Artifacts

Girdle of Princess Sithathor

Girdle of Princess Sithathor

The girdle of the Princess Sithathor is made of eight gold, half-open cowry shells. The ones at each end have flat reverses, and were joined by means of grooves to serve as a clasp, fastening the girdle when they slid one into the other. The shells are separated from each other by rhomboidal polychrome beads...

Canopic chest of King Tutankhamun

Canopic Chest of Tutankhamun

This alabaster canopic chest of Tutankhamun is considered to be one of the finest masterpieces of King Tut’s collection. The interior of the chest is divided into four compartments, each with a cylindrical hollow covered by a lid elegantly carved in the form of the king’s head. At the four corners of the chest, carved...

Statuette of King Seti I. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. CG 751

Statuette of Seti I

This small statuette depicts King Seti I, father of Ramesses II as a Standard Bearer. The statuette is a portrait of the king in which grace and grandeur are mixed. The sensitive face is framed by the short, round, thick wig decorated at the front with the uraeus, or royal cobra. The narrow slits of...

Ushabti of Ramesses IV

Painted wood ushabti ‘funerary figurine’ of the king Ramesses IV. Funerary figurines, known as “ Ushabtis” by the Egyptians (which means “those who answer”) are viewed as typical ancient Egypt objects. They represent the deceased in the form of a mummy in osirifide position. The figure’s name, headdress, and any hand-held accessories are the only way...

Amulet of the God Osiris

A solid gold amulet of Osiris in his typical guise, wearing the atef crown and a divine beard, and holding the crook and flail in his hands held against the chest. A ring is attached to the back, allowing this figure to be worn as an amulet.  The material gold is precious and easily recycled,...

Statuette of Meretseger

Although this snake goddess is not named in an inscription, her human face and the two finger-shaped feathers on her crown identify her as Meretseger (She Who Loves Silence), a patroness of fertility and the harvest. Like this statue, most images of Meretseger are modest in quality and were placed in small chapels or shrines...

Head of a Statue of the God Sobek Shedeti

Head of a Statue of the God Sobek

Fragment of a limestone statue (snout restored) of the chief god of Faiyum, the crocodile-headed Sobek. The statue comes from the mortuary temple of Amenemhat III, attached to his pyramid in Hawara. Although the temple was begun by Amenemhat III, it was incomplete at the time of his death. It was finished by his daughter,...

Head of a Cat with Amber Eyes

Bronze head of a cat represents goddess Bastet or Bast with inlaid amber eyes and a golden scarab on its forehead, it was part of a cat-shaped sarcophagus for a cat mummy, as a sacrifice to the goddess Bastet. The little feline lived in the houses, that’s why it was associated to the goddess Bastet,...

The Seated Scribe

The Seated Scribe

The Louvre’s scribe, known as the “Seated Scribe”, is indeed sitting cross-legged, his right leg crossed in front of his left. The white kilt, stretched over his knees, serves as a support. He is holding a partially rolled papyrus scroll in his left hand. His right hand must have held a brush, now missing.  The...

Earrings of Seti II

This earrings of King Seti II was found in 1908 with other artifacts belonging to the king and to Queen Tausert in a hiding place in the Valley of the Kings. It is composed of a flat trapezoidal centerpiece from which hang seven pendants in the form of cornflowers. At the end of the upper...