The Delights of the British Museum

I'm here! In London! On my trip to present a couple of workshops (Writing with Magic (for Muggles) and Seeking Egyptian Myths in Harry Potter) at the Harry Potter Sectus Conference. To be here, in London, for the release of the final Harry Potter book, Deathly Hallows, is just unimaginably exciting. But my first excitement was a fabulous tour of the British Museum.

I admit it. I'm such a nerd. Or would that be geek? Seeing the Egyptian gallery almost blew my nervous anticipation of my presentations and the excitement of the big book release totally out of my mind. I truly had tingles race up and down my spine when I saw the Rosetta Stone, below. After spending so much time studying Egyptian myths and legends to help unlock the secrets of Harry Potter, I just ate up this whole Egyptian exhibit.



And I didn't even have to go to Turkey to see this amazing Turkish treasure. Actually, the Nereid Monument from Xanthos predates the Turks (but to be truthful, the Turks are a mix of the locals who were there and the Turks who invaded), but I bet they'd like to have this back in Anatolia rather than in the British Museum.



Then I turned a corner, entered a new hall, and there, much to my surprise, was this:


The Queen of the Night. I'd seen her online and been struck by this ancient image of female power, but somehow hadn't connected that she was housed right there in the British Museum. Seeing her upfront, in the flesh, so to speak, was definitely a highlight of the trip.