Round 2:
So for your reading this week you will select one of the two articles that were distributed in class on Wednesday. Read one of the articles and respond to the corresponding question. (The articles are also linked on the website for your reference).
Mummies:
It became almost costume for tourists of Egypt to bring back mummies as souvenirs. Do you think that this is appropriate? Why or why not?
Old Generating Plan:
This article details the Hearn Generating Plant and offers some ideas for its future. What ideas do you have for the future of this space? Explain.
I believe that it was not right for people to bring mummies back from Egypt. I believe this because you are taking a dead person back as a gift which is both morally wrong and disrespecting the Egyptians beliefs of respecting the dead. Also by talking a mummy back away from Egypt as a souvenir you are also disrespecting the person's family by taking their relative away from their family. In my own opinion I would never take a mummy as a souvenir back from Egypt because I do not believe that taking a dead person back from a country is even an option when looking for a souvenir by taking the mummy away from where it was put to rest you are also disrespecting the person who has died by using them as an item to show to friends and family. Once again I do not believe that using a mummy as a souvenir is morally wrong and is disrespecting the person who died.
ReplyDeleteMummies: It became almost costume for tourists of Egypt to bring back mummies as souvenirs. Do you think that this is appropriate? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteI think that this is not appropriate because you are making fun of the dead and not respect the dead. I think this because you’re mocking the dead people instead of respecting them. No one in Egypt should be coming home to their country with a costume of a mummy from Egypt instead they should get a pyramid souvenir instead of the mummy because the pyramids are one of the 7 wonders of the world and it’s their main attraction. The other reason why it’s disrespecting the country because all those slaves that died are being mock of there death even though they built those pyramids for the Egyptian kings and they built those for the tourist attraction. So in conclusion this is not appropriate to bring back mummies from Egypt.
By Keith
I agree with Jousha's post because it's inappropite to disrepect the mummy's family.
ReplyDeleteMUMMIES
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the idea of tourists and travelers in the 1880’s, early 20th century, after visiting Egypt bringing mummies as souvenirs to their homeland.
Mummies are unique to Egypt and its history. Historical items should always remain in the country where they are discovered. These historical items could be loaned to other countries to view and learn from, but they should always be returned to the country that they were found in.
If tourists and travelers continued to remove mummies from Egypt, Egypt’s history would soon disappear. The mummies would be kept by individuals and the history would be lost which would not allow the world to learn from that period of time.
Countries could share objects that are discovered in the country which would allow people from around the world to learn about each other’s history.
ps-this is breanne
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ReplyDeleteIt became almost custom for tourists of Egypt to bring back mummies as souvenirs. Do you think that this is appropriate? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteNo, I strongly disagree that tourists to Egypt should bring back mummies as souvenirs. Even through it would be pretty cool to see a 2,000 year old body face to face, it would not be right.
As Rahimi says in the article “We honor the dead the way the Egyptians did, we will not interfere with the body it is a sign of respect to the dead.” I agree with this quote for many reasons, What if someone excavated dead bodies from a graveyard and started taking them home as souvenirs. This is similar to bringing back mummies from the Pyramids of Egypt.
Rahimi’s quote educates us to not interfere with the dead body; it is in respect for the dead. The Egyptians followed steps to mummify the body (Mummification steps)
1. Announced dead
2. Embalming the body
3. Removal of brain
4. Removal of internal organs
5. Drying out process
6. Wrapping of the body
7. Final procession
To see the real mummy, the mummy would have to be unwrapped. Since these mummies are over 2,000 years old these could be destroyed if unwrapped. Although, it would be kind of cool and scary at the same time, if we could find a mummy and sell it to the museum and get a whole lot of cash. But, it would still not be correct.
First and foremost how do you get a mummy? These mummies are preserved in the Pyramids of Egypt. The Pyramids are one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The Egyptian government would need to give permission to visit the Pyramids. They will not give anybody permission to take out mummies from the pyramids. However they do allow museums in other countries to take the mummies for exhibition. The ROM in Toronto had such of an exhibition.
So for any person to bring a mummy as a souvenir, it would be impossible. The only way to get a mummy on your hands is by working at the museum or by stealing it!
This would not be right.
Many of you have decided to read and comment on the same article. So I am wondering, what do you think this practice of taking mummies as souvenirs says about the morals or values of the later 1800's and early 19th century, compared with those of today?
ReplyDeleteI think this practice of taking mummies as souvenirs says that the morals of the later 1800's and earth 19th century were quite different than those of today. This practice may have been considered normal or maybe the mummies were considered novelty items. Today if you had an old dead body in your house your guest would never come back. Recent findings may have also changed the way people think about this practice, with the technology that we have available to us now the bodies are being used to increase knowledge of the past not as decorations around the house.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Emily's post.
ReplyDeleteI think that it would be wrong to bring back mummies as souvenirs in recent time, but I would have a different opinion if it was in the 1800's. In the 20th century bringing home a mummy would be very unappealing in smell, and looks. The mummy would smell horrible and make it unpleasant to live in your own home. A mummy would also not look very nice in a home as it is very dusty, old, raggedy, etc. It is also just the fact that you have a dead person rapped in cloth sitting in your house. On the other hand if it was in the 1800's it might have been in your culture to bring home a mummy, in which case would be acceptable.
(Alisha)
ReplyDeleteMUMMIES
I do not think that the removal of mummies as souvenirs is appropriate for three reasons. The removal of mummies made it hard for the archaeologists to re-create Egypt’s history, it was disrespectful to the dead and to the Egyptian’s culture and it would be considered stealing to take away another country’s piece of their history for your antique collection.
The Egyptians have always had a rich and fascinating history. Up until the mid 1800s (when hieroglyphs were deciphered with the help of the Rosetta Stone), the only way archaeologists were able to excavate any information from the tombs was through examinations of the mummy’s possessions. With the commonplace custom of removing or purchasing mummy remains and possessions, this would make it extremely hard for historians to piece together Egypt’s rich and eventful history.
In the article, Dan Rahimi makes a point of telling the reporter that they want to respect the dead the way the Egyptians did. He says “We honour the dead the way the Egyptians did. We’re not going to interfere with the body unless there is a good scientific reason. It’s a sign of respect.” I agree with this statement because we have to honour other people’s customs.
Lastly, the tourists that felt that it was right to remove artifacts from the country they were found in were stealing. Artifacts should not be taken out of their country to become a part of someone’s antique collection. They contribute to the site’s heritage and should not be removed due to respect.
In conclusion, I think that the removal of mummies for souvenirs is wrong. This stealing made it hard for archaeologists to re-create Egypt’s history, it was disrespectful to the dead and taking away mummy remains is stealing from Egypt.
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ReplyDeleteAnswer:
ReplyDeleteNo, I do not think that it was appropriate for people to bring back mummies as souvenirs because of many reasons. First, only important people were mummified in ancient Egypt as a sign of respect. It was said that this was done to preserve the body for the afterlife. It would disrespectful to remove these bodies from there resting place after all the effort that went into their burials and who knows they may be even taking them away from what the Egyptians meant by the afterlife. Dan Rahimi, the vice president at the ROM says it well, "We're not going to interfere with the body unless there's a really good scientific reason. As a sign of respect." Additionally, these bodies could have been used to help present day scientists unravel the truth of ancient Egypt. Many details of the past are still unable to be clarified and the bodies that were left behind, so perfectly preserved give so many clues to unanswered questions. Moreover, they are national treasures that belong to the people of Egypt. It is stealing to simply take a piece of history away from a country without legal permission and it is punishable by law. In conclusion, it is disrespectful, unhelpful to future generations, and illegal therefore making it definitely unacceptable for tourists to bring back mummies as souvenirs!
I think that the morals and values of people in the 1800's and early 19th century were much different than the morals and values of the people of 20th century. I think this because back in the 1800's Europe controlled most of the world and because of this the people of Europe must have felt that they were free to do whatever they pleased and take whatever they wanted. Now the reason that the values and morals of the 20th century are different to those of the people of the 1800's is because that over the years this century's generation has been exposed to many different cultures and practices, because of this, people have become more respectful of others practices and beliefs. So now in the 20th century others know that it is disrespecting one's culture to remove an artifact such as a mummy from it's resting place.
ReplyDeleteMummies:
ReplyDeleteIt became almost costume for tourists of Egypt to bring back mummies as souvenirs. Do you think that this is appropriate? Why or why not?
I do not think it is appropriate to be taking ancient mummies back as souvenirs from Egypt. It is extremely disrespectful to the Egyptian culture to be removing their antique history and using it for your own collections. By removing the mummy from its tomb, you are not only disrupting the mummy’s after life, but also stealing from the Egyptian culture.
The Egyptians were always rich in history and respectful to the dead. They followed specific steps to mummify the body so that it will remain intact and undisturbed during its afterlife. By using the mummy as a souvenir, you are disturbing the mummy in its afterlife. In the text, Valerie Hauch states “a glass case holding the wrapped remains of an Egyptian baby, gender unknown, but believed to be about 2,000 years old.” This proves that by taking these delicate mummies, you are stealing a rich piece of history away from its heritage.
Overall, I think that mummies should be respected and left alone in their tombs. It is awfully disrespectful to removing these antique mummies and using them as your own possessions.
Many of you have decided to read and comment on the same article. So I am wondering, what do you think this practice of taking mummies as souvenirs says about the morals or values of the later 1800's and early 19th century, compared with those of today?
The morals and values in the late 1800s are compared to today’s values and morals have changed drastically. During the later 1800’s people, especially the British believed that they have encountered the power to take possession of everything around the world. With technology available in today’s society, the possession of mummies is used for increasing the knowledge about our past, not decorating our homes with 2,000 year old decaying bodies.
I do believe morals of the late 1800's-early 1900's century are very different from those of our modern century. Compared to today, politics and awarness of Earth's physical environment are the main differences in morals between the two time periods.
ReplyDeletePolitics are the first main difference. In the early 1800's-late 1900's century, most of the world was undeveloped, and the European countries (such as Britian) were the most influential civiliaztions of the world. During this time, some of the countries in Europe were seeking to gain more power and wealth by exploring unknown regions of the world in hopes to claim and colonize new lands. In our modern age, most of the world is developed as a independent union, as colonies have shed their colonial status, and established themselves as countries. Other countries (such as Canada and Australia) have even developed to the same economic level as these European countries. And instead of trying to find new lands to claim, national governments are aiming to develop their own economy and establish relationships with other governments.
The awarness of Earth's physical environment has also changed. In the late 1800's-early 1900's century, was the time of colonializm and the Industial Revolution. With colonies around the world, nations in Europe were in great need of transportation in order to govern their colonies. When the Industrial Revolution introduced fossil fuels; coal, gas and oil were being burnt in massive quanities in order to power boats and train engines. Also, many forest were cut down in order to build cities. All of these actions caused horrific damage to the environment; eroded soil, polluted the air and water, and killed off animals and their habitats. In our modern age, we realize what damage our ancestors caused to the environment, and we now try to protect it, by cutting down our usage on fossil fuels, focus on renewable energy instead, and replanting forests.
In conclusion, our morals have greatly changed, in a poloticial role and on our awarness of Earth's physical environment from the late 1800's-early 1900's century.
Mummies:
ReplyDeleteI do not think that it is at all acceptable to bring back mummies as a souvenir. I do not think that this is appropriate for three valid reasons. First, Dan Rahimi (the vice president at the ROM) makes an intriguing point declaring to the reporter that they want to respect the dead. Dan states,“We honor the dead the way the Egyptians did. We’re not going to interfere with the body unless there is a good scientific reason. It’s a sign of respect.” I completely correspond with what Dan said because I think that everyone should value others cultures and customs.
Second, I feel that since only important people were mummified as a sign of respect that the removal of mummies is immoral due to the fact that it would be wrong to remove the mummies from their resting place because it would have been a waste of the effort that went into their burial, just to bring home an artifact. That to me is utterly corrupt to move a mummy from its resting place. To me that it is stealing to simply take a piece of ancient history away from their country. It is remarkably disrespectful to the dead, and to the Egyptian’s culture.
Lastly, since the removal of mummies is an incredibly popular occurrence it makes it plenty harder to re-create Egypt’s history. It would help present day scientists and archaeologists unravel the truth of ancient Egypt. It would be sufficiently easier to discover the missing links and details of the past that may have been easier to find if there was no removal of the mummies. Mummies are national treasures that belong to the people of Egypt and should stay there!
Furthermore, I believe that the removal of mummies is not tolerable and is morally wrong to the people of Egypt because it is disrespectable, it is stealing, and also makes it challenging for scientists and archaeologists to re-create history.
I absolutely believe that it is inappropriate for tourists of Egypt to bring back Mummies as souvenirs. One of the main reasons why I think this is because it is disrespectful to Egyptian culture and customs. In this article, Dan Rahimi says “We honour the dead the way the Egyptians did. We’re not going to interfere with the body unless there’s a really good specific reason. It’s a sign of respect.” I totally agree with this quote. Egyptians have been using mummification for thousands of years and to remove that from them is disregarding there cultural customs. This is one reason why I believe that it is improper to take mummies as a souvenir from Egypt.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason why I do not think it is right for tourists to take mummies from Egypt as souvenirs is because it disrespecting the dead. The main reason why Egyptians use mummification is so that the body can rest in peace. How can a dead body rest in peace if it is being taken away from its home and used it a person’s antique collection? As you can see, taking a mummy from Egypt and using it as a souvenir is wrong.
The third reason why I can undeniably say that taking mummies from Egypt is inappropriate is because it is a form of stealing. This can be considered stealing because you are taking away a dead body from somebody’s family. I know that if someone was taking my dead ancestors or relatives back to their home in another country, I would not be impressed. These people had no right to do this and I think it is extremely rude. This is another reason why I believe that bringing home mummies from Egypt as souvenirs is inappropriate.
There are many reasons why I completely agree that it is inappropriate for tourists of Egypt to bring back mummies as souvenirs. It is disregarding the Egyptian culture, it is disrespectful of the dead, and most of all, it stealing. I think that it is excellent that the trend of bringing home mummies as souvenirs of Egypt has stopped.
In response to Keith’s answer.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your response, I do not agree with some of the information you mentioned. You stated that bringing mummies home as souvenirs of Egypt is mocking the death of slaves who built the pyramids. I do not understand how this is mocking their death. I believe that this is disrespecting their cutltural customs. I do agree that it is wrong to use mummies as souvenirs but I do not agree that this is mocking their death.
Regardless of one's faith and beliefs, taking something that does not belong to you is wrong.
ReplyDeleteWhether the date is the 1800's or the present, the above mentioned belief still exists as part of my upbringing and faith.
The practise of taking what does not belong to you still happens today and with today's technology and higher levels of thinking, this practise could be happening on a much larger and "sneakier" scale.
For example in the modern day movie "National Treasure", people were using technology to find and take what does not belong to them.
I agree and disagree with Sarah’s opinion because it left me hanging as what side she is on because she had presented two ideas for each side. All Sarah had stated is that it would be unpleasant and unappealing in homes in the 20th century but didn’t say much as to why it would me acceptable in the 1800’s accepting that it may have been part of their costume to bring back mummies. Therefore, I was left wondering about her overall argument.
ReplyDeleteOld Hearn Site
ReplyDeleteThe future of this site can and will differ over the years. My opinion of this site is that it should be used as a second waterfront. This is because it is right near a dock and inner harbor. This would be beneficial to visitors and residents alike while also providing a steady income to the city therefore cutting taxes.This also gives them an opportunity to re-do the original harbor front with out the disaster as with the building of condominiums where it restricts many of the public from the harbor.
The site is massive. It easily compares and might be bigger than city hall. This would mean more space for activities and such. This also would draw publicity to the local shops and attractions. Perhaps if it was big enough this could become one of Toronto's big attractions such as the CN tower or The sky dome now known as the Rogers Center. This would cost quite the sum but in the long run it would provide fun and the equivalent amount of money back along with the joy of having a public harbor front.
We will never have another opportunity like this again so we need to act now but with some foresight and a long term vision for the future of our city. Again this could go in many different ways but the most efficient is the harbor front idea.
@ K.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your mummy post. Not only does it disrespect all that they did and died for but it is also like stealing a dead baby from another family. The morals of the people from the late 1800's to early 1900's were extremely low. This is because they thought that the heritage of the Egyptians would last longer. Well it is almost completely depleted. These were deserved to be stored in museums for all people alike not on a wall in a private collection. I also agree on your point of mocking them. It is extremely disrespectful for anyone to "buy" another mummy and hang them on a wall or put them into a private collection. However the Egyptians did not have kings they had pharaohs. Overall I agree with your main points and thesis. THE END
(Alisha)
ReplyDeleteIn response to Erica’s post:
I agree with your first point that the removal of mummies is disrespecting their culture. I totally agree with you on your perspective when it comes to the respect of dead bodies. I too, agree with your opinion that this practice has stopped.
On another note, I noticed that in your third point, you said “I know that if someone was taking my dead ancestors or relatives back to their home in another country, I would not be impressed.” I liked this because it put me in the shoes of the Ancient Egyptians.
According to Keith’s post
ReplyDeleteI agree that mummies should not be taken home as souvenirs as well. You also had one really good point about mocking the dead instead of respecting them. But you kept on saying that point over and over. In some parts of the paragraph you made no sense. For example when you said “No one in Egypt should be coming home to their country with a costume of a mummy from Egypt instead they should get a pyramid souvenir instead of the mummy because the pyramids are one of the 7 wonders of the world and it’s their main attraction.” The sentence is too long so it does not make sense. You should have stopped at (Egypt. Instead). You also could have put in some examples from the text to support your answer. As well as how it would relate to you.
Over all it is good.
I think the power plant should stay up. There are lots of arenas all over Toronto that people can use. The power plant does not need to come down so people can go to an arena even though City Hall is using alot of money making sure that an arena is extremely close to you. I even have an arena right down the street from my house and people usually don't use it. Why should you tear down a perfectly fine building if there are so many, some which aren't in use. The power plant can also be used as a guide for some people because people can see it from a far distance. A very popular, and frequently used/visited place near the plant is the Sound Academy and a Drive-In movie theatre. People go there almost every night mostly because famous bands (i.e. Linkin Park, Danny Fernandes, My Chemical Romance, ect.) play at the Sound Academy which attracts extremely large crowds. There are no signs that tell you where it is, but if you see the power plant, people know that they are in the right area and headed in the right place.
ReplyDelete-Sara Dalla Guarda
I agree with John. The hearn site should be turned into a second waterfront. There would be alot more room to do activities and events such as outdoor festivals. But also, after they tear the site down, there would not be any grass nor small buildings for shade or for small stores such as an ice cream store.
ReplyDeleteI think that the old Hearn site should be kept the way it is now. It is an interesting building and as the architect William MacIvor sees as an endless possibilities. It doesn’t really look that bad and you could re-make the building into an interesting art gallery or a recreational centre. In my opinion the site should not be demolished because there is amazing potential in the Hearn site as MacIvor planned to have “a skating rink in winter, a community centre a library and even have space for a concert (like the rolling stones) and even when the pope comes to speak.” That is a lot that can fit in a huge building that’s 6 city blocks long. They could even put shops in there have like a little mini mall, the possibilities are endless. City hall’s plan is to have the Hearn building a ice rinks in there and have it as a sport centre which is kind of ridiculous because we already have many rinks in Toronto which some times people don’t even use. I think that we shouldn’t destroy but embrace the history of the power plant.
ReplyDelete-Spencer McCool-
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ReplyDeleteIn response to Erica’s post on mummies
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Erica’s post that it is “inappropriate to steal artifacts from Egyptian tombs.” It is a disgrace to the Egyptian culture to take other people’s possessions especially themselves! Especially when they are blessed with the jackal god Anubis. If the ancient Egyptians knew what people were doing to their graves they would be extremely mad.
Egyptians went through the stages of mummification when the died so they could rest in peace and blessed the graves with the signs of Anubis the god of the afterlife so they would live on in their belief of an afterlife. If someone were to steal “the mummy’s” that is a sin and would disrespect the Egyptian culture.
-Spencer McCool-