We get so engrossed in the Bushs and Musharrafs of the ‘present’ times that the thrilling ‘past’ concerning thr rulers of a bygone era, as presented to us by the archaeologists, practically goes unnoticed. But the media this time has gone to town to celebrate the first-ever public display of the Egyptian King Tutankhamun in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings more than 3,000 years after his death. He was 19 when he died.
“King Tut’s mummified face – which has been seen only by about 50 people since the British archaeologist Howard Carter opened the tomb exactly 85 years ago – was revealed to the world in a climate-controlled glass display case in an antechamber of his own tomb in the valley near Luxor, where generations of Egyptian pharaohs were buried, says The Times.
“Tutankhamun was only 8 years old when he became pharaoh. He died 11 years later, at age 19. In historical terms, Tutankhamun is of only moderate significance, and most of his modern popularity stems from the fact that his tomb in the Valley of the Kings was discovered almost completely intact. However, he also is significant as a figure among those who managed the beginning of the transition from the heretical Atenism of his predecessors Akhenaten and perhaps Smenkhkare back to the familiar Egyptian religion. As Tutankhamun began his reign at age nine, his vizier and eventual successor Ay was probably making most of the important political decisions during Tutankhamun’s reign.
“Nonetheless, Tutankhamun is, in modern times, one of the most famous of the pharaohs, and the only one to have a nickname in popular culture (“King Tut”). The 1922 discovery by Howard Carter of Tutankhamun’s nearly intact tomb (subsequently designated KV62) received worldwide press coverage and sparked a renewed public interest in ancient Egypt, for which Tutankhamun’s burial mask remains the popular face.”
Talking of archaeology, India and Pakistan, that were once one country before partition in 1947, are home to one of the world’s oldest civilization called the Indus Valley civilization (c. 3000–1500 BC, flourished –1900 BC).
“A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture is evident in the Indus Valley Civilization. The quality of municipal town planning suggests knowledge of urban planning and efficient municipal governments which placed a high priority on hygiene. The streets of major cities such as Mohenjo-daro or Harappa were laid out in perfect grid patterns. The houses were protected from noise, odors, and thieves.
“As seen in Harappa, Mohenjo-daro and the recently discovered Rakhigarhi, this urban plan included the world’s first urban sanitation systems. Within the city, individual homes or groups of homes obtained water from wells. From a room that appears to have been set aside for bathing, waste water was directed to covered drains, which lined the major streets. Houses opened only to inner courtyards and smaller lanes. The house-building in some villages in the region still resembles in some respects the house-building of the Harappans.
“The ancient Indus systems of sewerage and drainage that were developed and used in cities throughout the Indus region were far more advanced than any found in contemporary urban sites in the Middle East and even more efficient than those in some areas of Pakistan and India today. The advanced architecture of the Harappans is shown by their impressive dockyards, granaries, warehouses, brick platforms and protective walls. The massive citadels of Indus cities, which protected the Harappans from floods and attackers, were larger than most Mesopotamian ziggurats.”
In my last post I had written about Indians relieving themselves in the open. The past gives an interesting and different insight. I wonder what people in the so-called advanced countries were doing at that period of time to perform this basic ritual…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.