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The Last Dynasty: Ancient Egypt from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra

The Last Dynasty: Ancient Egypt from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra

“When Alexander the Great arrived in Egypt, he overthrew the hated Persian overlords and was welcomed as a saviour. He repaid them by showing due reverence to their long-held traditions. After his death, as the Greek empire broke up and his closest advisers squabbled over the spoils, a Macedonian general named Ptolemy seized the Egyptian...

Heart Amulets

The heart was not just a physical organ in Egyptian culture but was seen as the repository of one’s moral life. Protecting it was crucial for ensuring a favourable judgment in the afterlife. Due to the heart’s significance, it was one of the few organs left in the body during mummification or reinserted after preservation,...

Leopard from the tomb of Thutmose IV

Striding leopard from the tomb of king Thutmose IV The figure is made of six pieces of wood put together – the body, four legs, and the tail – and has two rectangular mortises on its back for the insertion of tenons. Originally, the piece would have featured inlaid eyes, which have since been lost....

Quartz Head of a Female Royal

This head of an Amarna Period female royal was found within the remnants of the workshop of the sculptor Thutmose. Sculpted from quartz with traces of pigment upon the lips and eyes, the face is that of a young female, possibly and likely a daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, but there is a possibility it...

The Agnostic Egyptian

Interestingly, the Harper’s Song accompanying this scene within the Chapel of Pa-Aten-Em-Heb, has a somewhat agnostic lyric, telling the listener through song, that lamenting and worrying about an Afterlife is seldom constructive, and one should enjoy life on Earth, rather than obsess and worry over death: “Make holiday, don’t weary of it/ Look, there is...

Ankhesenamun

Ankhesenamun was born Ankhesenpaaten, and was the daughter of Nefertiti and Akhenaten. It is believed she was born around 1350 B.C., the third daughter of the royal couple, born in year 5 or 6 of Akhenaten’s reign. Ankhesenpaaten, which translates to, “She Lives Through the Aten” or “Living Through the Aten,” later went on to...

Is Nefertiti under our Noses?

24th December, 2024: Opinion Piece “In a chamber beyond a tomb full of treasures, a sarcophagus adorned with gilded gold takes centre stage, with the serene face of the instantly recognizable beauty of beauties carved delicately into the hard stone or wood. Inside, the perfectly embalmed mummy of a queen lays, beyond the wrappings, her...

Greywacke statue of Taweret from Luxor

Taweret

To the Egyptians, Hippopotami were associated with the protective goddess Taweret who was associated with childbirth, pregnancy, and motherhood. The Egyptians saw hippos as a fearsome creature who protected their young from predators, with the ferociousness of the hippo encapsulating protective love. Therefore, the nature of the hippo became a symbol of guardianship during pregnancies,...

Egyptian Religious Calendar 2025

Egyptian Religious Calendar 2025

The Complete Egyptian Religious Calendar for the year 2025: the most comprehensive publication of the lists of the festivities of the Egyptian Religious Tradition (dated for the year 2025). A practical application of the Egyptian Religious Calendar for the current age. In this edition you will find, for the first time, the list of the...

Winter Solstice

While we don’t have detailed accounts of how the Winter and Summer Solstices were exactly marked and specifically celebrated in Ancient Egypt, it is clear and evident that the Egyptians recognized the importance of the cycle of seasons, agriculture, and associated such with the eternal cycle of life, death, and rebirth. All evidence suggests to...