Known as the Salt Head, after the British collector and diplomat Henry Salt, this arresting portrait of a shaven-headed man is one of the more enigmatic works in the Louvre’s Egyptian collection. The long, finely modelled face, prominent lips, narrow eyes and pierced ears have encouraged comparisons with the distinctive portraiture of the late 18th...
This finely carved limestone funerary figure belonged to a man named Keny. Unlike ordinary ushabtis, which were intended magically to perform agricultural labour for the deceased in the afterlife, overseer ushabtis were represented as supervisors, directing the other funerary servants. Keny is shown wearing an elaborate pleated kilt and shirt, a broad usekh collar, curled...
Among the most evocative wooden figures of Egypt’s Middle Kingdom are the offering bearers: small, brightly painted attendants created to ensure that the dead would never lack nourishment in the afterlife. This elegant female figure, dating to the 12th Dynasty, carries a basket laden with loaves and meat upon her head. Said to have come...
Standing almost three metres tall, this imposing painted sandstone statue represents Amenhotep I, the second king of Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, in the form of the god Osiris. Dating to approximately 1525–1504 B.C., it is one of the relatively few surviving royal statues that can be confidently attributed to Amenhotep I’s own reign, making it an...
More than 3,400 years ago, an Egyptian royal chamberlain named Neferoubenef commissioned a beautifully illustrated Book of the Dead to accompany him into eternity. Today, twelve surviving fragments of this remarkable papyrus are preserved in the Louvre Museum, offering a vivid glimpse into how one man hoped to overcome the dangers of the afterlife and...
At first glance, this beautifully painted wooden boat appears ready to set sail across the Nile. Yet it was never intended to touch water. Created as a funerary model, it was placed inside a tomb to ensure that its owner could continue their eternal journey through the Afterlife. During Egypt’s Middle Kingdom, miniature wooden models...
Although now missing its head, this finely carved figure still conveys the quiet authority of one of Egypt’s greatest pharaohs. Amenhotep III strides forward with his left foot advanced, a timeless pose symbolising royal power and eternal life. In his right hand he carries a shepherd’s crook resting upon his shoulder, an emblem of the...
This delightful hippopotamus ivory puppy, carved during the late 18th Dynasty (c. 1350–1300 B.C.), is captured in the unmistakable pose of play, with its front legs lowered, hindquarters raised, and long bushy tail curled around its body. Its floppy ears, carefully modelled features and collar, which still preserves traces of gilding, reveal the remarkable skill...
The mace-head was uncovered in the “Main Deposit” of the Temple of Horus at Hierakonpolis, one of the most important religious and political centers of early Egypt. The same cache also contained the famous Narmer Palette, linking the artifact directly to the formative period of Egyptian statehood. The Scorpion mace-head measures around 25 centimeters and...
Carved in elegant, elongated form, this striking figure represents the goddess Menkaret striding forward, supporting upon her head the mummiform, Osiride image of King Tutankhamun. The king is rendered as Osiris, lord of the afterlife, signifying his rebirth and eternal sovereignty beyond death. Menkaret, a protective and regenerative deity, here embodies divine support (both physical...
“His leopard skin is upon him… this king is unharmed with his flesh, perfect it is for this king with his name…”— Pyramid Texts, Utterances 224–225, 338a–b The leopard skin held a profound and enduring place in Egyptian thought. Attested from the earliest dynasties, with roots reaching back into the Predynastic period, it functioned as...
Known as “The Wilbour Plaque“, named after American Egyptologist Charles Edwin Wilbour (1833–1896), who purchased the piece in 1881. It currently resides in America at the Brooklyn Museum (16.48) in NYC. It is thought this piece was originally part of a larger scene, and was used as a reference piece for royal artisans. There is...
The Festival of Nehebkau reminds us that, in Ancient Egypt, renewal was not only written in the stars or carried by the Nile,but enacted at the table, among companions, in acts of offering and care. Through the evidence left behind of the festival, we see that the re-binding of life was not distant or divine...
