Slave Lodge Case Study

The Slave Lodge was built by the Dutch East Indian Company (VOC) in 1679 and was used as a slave lodge for the mentally ill, convicts and slaves. Only in 1810 did it get changed into government offices. During the 19th and 20th century it was again altered and used for various state institutions such as the Supreme Court, post offices, library, first parliament, deeds offices and woman’s auxiliary services for the military. Only in 1966 was the building modified into a cultural history museum. In 1998 it was renamed the Slave Lodge and as of 2000 became part of the Iziko (hearth) Museum group.
The lovely historic building has a Cape Dutch facade. The entrance is very grand with original floors tiles and inlaid marble. There was a display of
My favourite part of the exhibit is the replica of the Rosetta stone. It was believed to be carved around 196 BC and was discovered in 1799 in Rashid, in the Nile region. There are 3 types of languages – hieroglyphic (Egyptian), Demetic (Egyptian), and Greek. The Greeks helped in translating the hieroglyphic symbols and explaining the Egyptian archaeological finds. The first cabinet had a collection of petrie clay pots. The next cabinet had an interesting display of funerary equipment consisting of alabaster boxes and Canopic jars containing mummified hawk remains styled with Egyptian god’s heads. The descriptions explain the uses of the objects and materials such as the flax linen that was used for textiles to write on and wear. On the opposite wall was a mural called The Book of the Dead which depicts in a frieze of figures the judgement of a pharaoh. Surrounding the paintings was a collection of ancient spells. The explorer Sir Flinder discovered King Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the
On the wall is a large map of the slave trade triangle of the Atlantic Ocean routes. On display is a small model, made by a Mr Meermin, of one of the original ships. There is a mock wooden interior of the hull of a ship where the slaves had to endure harsh conditions over a long sea voyage. There was a creative display of windows containing artefacts such as braces, chains, anklets, cloth remnants, bones and pottery fragments and pictures of an archaeological dig. Then they have architectural plans and maps of the old Cape Town lodge on the wall as well as an educational documentary of slave