Mummy's Day Out

A day of adventure....

As part of my weekend celebration of my birthday (I shared my tea party in yesterday's post), hubby and I decided to drive down to the San Jose California area and make a day of it. We explored  so many wonderful places. We went to the San Jose Mission and walked through the rooms that date back all the way to 1797, and taking time to snap off a few photos of the sanctuary there, as I always marvel at the craftsmanship as well as the beauty of it all. I have visited many missions of California, this being one of the smaller ones, but it was nice to check it off our list. 

The next stop was The Heritage Rose Garden. It is quite a large expanse of beautiful roses, as well as other assorted flowers, but as luck would have it, most of the roses had finished blooming, I did manage to take a few photos for you. There is another rose garden in San Jose, real close to our next destination and it was in full bloom *sigh* well next time I suppose. 

 Not everything was roses... look at 

these dahlia's 

Once we had toured the rose garden we were off to a magical place, the Rosicrucian Museum. The 1920's was truly an Egyptian obsessed time period for many, you see it in the movies, the jewelry and even the decor and collectibles from that era. I have always loved all things Egyptian, I watch movies and television specials and read books on the subject. I rather doubt I shall ever step foot in Egypt, but the Rosicrucian in San Jose gives me a chance to get up close to actual and reproduction artifacts and marvel at each and every one... including 4000 year old mummies! There is even a mock tomb! (Read/learn more here) There is no flash allowed... though I was a rebel and broke the rules in the mock tomb, just for you! Get comfy I took a lot of photos, not all of them turned out, but here are some wonderful highlights...

The grounds.... 

 The front doors!!! 

Step inside ...

reproduction, but still
breath taking all in gold! 

YES! They are real...

4000 year old mummy!

Also a mummy... they would mummify
animals to enclose in the tombs so that
all aspects of life of the living were there
in the afterlife as well.

The child mummy named "Sherit" ancient Egyptian for 

"Little One" , with no signs of disease or trauma, it is

believed she died unexpectedly. 

What she may have looked like.

About to enter the mock tomb within the 

museum ... no flash allowed and too many people 

nearby the photo is very dark, but below I was able to take 

a few flash shots ... remember it is

all mock/faux.. but they did a great job!

The weighing of the feather against the
life you lead... you better hope the feather
weighs less! 

The afterlife of a king

Real artifacts...

Women's "dressing table" items...Mirrors, glass
vessels for different beauty aides and make-up.

Women loved to adorn themselves.

Woven shoes and belts.

Early postcards etc.!Read below...  

Can you believe each of those tiny cylinders are carved with the
art you see depicted below them?? 

An actual head shroud all in gold and
amazing in detail.. it appeared slightly
damaged and bent.. almost melted. 

Beautiful glass vases

Amazing how it survived in tombs and under deep
sands over thousands of years, more amazing that
all these things were recovered.

Read below...

Once again, examples of everyday life were
created to be within the tombs so that when the
dead rose again, they would have familiar
sights around them.. it is believed these
items would also come to life when the person did.

Cat mummy from a cat farm, not a pet.
They were often raised for the purpose
of being mummified to be buried in the tomb.

Amulets 

The Lady mummy....

Two mini cobras are within this tomb that
could fit within my hand! 

One last treasure.. believe me there
are far more than what I photographed,
so many wonders are at every turn!

Within a mock temple in the "Peace Gardens" 

Did I wear you out?? We had one last stop to make... come back Friday to see where!