RESIDENTS can take a journey to the underworld next month at an interactive University of Reading museum event exploring Ancient Greek and Egyptian beliefs about life after death.
The Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology, on the University’s Whiteknights campus, is hosting the event, Live forever, Welcome to the Underworld, on Friday, November 19, from 6pm to 10pm as part of the national Being Human Festival, an annual celebration of the humanities.
There will also be arts and crafts activities and the chance to see real ancient Greek and Egyptian artefacts.
Dr Claudina Romero Mayorga, Ure Museum education officer, said: “In keeping with the 2021 festival theme of renewal, we are recreating the ancient Egyptian and Greek underworlds, which were not about death at all, but about regeneration and rebirth.
“Ancient Greeks and Egyptians believed that they had to perform certain rituals or pass obstacles after they died in order to reach immortality. This event is a unique opportunity to not only see some of the beautiful items ancient people had placed in their tombs thousands of years ago, but experience first hand the stories depicted on them.”
The Ure Museum contains one of the UK’s most important collections of archaeological items from Ancient Greece, plus Egyptian, Cypriot and Roman artefacts, historical documents like photographs, maps and diaries, modern collections of art, and information about the research of its founders Annie and Percy Ure.
The 2021 Being Human festival aims to champion the excellence of humanities research in the UK, highlight its relevance today, and showcase how the humanities help people understand themselves, their relationships with others and their challenges.
