besjourney-blog - Tumblr blog

[besjourney-blog]

The end of the journey

It’s finished! After a stressful few days I finally have a final product which I’m really happy with. There’s been a few breakdown moments over the last few days, mainly from dissatisfaction over the footage I took. However, after some video editing wizardry I’ve managed to produce something I’m quite proud about.

This will be the final log entry, and will also complete the final summative of the year. It’s been quite a journey, not only for Bes, but for myself too.

Throughout the production of this log I’ve kept things rather informal and have been honest with the journey. I’ve just finished reading over it now as I sit with a celebratory drink and its actually quite emotional. The way in which I’ve reflected over every step of the way and shared my thoughts as if it’s a journal is an approach I really quite like. Not only does it document a journey of Bes, but it documents the rollercoaster journey I’ve embarked on too. Funnily enough, I actually forgot that at the beginning I had chosen a different object completely!

There’s been a few milestone moments throughout my research I’d say. I think the decision to condense two workloads to be about Egypt was a masterstroke in truth, but maybe that’s something that’s expected of a Liberal Arts student. Figuring out my actual focus of research after the submission of the proposal was quite significant too. Ideally, that wouldn’t be the case and I would have submitted a better proposal at the time… but that’s the benefit of hindsight. Ultimately, I’m glad I eventually figured out the direction I wanted to take with the project and that I stuck by my decision to explore multiple objects.

This log captures the lows of the pandemic and the highs of my birthday. I feel an indication of one’s mindset and thoughts are insightful to a log that captures a journey of research. I think this works well, but if I were to do it again, I would make it a bit more formal and include more source material, and less reflection. Managing to free up a full week for reading around the topic for my research projects proved quite vital, but I did not log that aspect of the journey as well as I could have.

Having the opportunity to work with the Oriental Museum and to get hands on with artefacts was really fulfilling. It’s a line of work I’d love to go into and such dreams is what made me pursuit a Foundation year in the first place. I have a background of antique dealership, so it really is a passion of mine. I’ve learnt that it is definitely a field that suits my desires for a career, so Bes’s journey may end here, but mine is still very much ongoing.

[besjourney-blog]

[besjourney-blog]

Bibliography

Books

Bonnefoy, Y., 1992. Greek And Egyptian Mythologies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Bratton, F., 1970. Myths and Legends of The Ancient Near East. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell.

Broyles, J., 2006. Egyptian Mythology. New York: Rosen.

Budge, E., 1904. The Gods of The Egyptians. London: Methuen & Co.

Bunson, M. (1996). A Dictionary of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Oxford University Press.  

Campbell, J., 1990. Transformations of Myth Through Time. New York: Perennial Library.

Fletcher, J., 1999. Ancient Egypt. London: Duncan Baird.

Jay, R., 1996. Mythology. Lincolnwood, Illinois.: NTC Pub. Group.

Mackenzie, D., 1907. Egyptian Myth and Legend. London: Gresham.

Miles-Watson, J. and Asimos, V., 2019. The Bloomsbury Reader in The Study of Myth. London: Bloomsbury.

Nardo, D., 2005. Mummies, Myth, And Magic. San Diego: Lucent Books.

Pinch, G., 1994. Magic in Ancient Egypt. London: British Museum Press.

Quirke, S., 2015. Exploring Religion in Ancient Egypt. Wiley.

Watterson, B., 2003. Gods of Ancient Egypt. Stroud: Sutton.

Wilson, J., 1956. The Culture of Ancient Egypt. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Websites

https://www.ancient.eu/Bes/

https://www.gods-and-goddesses.com/egyptian/bes/

Other Sources

Gillian Ramsey, Oriental Museum, Durham.

[besjourney-blog]

Ready to go

With the script imported into the video editing software, along with all my footage and pictures that I took on the day of filming and had received from Gillian, I decided to spend the day finding images which support the script.

A lot of the day was spent finding maps of old Empires and images of the Oriental museums collections since its still closed.

A successful day really and I feel prepared to spend the next two days putting it all together to produce the final piece and end the journey.  

[besjourney-blog]

Voice recording

I’m currently on break from voice recording my script. I had it chalked down to only take half an hour or so to do but here I am three hours in and not yet finished. Certain pronunciations and reading so many words without making a mistake is something I find difficult I suppose. Pharaoh names are notoriously hard to spell… never mind trying to pronounce them! Also, when I listen back to the recordings it sounds like I have a lisp... news to me. I definitely underestimated this part of the whole creative process, but I’m getting through it. To make matters worse, I’m currently residing in a very noisy house with three dogs. They stand guard well, but are very loud in doing so.

[besjourney-blog]

Happy Birthday

I finished my myth analysis project a few days ago. The creation of my podcast is the final summative I have, so I can really see the light at the end of the tunnel.

It’s my birthday today... quite a strange one due to the lockdown and distancing etc.. but still nice nonetheless. I’ve just sat down to begin script writing for the podcast which is a nice feeling to do after such an up and down journey. It feels like it is finally time for it to all come together.

[besjourney-blog]

Preparation

Today marks the end of an extensive read about Ancient Egypt, I managed to compile a great number of notes for the two project I have in one go. I’m really glad I decided to somewhat condense my workload when given the opportunity to do so. The unpredictability of a few things this year has made things difficult, being able to stay within very similar regions of study has helped greatly. As a result, I know quite a lot about Egypt now and I plan to go and visit when life permits it.

This session allowed me to find actual sources that expanded on the things Gillian had first told me about Bes. I figured out an interesting perspective on Bes’s origin story from looking into trade expeditions to his supposed homeland of Punt. I also learnt about how Egypt first came to be and the development of riverine civilizations- we’ll see if there is room for such a discussion in the podcast.

[besjourney-blog]

Back on track

With everything that’s been going on in regards to the pandemic, as well a few deadlines for other modules that needed to be addressed, everything Egyptian had been on hold until today.

Wonderfully, the website Archive.org opened up its online libraries for all to use due to the current circumstances. In doing so they have resolved my concerns over sources for further research.

I made an account and searched through their books about Egyptian myth and religion and loaned out around 10 or so in preparation for a big reading week full of note taking for the two research projects I have coming up.

Archive.org really is amazing, it will be a source I’ll be sure to use in future studies.

[besjourney-blog]

Disaster strikes?

Within the space of a week things have turned on their heads due to Corona Virus… this is on top of the strikes. It’s a difficult time for all really. Durham basically shut up shop today. The libraries are closed and so is the Oriental Museum. I’m fortunate that I managed to do my filming last week as I know some who did not manage to do so.

In regards to this research project, the closure of the libraries throws a spanner in the works. I’m in no way finished with my research, especially in regards to researching the origins of Bes. Anthony sent a heartfelt email today which was reassuring. He enquired about the stage that everyone is at. Over the next few days I’ll reply with the details of such. I feel things will be fine, but the future feels very uncertain.

[besjourney-blog]

Filming day

Me and my assistant Tom went to film today- it was great. Finally having the opportunity to finally get hands on with the objects felt fulfilling and is something I’ve been looking forward to since beginning the module.

Considering the size of the list we weren’t there too long really, about an hour. On a few previous occasions during lectures it had been mentioned how long some people have taken in the past and how unprepared they were. I definitely took note of that.

Tom’s having a rough time at the moment, I hope it cheered him up. He seemed to enjoy it anyways.

[besjourney-blog]

Presentation day

Today I gave a presentation about Egyptian mythology for my ‘Myth and Meaning’ module. It went fine, definitely better than the ones people did last week anyways.

In the module I have stuck with focusing my research on their belief in the weighing of the heart ceremony/the ‘Judgment of Osiris’.

Not to digress from Bes, but I was correct in thinking that there would be crossover between my two research projects. It mainly comes in the form of context about the Ancient Egyptian belief system and magic.

[besjourney-blog]

Standing my ground

Gillian responded on the 27th of February admiring the direction my research is now taking and confirmed that the Servant Girl does indeed remain under lock and key. She also suggested I cut down my list of objects as I don’t want to end up with extra material ending up on the cutting room floor.

A few days ago, on the 2nd, I replied appreciating her advice saying I’d put some thought towards cutting down the list and moved towards confirming a day for filming. Two days after this, Gillian provided a list of availability and asked about the status of my list of objects. Today, I replied.

I’ll be filming next Tuesday, the 10th. However, I’ve decided to stick with my original list. I explained my rationale for doing so and gave some insight into the shots I was planning and said how some items won’t be getting much screen time. Ultimately, they aid the discussion so I want to use them. I also think having excess footage is a positive thing. After all, it gives me more options when producing the final piece.

[besjourney-blog]

Spreading the word

I’ve just sent an email to Gillian enquiring about the availability of the studio and have broken the news that I’d like to film twelve objects instead of the original one. One of the objects is the prized ‘Servant Girl’ statuette. As it turns out she’s wearing a Bes amulet! I don’t think I’ll get access to her, as she is quite famed, but it’s worth a go...

[besjourney-blog]

New allies

Today I went for a few pints and played some pool with my friend Tom. He’s done his undergraduate and masters at Durham and is now doing his Ph.D. here… he loves Durham. We’ve spoke on numerous occasions about this module but today I formally asked him if he’d like to assist me when I go to film my hoard of objects. He accepted.

[besjourney-blog]

Green light

In a short but sweet exchange during the break of today’s ‘Cow on the Roof’ lecture I spoke with Anthony about veering off my initial research proposal. Not much was said in regards to actual details; I just asked if it would be okay to do so. Without hesitating, he said I was free to do whatever I thought best as by now he trusts my judgment. I liked that.

I wonder what his reaction would have been if I had mentioned I now have fifteen objects of desire on the shortlist!

[besjourney-blog]

A turning point

I always plan to read a lot whilst home over Christmas but it never really happens. It was the same again this time around; I had a nice break though!

Today marked my first session of research since making the proposal over a month ago. As I’ve said, I didn’t get much reading done over the break, but I certainly had time to think about things and figured an actual plan of action.

The session at the library today was really good, I covered a lot of ground in the books and took a lot of notes about the Egyptians conception of magic. Some of them have really cool covers too, like this hieroglyphic example i’ve attached. In discussions of Egyptian magic, gods like Bes are mentioned quite a lot. I now feel that I’ve really come to understand their belief system and the purpose of Bes.

In doing this research there’s a lot of talk about all the different ways the symbol of Bes has been used. This fits perfectly with what I was trying to put into words in my proposal really, and it has given me the idea of narrating a ‘Journey of Bes’ which captures his progression from his origin and how different objects of Bes serve differing functions but are used to harness his protective qualities. This will allow discussion of the Bes Jar to transition into how the Romans adopted him before delving into how he was exported across the Mediterranean. There’s an earring featuring Bes in the Louvre that was found in Iran.

I looked at every single entry for objects featuring Bes at the Oriental Museum and compiled a list of items which should narrate his journey quite nicely.

Today was a real turning point; Tomorrow, I will speak with Anthony.

[besjourney-blog]

Research proposal

Today we were required to submit our research proposals for the module. I had some remarks to make about the Bes Jars condition being classified as ‘good’ by the Oriental Museum. In reflection, it is quite a lengthy rant about an aspect that probably doesn’t matter too much... oh well.

I feel I should have been clearer and more concise in the proposal in truth. After receiving a review from a friend, its quite clear that it is convoluted and is rather abstract. I suspect this issue will be raised. After all, it is only a proposal, so there’s not too much harm done.

To sum, I spoke about my previous meetings with Gillian and what I have learnt overall at this stage and how that interests me. The key research question that I put forth is to focus on providing an answer on how and why Bes’s form and function transform throughout history. I also eluded to my interest in how belief in the power of Bes most likely had a great influence on society due to the protective qualities he represented. I gave a few words on the literature I have chosen to explore and my rationale for doing so. Currently I have not done as much research as I would have hoped.

I closed the proposal with a reflective word on my thoughts about the project at this stage. I spoke of how unexplored terrain in the academic sphere interests me, and how I hope such an opportunity rises in this research project.