There was no single, named “Spring Equinox festival” in Ancient Egypt in the way we might imagine today… but the equinox sat within a deeply meaningful seasonal and cosmic framework. The Ancient Egyptians did not divide the year into four seasons like we do. Instead, they followed a three-season cycle tied to the Nile: Akhet...
This small wooden statuette represents Taweret, whose name means “the Great One,” a powerful household deity revered for her protection of women and children. Her composite form (hippopotamus body, crocodile back and tail, and leonine limbs) draws upon some of the most formidable creatures of the Nile, each known for its fierce defence of its...
Irynefer was a workman of the royal necropolis at Deir el-Medina, the famous village that housed the craftsmen responsible for cutting and decorating the tombs of the kings in the Valley of the Kings. His title, “Servant in the Place of Truth” (Egyptian: sḏm-ꜥš m st mꜣꜥt), was the formal designation given to these elite...
This fragment of wall painting, often known as the “Princess Fresco”, formed the lower portion of a larger decorative scene from the royal palace at Amarna, the city founded by Akhenaten. The scene depicts the king and his queen, Nefertiti, relaxing informally with their daughters within the palace residence. Two of the princesses are shown...
When acquired in 1834, this mummy rested within a gilded cartonnage case and a wooden coffin adorned with a luminous gold face and inlaid glass eyes. Painted deities and hieroglyphic inscriptions name the deceased as Djedkhonsiufankh, son of Pennestytawy, grandson of Nesamun; a lineage carefully recorded to secure remembrance for eternity. Radiographic examination reveals a...
Hes-ewers were used for pouring ritual libations. It is not known how it came to be in the tomb of Psusennes I in Tanis on the east bank of the Nile in Lower Egypt. Ahmose fought against the Hyksos, and it is possible that it came from a monument of his reign in the eastern...
This remarkably preserved Old Kingdom mummy offers a rare insight into early Egyptian burial practice, revealing a period when the body was arranged not in rigid formality, but in carefully composed repose. Through its posture, materials, and craftsmanship, it preserves a fleeting moment of ancient ritual, belief, and human care. He was laid down as...
Irthorru was a man who once rose each day not to fields or markets, but to the presence of a god. Living in Akhmim near Thebes around c. 600 B.C., Irthorru belonged to Egypt’s quiet elite; not a king, not a warrior, but a priest entrusted with one of the most intimate sacred duties imaginable;...
The Mummy of Bashiri is one of the most arresting survivals of Ancient Egyptian funerary art, not because of what has been revealed, but because of what has been deliberately left untouched. Now displayed in the Musée du Louvre, the mummy dates to the Ptolemaic Period, roughly the late fourth to first centuries B.C., a...
This finely carved limestone relief once adorned the tomb chapel of Horemheb, at a time when he was still a general serving under Tutankhamun. It records a moment of high ceremonial theatre, showcasing Horemheb’s huldiging, or formal honouring, for military and diplomatic success. At the centre, attendants place heavy gold collars around Horemheb’s neck. This...
Seated figure of Isis suckling Harpocrates (identifiable with the so-called ‘Isis lactans’ motif). The goddess is wearing a hathoric crown, consisting of a solar disc with horns resting on a stylised uraeiform modius. She is wearing a tripartite wig decorated with incised vertical streaks and with a stylised vulture headdress. The goddess is wearing an...
This article below is a summary for a novice reader to grasp, for the full study, read here. The Genome of NUE001, an Old Kingdom Egyptian from Nuwayrat For centuries, the story of Ancient Egypt has been reconstructed from stone, art, and text. Temples, tombs, reliefs, and inscriptions have long been our primary witnesses. In...
Crafted from sycamore fig wood, a timber long associated in Ancient Egypt with rebirth and divine protection, this coffin was carefully gessoed and painted, allowing its richly symbolic decoration to gleam with colour and meaning. Measuring 208 × 68 cm, its surface becomes a canvas for theology, memory, and hope for eternal renewal. The coffin...
