This flared bowl with crocodiles and a flattened rim is typical of the pottery production of the early Predynastic Period. Generally characterized by the red coloring of the surfaces, decoration consists of geometric motifs or stylized plants or animals rendered by means of rapid brushstrokes in white paint. On the outside of this particular vessel,...
On this finely carved slab, five elegant women attend to a fragrant art: the pressing of lotus blossoms. Three clasp the long-stemmed flowers in hand, while two twist bulging sacks filled with petals, coaxing forth the nectar which drips into the vessel below. At first glance it is an image of industry, yet beneath lies...
“By curious coincidence, the breakthrough that had allowed ancient Egyptian writing to be first deciphered, and had thus opened up the study of pharaonic civilization through its numerous inscriptions, had occurred exactly a century before. In 1822, the French scholar Jean-François Champollion published his famous Lettre à M. Dacier, in which he correctly described the...
This clay head found in one of the most recent levels of the settlement at Merimde Beni Salama, a village in the Western Delta is enigmatic. This is one of the earliest known representations of a human head in Egypt. The perfectly oval face has features in the form of depressions of various shapes and...
The mummy mask of Tjuyu or Thuya is made of cartonnage covered with a thin layer of gold foil. When found it was completely covered with the remains of its linen shroud removed by the restorer. A few fragments of the shroud, now blackened with age, still adhere to the wig and part of the...
Egyptian Hieroglyphs – Tomb of Ramesses IX, Valley of the Kings
When king Tutankhamun grasped this walking stick, the enemies were turned upside down so that they could not harm the king. At the other end of the stick, a papyrus bears the king’s cartouche. Most of the ancient Egyptian kings and nobles were depicted holding a cane or a staff as it was a sign...
These golden twin bracelets belong to King Shoshenq II were found, with another identical five bracelets, around the wrists of the king. The two ornaments here are decorated with the wadjet eye, above the hieroglyphic “Neb” sign symbolizing eternal protection for the king. The decorations of the bracelets are identical except for the eyes. The...
Painted limestone statue of Meryre, and his wife Iniuia. He is wearing two rows of gold beads presented by the King. Meryneith started his career under king Akhenaten as ‘Steward of the Temple of Aten’ and ‘Scribe of the Temple of Aten’ in Akhetaten and in Memphis. The latter title might imply that he worked...
In some interesting facts about ancient Egypt, the history of ancient Egypt was indebted to the Nile River and its dependable seasonable flooding. The river’s predictability and the fertile soils it provided allowed the Egyptians to build an empire on the basis of great agricultural wealth. Egyptians are credited as being one of the first...
