This statuette depicts Ptah, the chief god of Egypt’s capital city Memphis, who is easy to identify by his tight-fitting cap and enveloping shroud. Other iconographic details, such as the royal beard, the large and detailed broad collar, the scepter of merged “was” and “djed” signs, and a platform representing the hieroglyph for universal order,...
Seneb was a dwarf who served as a high-ranking court official in the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, circa 2520 BC. Despite his diminutive size, Seneb was a person of considerable importance and wealth who owned thousands of cattle, held twenty palace and religious titles and was married to a high-ranking priestess of average size...
Once perched at the summit of the so-called “Black Pyramid” of Dahshur, this finely carved basalt pyramidion crowned the tomb of one of Ancient Egypt’s most powerful and long-reigning monarchs: King Amenemhat III. Though time brought his pyramid to ruin, this capstone, an embodiment of solar divinity, survived the fall. In 1900, after reports of...
Few sculptures have startled the modern world quite so memorably as the painted limestone statues of Prince Rahotep and his elegant consort, Nofret. When archaeologists first cast their torchlight upon these lifelike figures, buried within a mastaba north of Sneferu’s pyramid at Meidum, their flickering beams met the glinting gaze of quartz and alabaster eyes...
In this seated statue of King Thutmose IV, he and his mother Tiaa are embracing each other. His mother was a secondary wife of his father Amenhotep II. Hieroglyphs on both sides of the chair give the names and titles for King Thutmose IV and his mother Tiaa. She was “the Great Royal Wife and...
The Khufu Statuette or the ivory figurine of Khufu is an ancient Egyptian statue which is historically and archaeologically significant; it was found in 1903 by Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie during the excavation of Kom el-Sultan in Abydos. Despite the discovery of a few other small fragments of the king’s statues and statuettes, this...
The cubit rod of Kha folds in half with a simple bronze hinge at the center; there are absolutely no inscriptions. When Ernesto Schiaparelli discovered the rod, it was folded inside a leather bag with a strap. This extremely rare folding cubit rod was loved by Kha, who was the overseer of works in Deir...
Artifacts discovered in a deep pit in the Tomb of the scribe Psamtik at Saqqara, Boulaq Museum, 1870s. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Seated statue of god Osiris – CG 38358 Osiris is shown seated, wrapped tightly, and holding the crook and flail – symbols of kingship – in his hands, crossed at his...
The statue depicts Metri, an overseer of the scribes during the 6th Dynasty, sitting in the traditional pose of scribes with his legs crossed. He spreads a roll of papyrus on his lap and holds it with his left hand. In his right hand he holds a pen. The body of the statue is painted...
The mummy of Thutmose IV was found within the mummy cache of (KV35) in 1898 by Victor Loret. The body of the king was moved in antiquity by ancient priests for safety reasons. The king was originally buried within his own tomb (KV43), which was discovered by Howard Carter in 1903. His body was rewrapped...
