[Tidbits] Blue William

Okay. By a show of hands. who wants to begin again? Ye gads folks.
Who’s going to outlast who? You me? Or me you? I’m 76 next month. On
your Mark. get set…

We’re in Meir. Upper Egypt. Tomb of Senbi. early Middle Kingdom,
early Dynasty 12, ca.1981-1885 B. C.

So. in your minds. what would you think is one of the more revered
animals in Egyptian lore? Cats? Did I hear Cats? Good guess Charlie.
but you can go to the back of the class. Eh? What’s that? An Asp you
say? Hey Cleo. you can kiss my Asp and go to the back of the class
with Charlie. Who said Lion? Why? Because the Sphinx has the body of
a lion? Back of the class. Jackal? Hah! Back of the class. Falcon?
Who said Falcon? Back of the class, dolt. C’mon c’mon. Whaddya want.
a hint?

All right. Okay. Here we go. A herd of these critters could destroy a
farmer’s fields just by walking through them. And the ancient
Egyptians revered these animals as beneficial creatures of the muddy
waters from which life derived. Of course. about 880 some odd miles
north-east at a different time there was a garden called Eden deemed
by some to be in a country called Iraq. and according to even others.
it was from there that life emanated. One man’s truth and all that.
Our beloved creatures were imbued with the powers of destruction and
creation. I have an image of such a creature. He was nicknamed
William by a family who–when they saw his image and kept a
reproduction of it in their house–swore that the animal’s facial
features changed to indicate approval or disapproval of family
decisions. Of course… all this does not explain why they chose the
name of William. Unless there once was a beloved uncle with a close
resemblance …

William is made of Faience. a name given to glazed pottery originally
associated with Faenza in northern Italy. Ask me what this has to do
with Egypt and I will tell you I don’t know. Ask me what William has
to do with jewelry I will ask you in all honestly… when you look at
William. does he or does he not look like a blue pendant. As to what
William is. well… he’s a Hippopotamus. naturally… a blue
Hippopotamus in fact. a very pretty blue Hippopotamus and could
easily be seen as a pendant. even if I have to make the fat little
so-and-so into a pendant myself. and that’s what it has to do with
jewelry.

Well. there it is my friends. The end of the opening run. But there
will be more. Or so one can hope. So. how about it? Want to see a
blue Hippopotamus pendant named William? What. are you kidding us
Benjamin. of course we do. How could we not? So let us go post haste.
You know where. My home page: http://www.tyler-adam.com. Scroll down.
Left side menu. Current Tidbits. Click. And there he will be in all
his blue cockeyed glory.

And there ya have it. That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark