Afternoon Tea with colleagues in the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan

20/07/2016

Life brings tears, smiles & MEMORIES….

The tears dry…The Smiles fade…

But the memories last forever….

One of my greatest memories, one that I will remember forever, is the welcome of a quintessential afternoon tea organized by the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum, at the Academy Hotel. It was a great day with so much warmth to be had with colleagues, experiencing this British tradition which is the most quintessential of the English customs. I know from my reading that Afternoon tea was introduced in England by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, in the year 1840. The Duchess would become hungry around four o’clock in the afternoon. The evening meal in her household was served fashionably late, at eight o’clock, thus leaving a long period between lunch and dinner. The Duchess asked that a tray of tea, cake, bread & butte be brought to her room during the late afternoon. This became a habit and she began inviting friends to join her. This pause for tea became a fashionable social event. I experienced the best of afternoon tea tradition with the most wonderful colleagues I have ever met.

Shreen Amin, Director of the Children Museum at the Egyptian Museum – ITP 2016.