Artifacts

Statue of King Thutmose III

Statue of Thutmose III

This greywacke statue of Thutmose III was found in the Karnak Cachette in 1904. With the legs below the knees missing, the statue measures at 90cm tall. The Karnak Cachette was discovered by Gaston Maspero in 1903 and excavated by Georges Legrain between 1903 and 1907. It was a treasure trove of finds, with over...

Statuette of Thoth as Ibis bird. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. INV 10073

Statuette of Thoth as an Ibis bird

A statuette of the god Thoth depicted as an ibis. The body of this statuette is made of wood, which was covered with fine stucco. The head with the atef crown, the neck, the tail feathers and the legs are made of silver. The eyes are in stucco with black glass. Thoth, as the embodiment...

Pectoral of Tutankhamun with Winged Scarab

Pectoral of Tutankhamun with Winged Scarab

In this exquisite pectoral, a winged large scarab beetle riding on a sacred barque flanked by the goddesses Isis and Nephthys with their arms outstretched as a sign of protection. The scarab serves a double function: as a heart scarab and as the ba of the sun god lighting the way to the underworld. The pectoral...

The Senet Game of Imenmes

The Senet Game of Imenmes

The Senet Game board of Imenmes who was an ancient Egyptian official, who was ‘Overseer of the Cattle of Amun’.  From the New Kingdom onward, the track for the game of Senet was usually engraved on the surface of a wooden box featuring a drawer for the playing pieces, while in previous periods the game...

Model of a Sailing Boat

Model of a Sailing Boat

A middle kingdom wooden model of a sailing boat with the pilot in the bow and the owner resting under a canopy. Boats were the commonest type of funerary models placed in tombs during the Middle Kingdom. They provided the dead person with the magical means of traveling along the waterways of the Underworld. All...

Pectoral of King Amenemhat III

Pectoral of Amenemhat III

A 12th dynasty Egyptian Middle Kingdom pectoral belonging to princess Mereret, the daughter of king Senusret III and sister of king Amenemhat III. The pectoral shows the cartouche or royal name of king Amenemhat III and depicts this king triumphantly defeating his enemies. “The king himself appears on either side in a stance familiar to...

Diadem of Princess Khenmet

Diadem of Princess Khenmet

Diadem of Princess Khenmet, c. 1932–1898 B.C. Princess Khenmet is best known from her undisturbed tomb, which contained an exquisite collection of personal adornments. This masterpiece was discovered in the tomb she shared with her sister, Princess Ita, at Dahshur. While her parentage is uncertain, the proximity of her burial to the pyramid of Amenemhat...

Ceremonial dagger of King Ahmose I

Ceremonial Dagger of Ahmose I

Along with its sheath, this ceremonial dagger was a royal gift from king Ahmose to his mother Ahhotep, in whose burial it was discovered. The blade decorated with a typically Aegean technique but Egyptian iconography, bears the titulary of the king on one side and a hunting scene on the other side. Being a gift...

Alabaster Perfume Vase of King Tutankhamun

Alabaster Perfume Vase of Tutankhamun

This perfume vase of King Tutankhamun is made of four pieces of alabaster cemented together. The idea conveyed by its symbolism is that the Nile will provide the king and queen, whose names are inscribed on the vase, with its contents. The vulture with the so-called Atef crown on its head represents either goddess Mut...

Relief fragment showing a carpenter squatting on scaffolding and working on a wooden object with his adze.

Relief of a carpenter at work on a scaffolding

Fragment showing a carpenter with a stubbled beard squatting on scaffolding and working on a wooden object with his adze. Contrary to custom he is shown disheveled and unshaven. The beard was a sign of neglect and was reserved for days of mourning. At the same time, a fake, well-tended beard was a sign of...