The statuette is a faithful model of a hedgehog with a long nose, small eyes, and pointed ears, but the body is completely covered with spines in a rather representational manner. The figure is made from blue faience and stands on an oval faience base. Images of hedgehogs were painted in tombs of the Old...
This necklace with a pectoral had once adorned the figure of Princess Mereret, the daughter of King Senusret III and sister of his successor Amenemhat III. It bears a cartouche containing the coronation name of Amenemhat III as decoration. Represented as two falcon-headed sphinxes, the king smites his enemies. Above, the vulture-goddess, Nekhbet, is shown...
Realistic style portrait head of king Amenemhat III, wearing the white Hedjet crown of Upper Egypt, made out of greywacke. This head from a statue shows highly individualistic facial features, which goes against the usual idealizing tendencies. Amenemhat Ill’s features are clearly marked and give life to a highly individualistic portrait quite unlike the idealized...
The granite sphinx of Hatshepsut is carved in a fairly classical pose, in a similar manner to the Middle Kingdom sphinxes of Amenemhat III. The front legs extend forward and the tail curls around the right hind leg. The sphinx is a portrait of Hatshepsut with the elegant feminine features of all her statues: almond-shaped...
A pair of flat, fiber, open shoes. Curled, pointed toe and round heel. Brittle. Treadsole: Swayed. Reed forming main sole sewn together with nine rows of thinner fiber, possibly papyrus. Rows end where the toe starts to curl and go all the way to heel’s end. Crown sinnet/toe knot protrudes. Perimeter sewn with a plait...
Alabaster perfume vase upon ornamental stand, with cartouches of Tutankhamun, lotus and papyrus flowers forming a Sema Tawy (unification of the two lands) and stems as renpet (time or eternity) signs. This vase differs from others in the complicated knot that ties the various stems of the plants around its neck together. The lower part...
This type of gold armlet takes the form of a spiral and ends in the head of a snake, to be worn on the upper arm. Roman jewellery borrowed heavily from Hellenistic goldwork. This particular type was common in Hellenistic times, especially in Egypt where these particular armlets might have been made. Snakes were the...
The mummy of the royal architect Kha who was the overseer of works from Deir el-Medina in the mid-18th Dynasty. It was one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of ancient Egypt, one of few tombs of nobility to survive intact. After the discovery of the tomb of Kha by the Italian archaeologists, the Egyptian authorities...
Fragment of a painted paving from the southern palace at Amarna, the Maru-Aten (which was built for Meritaten, King Akhenaten’s eldest daughter). It is made of painted plaster, and depicts a marsh scene with wild ducks flying over tufts of reeds and papyrus which intermingle with the floating leaves of a flowering plant. Realism abounds...
The interior of the alabaster canopic chest of King Tutankhamun was divided into four compartments, each holding a miniature gold coffin containing the viscera of the king, wrapped in bandages. These mummiform coffins were decorated inside with texts and outside with a feather design inlaid in carnelian and colored glass and the titles of the...
