This gold pomegranate vase was part of a votive offering dedicated to the cat goddess Bastet in her temple at Tell Basta. The body of this vase is decorated with small, embossed beads shaped like pomegranates, which were among the fruits introduced into Egypt from the East at the beginning of the New Kingdom. The...
Among the series of ornate boxes discovered in the burial of Tutankhamun, this example is especially striking despite the damage it suffered in antiquity. The casket was found broken and displaced, its lid lying in one corner of the chamber and its body heaved into another, its legs and panels crushed under the weight of...
This flared bowl with crocodiles and a flattened rim is typical of the pottery production of the early Predynastic Period. Generally characterized by the red coloring of the surfaces, decoration consists of geometric motifs or stylized plants or animals rendered by means of rapid brushstrokes in white paint. On the outside of this particular vessel,...
On this finely carved slab, five elegant women attend to a fragrant art: the pressing of lotus blossoms. Three clasp the long-stemmed flowers in hand, while two twist bulging sacks filled with petals, coaxing forth the nectar which drips into the vessel below. At first glance it is an image of industry, yet beneath lies...
This clay head found in one of the most recent levels of the settlement at Merimde Beni Salama, a village in the Western Delta is enigmatic. This is one of the earliest known representations of a human head in Egypt. The perfectly oval face has features in the form of depressions of various shapes and...
The mummy mask of Tjuyu or Thuya is made of cartonnage covered with a thin layer of gold foil. When found it was completely covered with the remains of its linen shroud removed by the restorer. A few fragments of the shroud, now blackened with age, still adhere to the wig and part of the...
When king Tutankhamun grasped this walking stick, the enemies were turned upside down so that they could not harm the king. At the other end of the stick, a papyrus bears the king’s cartouche. Most of the ancient Egyptian kings and nobles were depicted holding a cane or a staff as it was a sign...
These golden twin bracelets belong to King Shoshenq II were found, with another identical five bracelets, around the wrists of the king. The two ornaments here are decorated with the wadjet eye, above the hieroglyphic “Neb” sign symbolizing eternal protection for the king. The decorations of the bracelets are identical except for the eyes. The...
Painted limestone statue of Meryre, and his wife Iniuia. He is wearing two rows of gold beads presented by the King. Meryneith started his career under king Akhenaten as ‘Steward of the Temple of Aten’ and ‘Scribe of the Temple of Aten’ in Akhetaten and in Memphis. The latter title might imply that he worked...
This fishing model was found in the serdab of Meketre’s tomb which contained 25 wooden models of men and women performing various daily tasks typical of life along the Nile. One vivid and animated scene shows fishermen on board two green-hulled boats used on the river in ancient times; the boats are made from strips...
