Death, burial, and the afterlife were as important to ancient Egyptians as how they lived. Art, monumental architecture, rituals, and magical incantations were used by Egyptians to create a story that helped them confront the unknowable. Today, we know about their fascination with death through the study of mummies. A foremost expert on mummification takes […]
Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Marvel Comics all owe a debt to Gilgamesh, a hero in Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the world’s first epic story. Gilgamesh was a historic king of the Sumerian city-state of Uruk and probably ruled sometime between 2800 and 2500 BCE. His story has been immortalized as […]
Experience 4,000 years of games in a day! Test your strategy and skill! Play games from around the world and through time, including a game featured in the first Harry Potter movie. Included is a giant floor-sized Royal Game of Ur, where you are the playing piece. Engage in battle to see whose tactics will […]
Forge a connection to Texas and American heritage at an afternoon filled with free art-making workshops, interactive games, and archaeology. Discover how early settlers in Texas lived by participating in a prepared excavation and science and cultural activities that reveal pioneer life–all designed to forge links to the past. Learn how this knowledge improves the […]
Lunar New Year celebrations in China run for weeks with special meals prescribed for particular days of the cycle. An important aspect of festivities is ritual visits to family members. A bus tour to a market introduces you to ingredients that will be used in the “feast of the gathering of families.” A jubilant dinner […]
Kings capture our imagination. Out of the mists of time, the story of King Arthur continues to haunt. Was he a real person? Did Mallory in Le Morte D’Arthur capture an ideal that might have been possible? Perhaps, buried deep in our psyche is a longing for the camaraderie of a band of brothers, as […]
The year 2020 is the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote. How did that battle play out in Houston? Renowned Houston historian, Betty Chapman, returns to our Heritage Excursions to lead us on another tour about Houston women and their 75-year fight to achieve full equality as citizens. You will visit sites […]
Every culture on earth has a creation myth–we all want to know where we came from. Popol Vuh, the K’ichee Maya book of creation, was recorded in glyphic writing, transmitted orally, and eventually transcribed by Dominican missionaries in the sixteenth century, a few years after the European irruption. It is an extraordinary document of the […]
Struggle and confrontation make up much of human history, and some of our greatest stories revolve around warfare. Indeed, Greek mythology culminates in the Trojan War, one of the foundational tales of Western literature, with themes that continue to reverberate today. But was Troy a real place? Did the battles depicted by Homer really happen? […]
Uncover how the classical world influenced American art and design at a free day with hands-on activities for families at Bayou Bend House and Gardens. Excavate, play ancient games, build an arch, participate in arts, crafts, and science activities to learn about the world of ancient Rome. Roman enactors will be present with a large […]
