SOME REALLY, REALLY, REALLY OLD "PULP FICTION"

The ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) here in Toronto has recently been hosting the travelling Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. Collette and I are members of the ROM but we really don't get down there as often as we should and since she will be going back to work soon, we thought we would take advantage and go down there for the afternoon.

The Dead Sea Scrolls is not one of those exhibitions that I get all twittery and drooly about, but they're something I've been reading and hearing about pretty much my whole life, so I thought I may as well cash in on the opportunity to learn more about them. We weren't allow to take our cameras into that exhibit, so no images from it, sorry.

It was pretty interesting. No matter your views on religion, you can't dismiss it from ancient or recent human history. The exhibit did a great job of presenting the era in which the scrolls were written; Israel under Roman rule, Judaism and Islam and the multi-deity cultures existing side by side .. not peacefully, of course, but all there, with yet another one god religion in the crucible.

Here in Toronto we make this big deal out of our multi-culturalism but of course, that's nothing new . The exhibit did a good job of putting you in that time and place, with Jerusalem as the major urban centre of that part of the world, the Jews living under Herod, under Roman law, of the power of religion, of the need for it, that compel people to create their own deities, their own sense of mythology, the need to identify with their own gods, to the point of risking their very survival as a culture.

I suppose that's some kind of basic human need, or at least the need of humanity, or humans when they form a community. To be unique. To be their own unit. To the point that they need their own deities, so that they can say "We were created for a purpose, for a reason, we are special and we want to acknowledge that by creating the myth of our own creation"

I love the story of how the scrolls were discovered in 1947 by Bedouin tribesman who then sold it to a local trader. When that merchant tried to sell some of the scroll to some western merchants they thought it was a fraud, so well persevered were the parchments. At the museum, there were indeed a few fragments so well preserved they could have been written a year ago, not three thousand years ago.

A lot has been discovered about the scrolls over the years, but there is still some mystery surrounding them. Not necessarily what the scrolls contain (they've been pretty thoroughly translated at this point) but where did they come from and to whom did they belong. They found the remnants of an ancient settlement nearby called Wadi Qumran. One theory goes that this was a Jewish religious sect that had become dissatisfied with the existing temple in Jerusalem. So, apparently, another case of "ok, I agree there is only one god but golly, I think my version of the one god makes way more sense than your version" Sounds like a cranky lot to me

The other theory of Qumran is that it was some kind of artisan settlement. A lot of pottery, dishes, amphorae etc were found there ... a lot, so some researches decided it must have been like some kind of communal factory. The settlement theorists counter argue that Qumran was a commune, and that these types of settlements held mass meals together which would explain the large numbers of supplies. Hell, hundreds of plates and dishes just sounds like your average Kellar dinner get together.

The scrolls themselves were pretty interesting. A lot of it is biblical writing of writing of course. I always chuckle when, in no matter what religion, we have these passages of biblical writing that never seem to make it into the authorized version. If you live your life by this book, has it ever occurred to you that someone .. someone human, just like you .. has edited it? If these writings are so important to you, don't you want them all? You know, me personally, I always want the extended director's cut. Maybe that's why so many of these religions don't seem to make much sense, every body's living their life by the Cole's Notes version (for my American friends, that's like Cliff Notes)

What I liked about the scrolls was twofold: First, just the fact that I was looking at these fragments of writings that were thousands of years old. I have to admit that kind of thing gives me a bit of a tingle. You can read about the past all you want but when you see it, when it's right there in front of your eyes, it really brings it home to you. The other thing I liked about the exhibit were the little bits of recovered artifacts that represented the day to day life of the time: Clay pots, coins, buttons, even bits of fabric and braids made out of human hair. Grand visions of gods are all well and fine but it's this kind of thing, the common detritus of everyday life, that really gives me a sense of who these people were.

After we went through the exhibit, we decided to wander around the ROM for a bit more. Our first stop was the Asian halls, which cover ancient China, Korea and Japan.

Lots of cool stuff to look at here, like these fragments (perhaps not the best term, some of these pieces are huge) from temples and palaces.

Lots of the little details of everyday life, as well, as I was mentioning earlier. Of course, I gravitated right to the armour and weapons

There is art in these ancient weapons, particularly the Japanese ones. But the quality of art overall displayed here is pretty astonishing. There was a huge tapestry, at least 10 feet long, a single work of art depicting a Japanese emperor visiting one of his provinces The detail in thing was breathtaking, from the waves in the river to each individual stick painted in a bundle carried on the back of a wood cutter.

After the Asia galleries we wandered up to Egypt (yeh, that ROM is a big building *rimshot*) another one of our favorite exhibits. Even older artifacts, with some huge murals, statues, and of course mummies

You'll some more examples of these items in the video below.

One can spend all day at the ROM. There are always special exhibits and the permanent ones are deep and varied. But it was a lovely summer day in Toronto, our feet were sore, we were thirsty ... and anyone who is muttering the word "patio" at this point knows us all too well. This time we went to the patio at Jack Astor's at Younge & Dundas, the intersection that defines the downtown area of our city. I love this patio, it's many stories high and gives a nice view of the intersection.

About the video: For the sake of convenience and in respect of ROM policy I took my little Samsung DV palmcorder. So the indoor shots have enough grain in them to bake a loaf of bread. At any rate, it may give you some taste of how we spent our afternoon.

Royal Ontario Museum Outing from Victor Kellar on Vimeo.