Sunday, January 10, 2010

Found Rodents: Jerboas At The Met

Went to the Met the other day with my friend S. I brought my camera, hoping to find some squirrels, but was sadly disappointed. It may have something to do with the fact that we spent all our time in the ancient art sections, and squirrels apparently were not a big part of Greek mythology.

We did spot a different kind of rodent in the Egyptian section...

Jerboas! Three jerboas, in fact, and from the 12th Dynasty! They're from a tomb, but the little sign didn't explain exactly why someone chose to have these little rodents in their tomb. Not that I'm judging; I would totally have rodents in my tomb.

Later we found another jerboa in the Greek and Roman Study Collection! So... while we failed in our mission to find squirrels, I did acquiant myself with a new rodent friend.

2 comments:

  1. You majored in Classics and after all that time you still hadn't realized that squirrels are a bit rare in in the Iliad?

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  2. There is definitely a squirrel in a painting in the Met. I have seen it and it made me think of you. I can't tell you where it is, but I could probably lead you there. This is all dependent on it still being there!

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