Year 9 Elective History Excursion
On Friday 6 May, I had the privilege of attending the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney with the Year 9 History Elective class. The day was filled with fun and curiosity, and perfectly aligned with our recently completed unit on the Ancient World: Preserved Human Remains. I’m sure I speak for all the girls when I say it was an experience we will be speaking about for years and years to come.
In the early morning, we all jumped onto the new school coach with Mr Muller and Mrs Musico Rullo. Unbridled by traffic, we arrived with plenty of time for Mrs Musico Rullo to show us around her old classrooms and reminisce about the ‘good ol’ days’. We dived into a guided tour with the lovely, knowledgeable Fran, who enlightened us on the history of the university and recently opened museum. We were fortunate enough to see, in person, all of the mummies we had previously done case studies on, including lady Mer-Neith-it-es and a seven-year-old boy named Horus. Detailed CAT scans of the remains showed us just how intact these mummies are, with full skulls and even a shrivelled heart!
Fran revealed that the founder of the collections, Sir Charles Nicholson, even kept a pair of mummified baby feet on his desk, as a sign of power and intellect. The tour was filled with surprises at every turn, and we all left with our brains practically exploding with new facts. We were then granted the opportunity to walk around the museum independently, exploring artefacts from all corners of history. We saw the collection of Roman statue heads, a huge Lego recreation of Pompeii built by none other than Ryan ‘Brickman’ McNaught and three of the original spears taken from Indigenous people by Captain Cook on his arrival. Then came the fun part, a hands-on activity. After putting on gloves, we were all given an ancient artefact that we had to investigate, document and draw. There were pots from Egypt, engraved clay pieces from the Middle East and small carved statues from Rome. The whole class thoroughly enjoyed getting to work with the pieces, and the opportunity to put our archaeological skills to the test.
After we bid far well to Fran (of course, not before a visit to the gift shop), Mrs Musico Rullo guided us towards the Sydney University Cafe for a good lunch among the uni students. Before long, our day had come to an end and all twenty-two of us piled onto the bus satisfied and tired. Our day would not have been possible without Mrs Musico Rullo, Mr Muller, tour guide Fran and all the Sydney University staff. For them, we are all very grateful.
Holly B - Year 9 Elective History Student
