Materials & Making
Six Slender Supports Change How We Look at an Egyptian Headrest
Look closely at a wooden Egyptian headrest in The Met collection, using its unusual supports to separate the object’s documented form from modern assumptions.
Ancient objects, open questions
Materials & Making
Look closely at the substances, surfaces and craft behind ancient objects.
Materials & Making
Ancient Linen with Repairs: Looking Beyond Perfect Preservation
A fine linen textile with ancient repairs invites questions about use and care, while showing why condition should be read through the museum’s evidence.
Materials & Making
Two Ink Wells and a Narrow Slot: Reading a Scribal Palette
Explore an Egyptian scribal palette through its ink wells, reed storage and catalogue details, keeping the writing tool distinct from the written text.
Materials & Making
A Plain Linen Sheet Deserves More Than a Passing Glance
Use a modest linen sheet to practise reading material, dimensions and find context without assuming that every ancient textile tells the same story.
Materials & Making
A Seven-Centimetre Spoon Opens a Much Larger Story
Meet a small cosmetic spoon from Ruiu’s burial and follow the museum record from its material and dimensions to the objects found beside it.
Materials & Making
Papyrus Is a Writing Surface, Not the Name of a Script
Separate the material papyrus from the scripts written on it, then use a museum record to ask clearer questions about an ancient Egyptian document.
Materials & Making
That brilliant blue is more than a colour: meeting Egyptian faience
A bright surface can hide an unexpected material. Learn what Egyptian faience is, then use a simple looking exercise to notice more.