some potion thought to enhance sexuality and fertility? Ah, how the imagination wanders!
Today's objects are three small sandals, an apparent pair and one extra, shown side by side. I have seen many children's sandals in earlier visits, but these strike me with unaccountable emotional force. The sandals are like flipflops, with a strap that runs over the foot and a thong that separates the big toe from the others. The pair is made of various plant materials (according to the caption, papyrus, palm leaf, and halfa grass, whatever this last is); the lone sandal is made of leather.
Maybe I'm so struck by this because of my own childlessness. I find it hard to guess how old the child who wore these sandals (assuming they were all worn by the same child) was. The sandals are perhaps 4 inches long, so maybe the child was four or five- what do I know? I assume the sandals belonged to a child who died at a young age. What was the child mortality rate among the ancient Egyptians. High, I bet. The children's parents must have suffered, as today's parents do - but repeatedly. Did losing many children dull or exacerbate the sense of loss, I wonder? In any case, it helps to explain the importance of gods and goddesses of childbearing, and I am proud of myself that, having recognized one image of one such god, Bes, carved onto a low chair that may have been used during nursing, I am able to identify another such image on the lid of an alabaster jar. A canopic jar, is my first thought, but it's not the right shape. So maybe a jar that held some potion thought to enhance sexuality and fertility? Ah, how the imagination wanders!
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