August 16th

Middle Kingdom Columns

Gemma Augustea Cameo

Greek Helmet

Egyptian Sarcophagus 

Today started out real rainy so a few of us headed to the Kunsthistoriches Museum to take a look at some of the exhibits that we missed when we had our tour with Dr.O. Mariza, Misha, Josh, and myself went and checked out the ancient Egyptian artifacts as well as classical antiquity pieces from Greece and Rome. What were fascinating were the 4,000-year-old columns that were actually from the middle kingdom of ancient Egypt. The columns were actually given as a gift to Franz Josef who began ruling the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1848 amidst the revolutions that were breaking out in Europe around this time. The columns were actually given to Franz Josef as a gift and were shipped from Alexandria to Vienna by boat and train. It was just amazing to think how Franz Josef was gifted these columns that were stood in Egypt around 4,000 years ago and are still used as necessary support columns. The Kunsthistoriches Museum has the world’s largest collections of Roman cameos. These cameos were used to reflect contemporary Roman history. The most famous cameo that is on display there is the Gemma Augustea that depicts Emperor Augustus at his coronation with a goddess placing the oak leaves atop his head. Underneath, a victory over barbarian hoards is emphasized with the Romans taking prisoners. It is a beautiful piece carved by a skilled stonecutter into Arabian sardonix. The Kunsthistoriches Museum has a wide collection of items and just shows how the power of the Hapsburgs, ruling over the Holy Roman Empire. The ancient Egyptian columns standing inside the museum showed just how much respect the Hapsburgs commanded in world politics. If Egypt gave 4,000-year-old columns to Franz Josef, the ruler of the Austrian- Hungarian empire, one cannot help but imagine the clout that the Hapsburgs carried. It illustrated to me that most of the treasures can be seen today because of the influence and undeniable power that the Hapsburgs had allowed for such international recognition.