It’s been a busy few weeks delivering our Ancient Egyptians workshop and with the early starts we can definitely say autumn is here. ..It is chilly at 6.30 am but the sun has been shining ….except for the day of our drive to Liphook, which left us unloading the van in a deluge! The day got better, especially when we were invited to stay for lunch at the school…a lunch which would not have looked out of place in any fabulous restaurant! What a treat banoffie cheesecake for desert!
What we at CREW love about history is that there is always something new to discover and with the Ancient Egyptians there is definitely no exception. For example the oldest dress was found in Egypt 3000 years ago. I’m sure I’ve seen something like this in a fashion magazine.
The subject of dresses got us thinking about weddings (we’ve been watching too much ‘Say yes to the Dress’) and here’s a little fact about the Ancient Egyptians that surprised us. They were the original sharers of rings. Men and women would exchange rings during a marriage ceremony, placing the ring on the ‘ring finger’ of the left hand, which they believed had a special vein that ran directly to the heart to signify eternal love…ahhh. The Romans however had quite a different take on marriage men only gave the ring to their wives to symbolise ownership and possession. This continued all the way through to the witch burning eras and to the happily repressed Victorians where women were classed as chattel! It’s good to know that in the last century men wearing rings has become popular again. The love vein is once again flowing blissfully between husband and wife and equality is restored…hang on a minute didn’t Prince William refuse to wear a wedding ring!
