I HAVE just been looking at the photographs of the children at the Duke's Middle School in Alnwick on page 11 of this week's Gazette (November 13, 2008).
The young people and their teacher, Helen Fentum, are splendidly attired for Year 5 Egyptian Day.
Unfortunately, these children have been misdirected.
You will not find any paintings in Egypt showing the ancient inhabitants in the poses the c
hildren in these photographs are assuming.
Not a single one. The folks in those old paintings are remarkably stiff and staid, and if they happened to look as if they were having too much fun, the Victorians took whitewash or chisels to the representations.
The American, female pop group, The Bangles, with their 1986 video for Walk Like an Egyptian, somehow convinced a good many people that they were actually walking like Egyptians, striking the poses the Duke's Middle School children are now demonstrating. "Walk Like an American Girl Band", perhaps.
Seriously, one should be careful of misleading the young when it comes to history.
Or is history not what actually happened, but what is entertaining on the television?
The Tudors come to mind, though if I were writing that series I'd have simplified the plot: only two wives, but they would have been from Dundee.
Where will history end up at this rate?
Ross Eldridge,
High Street,
Amble
The full article contains 229 words and appears in Northumberland Gazette newspaper.
