The Meroë Head of Augustus

Interesting small display at the British Museum focusing on a bronze head of Augustus which was found in Sudan.

The head is in remarkable condition because it was removed from the statue during a raid on Italy by the Kush people who rivalled Egypt for regional dominance. It was then buried in the entrance to a small building so that everyone who entered the building walked over the head of the emperor.

There was a fascinating slide show in the room showing modern versions of destroying statues as a political comment and also of a mosaic of George Bush snr outside a hotel in the Middle East so everyone entering the hotel stepped on him. Amazing to think we still do the same things now we have always done. Is this a remembered behaviour or just an instinct?

The head itself was beautiful. It looked so fresh and new. I was fascinated to read that you can identify where it may have been made by the fact that a curl in front of the left ear curls back not forward. I wonder if that’s based on life and whether Augustus had an unruly bit of hair!

I was also interested to see that it had been excavated by a team from Liverpool University in 1910 and first went on display in Liverpool. I wonder if any of my ancestors went to see it?

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