Bes was a household and protective deity associated especially with women, childbirth, children, sexuality, music and the warding-off of dangerous forces. Unlike most Egyptian gods, he is normally shown frontally, staring directly out at the viewer. His squat body, leonine features, protruding ears, beard and exaggerated face were not meant to make him ridiculous; they...
Fashioned during the Middle Kingdom, this enchanting necklace pairs the soft violet glow of amethyst with a small Ba Bird amulet carved from green feldspar. The string is composed of twenty-eight substantial amethyst beads, mostly shaped into long, gently swelling bicones; charmingly, one remains distinctly misshapen, perhaps an unfinished scaraboid or an experimental attempt at...
The mummified remains of a very young boy (aged approximately 2–5 years) survive in exceptional condition, enclosed within a painted shroud and a small vaulted wooden coffin. His body lies fully extended, the head inclined gently forwards, with the arms resting beside him and the open hands placed against the thighs. Both the skull and...
This richly decorated statuette presents Osiris in his traditional mummiform guise, crowned with tall plumes and holding the crook and flail of kingship. His face, divine beard, collar, pectoral and regalia were enriched with gold leaf, lending the figure a once luminous appearance. A delicate bead-net pattern covers the upper body, while a falcon enfolds...
Carved from boxwood during the reign of Amenhotep III, this delicate statuette represents a young woman standing nude, adorned only with jewellery and a narrow girdle of what may be cowrie shells. Her head is closely shaven apart from a short fringe of finely carved hair across the forehead, a style associated with youthful female...
The bezel of this gold stirrup ring has long attracted debate. It was once interpreted as an image of Akhenaten and Nefertiti as the gods Shu and Tefnut, children of Atum-Re, with the solar disk above and the earth below. This reading drew upon the strong Heliopolitan influence apparent in Amarna religion and a proposed...
Queen Tuya (Mut-Tuya) was the wife of Seti I and the mother of Ramesses II, later remembered as Ramesses the Great. Born outside the immediate royal family, she was the daughter of Raia, a lieutenant of the chariotry, and Ruia, yet rose to occupy one of the most distinguished positions at the Ramesside court. Under...
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...
