Visiting the Egyptian Museum in San Jose (California) with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget and Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Visiting the Egyptian Museum in San Jose (California) with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget and Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

My husband Laurent, my daughter Florence, and I went on a fun outing as a birthday present for me in December 2001 to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San José, California.

I did not know what Rosicrucianism was, but was reassured that they did historical and scientific work when I saw that they had carried out research with Stanford University, UCLA, NASA Ames Computation Center, the British Museum, and National Geographic’s Mummy Road Show.  The building itself was inspired by the Temple of Amon at Karnak, Egypt.  

They had an extensive display of mummies on view and a reproduction of King Tut’s mummy case.  Florence liked the scale models of Nefertiiti and Akenaton’s palace as well as a scale model of the step pyramid at Saqqara.

I especially liked the Egyptian necklaces.  I have some beads that look like the ones displayed.  Mine come from Murano Island outside Venice.  I thought the Venetians were picking up on a long tradition of trade beads from Egypt.

At the bookstore, I bought Florence a book of famous Egyptian mazes.  We sat and worked on them while Laurent investigated an exhibit about famous Rosicrucians.  Florence asked for a book on mummies, too, so I bought her one and read it with her.

We all wanted to visit the park outside with its freshly painted Egyptian buildings.  The paint was pastel colored and there were many roses in the garden.  We looked for roses etched in sculpture and on buildings.

The Egyptian Museum provides many resources for teachers on their website.  Florence was studying ancient Egypt and Egyptian mythology at her Waldorf School.  I wish her teacher had had access to the curriculum they have for download on their website entitled “Expedition to Ancient Egypt.”

The Egyptian Museum also has fact sheets now that would help teach about ancient Egypt as well.  Teachers could use some of them as scavenger hunt sheets for younger students on Museum visits I thought.  The fact sheets are centered on the following themes:

-The Cat in Modern and Ancient Egypt

-Gods and Goddesses in Ancient Egypt

-Read, Write, and Record

-Who was Rosetta?

-The Making of a Mummy: A Real One

On the way home to Monterey, we listened to Christmas carols until we hit a traffic jam.  Florence asked me to read Harry Potter to her.  We reworked Egyptian mazes when she became tired of the reading.  It was a successful day in San José.  I liked the Egyptian Museum.

Some books parents might like to read as reference while their child is studying Egypt include:

-Red Land, Black Land: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt by Barbara Mertz

-The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt by Ian Shaw

-Ancient Egypt: A Social History by B. G. Trigger, B.J. Kemp, and A.B. Lloyd

-Daughters of Isis: Women of Ancient Egypt by Joyce Tyldesley

By Ruth Paget - Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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