The Big Head

Archaeologists have unearthed a massive red granite head of one Egypt's most famous pharaohs who ruled nearly 3,400 years ago, the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities announced Sunday. The head of Amenhotep III, which alone is about the height of a person, was dug out of the ruins of the Pharaoh's mortuary temple in the southern city of Luxor. It is speculated that the purpose of the big head was that maybe it was part of a temple or other structure of religious significance. I wonder if the archaeologists who have found the big head are missing the point - maybe the pharaoh’s mother got carried away when the head making people came to her door and asked if she wanted a “picture” of her son, for example. Maybe they even had a set of massive heads done for the pharaoh and his sisters (where in the pyramid did they put them, I wonder?). Or maybe it was just a novelty item: a bit of roadside art that got mixed up in the dead pharaoh’s tomb somehow.

Now, I know the real story behind The Big Duck, and when we were kids, we used to pass it in the car all the time. Did we ever stop and get out? Heck no - it was a gimmick created by one of the big quackeries to sell ducks. Have you ever SMELLED a duck farm? Nothing quite like it. Anyway, in the late 1970’s The Big Duck was sold and relocated and is now used as a store that sells souvenirs and touristy stuff. You see where I am going with this? Maybe that massive head was just a spot on the Nile where visitors could stop and get a cold drink, or buy some beads or something. Maybe, instead of kids clamoring at their parents to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stop the car at The Big Duck, Egyptian children tugged at their parents hands on the reins of the chariot and begged to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stop at The Big Head.