Beginnings… When Thutmose II, the reigning pharaoh of Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, died around 1479 B.C., he left behind a young son, Thutmose III, born of a secondary wife named Iset. Though Thutmose III was the legitimate heir, he was still a child, and the kingdom needed a strong regent to govern in his stead. Enter...
This nude sensual female figure has the cartouches of Necho II on her upper arms. A small tightly fitted wig caps her head, and two holes with silver wires are located in the wig over her forehead; their placement suits a uraeus. She wears a finely wrought broad collar plus earrings (only one of which...
The statue depicts Kaaper, the chief lector priest, in charge of reciting prayers for the deceased in temples and funerary chapels. Sheikh el-Balad, Arabic title for the chief of the village, was the name given to this remarkable wooden statue discovered by the workmen of Auguste Mariette, the French archaeologist, because it resembled their own...
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...
A priest wearing the mask of Anubis completes the mummification of Amennakht. On both sides of the bed, where the mummy lie, is depicted the goddesses Isis and Nephthys. The damage on the wall, shows where the coffin was placed. Detail of a wall painting depicts Anubis before embalmed Amennakht, from Tomb of the Servant...
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...
