Visit takes West students back in time

West Middle School students received a chance to delve into Egyptian history recently, thanks to a visit by Todd Gerring of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor.

Gerring shared his knowledge and replicas of ancient Egyptian artifacts. Students learns how the ancient Egyptians mummified bodies and bodies for "the afterlife."

The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology houses a collection of more than 100,000 ancient and medieval objects from the civilizations of the Mediterranean and the Near East. The museum's own history started with artifacts acquired by Francis W. Kelsey, between the 1890s and the 1920s. In 1928, the collection began being housed in  a building on the university's campus. By 1953, the building was named the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology.

The museum is open to the public Tuesdays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Admission is free but donations are welcome.

The museum's notable collections include:

• The largest corpus of daily life objects from the Graeco-Roman Egyptian town of Karanis outside of the Cairo Museum.
• One of the largest collections of Parthian pottery outside Iraq.
• The largest collection of Latin inscriptions in the Western world.
• An assembly of early Byzatine and Islamic textiles.
• And important collection of provenances glass fragments and vessels.
• A valuable corpus of Near Eastern seals and artifacts.
• Examples of mummy masks.
• A well-known collection of Roman brick stamps.
• More than 40,000 ancient coins.
• A nearly complete edition of the Description de 'Egyupt produced during Napoleon's expedition in 1798.
• 7,400 albumen prints and 25,000 archival photos.

During Gerring's visit, students were encouraged to touch the pieces and ask plenty of questions. The seventh-graders really enjoyed the demonstration.

For more on the Kelsey museum, click here.