In this portrait statue, Senenmut is kneeling and grasps a symbolic cobra that supports a sun disk and cowhorns and rests on a base composed of two upraised arms (the hieroglyphic sign for ka)—a magical gesture intended to preserve life and ward off evil. The inscription consists of three vertical lines of incised hieroglyphs on...
A painted limestone relief depicting a standing woman in a pleated sheer linen blue dress. The woman wears a luxurious wig which is held in place by a diadem of blossoms. A band ties the wig about mid-way through its length with a knot in the back. This slightly pulls the wig back, exposing the...
In the Ptolemaic period, the mummy was not enclosed by a complete mummy case, but only by individual pieces of covering, including a mummy mask. Before placing the mummy in its coffin, a number of decorations could be applied. The outer mummy bandages could be painted, the mummy could receive a net of beads with...
The sarcophagus of the priest Pa-nehem-isis [Pnehmêse] is a remarkable example from the Ptolemaic Period, with its large face and its profusion of inscriptions and images, covering the whole surface. The figures have been carved in the hard stone with great precision. The deceased is wearing the tripartite wig and a broad collar. No other...
Some important artifacts were found in the tomb of the 1st Dynasty king Djet at Abydos in Petrie’s Tomb Z. Such as this wide-toothed comb, which is made of hippopotamus ivory. The king’s name is engraved inside the serekh, or palace facade. It is the earliest surviving depiction of the heavens symbolized by the outspread...
This calcite-alabaster canopic chest and its lid were made for storing the canopic jars of Shoshenq I (943-922 BC), the founder of the 22nd Dynasty of Egypt. The nomen and prenomen cartouches of Shoshenq I are carved on the surface. No trace has yet been found of the tomb of Shoshenq I. Egyptologists differ over...
Within the tomb of Horemheb at Saqqara, one of the most striking reliefs depicts a quiet yet powerful moment: the documentation of Nubian prisoners following a southern campaign. Unlike the common scenes of bound captives, these men are shown seated in orderly rows, their hands resting calmly upon their knees, awaiting registration by the Egyptian...
Military Life in the Memphite Tomb of Horemheb Horemheb is, unusually, a man with two tombs. The first; his Saqqara tomb, was prepared during his rise to power, at a time when no one could confidently predict that he would one day don the double crown. When he later became king, a second tomb fit...
This mummy mask of Kay-neferwy was excavated by Mohammed Zakaria Goneim, Keeper of the Antiquities of Saqqara, at Saqqara, during his first season (1951-1952). The mask of Kay-neferwy has an extraordinary presence with its combination of glass inlaid eyes, gilt face with shimmering, almost lifelike translucence, and realistic wig. The craftsman who fashioned the wig...
Statuette of Tutankhamun wearing the white crown and holding staff and flail, carried upon the back of a black leopard. The king is shown standing with his left leg forward on a rectangular pedestal fixed to the back of the leopard. The exaggeration of the king’s features shows the influence of the Amarna style of...
