This black granite statue of Amenemhat III as a priest, of which only the torso remains, was discovered in 1862 by Auguste Mariette in the ancient capital of the Faiyum Oasis, known by the Greeks as Crocodilopolis. The king is dressed as a priest, evidenced by the leopard skin and paw over both shoulders. He...
A group of five stars depicted on the Gerzeh Palette or Hathor palette dating back to Naqada II Period. This unusual schist palette was part of a Predynastic funerary assemblage which also contained ordinary vessels. It has an oval shape that widens slightly towards the top and it is pierced so that it could be...
Tomb painting of Inherkhau worshiping the serpent god Sata, son of the earth and guardian of the underworld. Snakes were dominantly present in ancient Egyptian mythology. They played a double role, benevolent and malevolent. They could be evoked for curing, protecting and healing but at the very same time cursing and inflicting danger. Sata belonged...
The death mask of Shoshenq II was found on the king’s mummy but was seriously damaged. It is made from a thick sheet of gold with hollow spaces for the eyes and the eyebrows where glass paste was to be inserted. The gold mask was fixed to the mummy by five small perforated tenons, three...
This significant palette commemorates the victories of King Narmer, who came from the south of Egypt to invade the Delta in about 3200-3000 BC. The palette was found along with the Narmer Macehead, another artifact which shows the completion of the conquest of the Lower Kingdom. It represents the most important evidence that the first...
This bracelet is one of pair bracelets found around the wrist of king Shoshenq II with representations of the Wadjet eye above the hieroglyphic “Neb” sign symbolizing eternal protection for the king. The Egyptians often referred to the sun and the moon as the “eyes” of particular gods. The right eye of the god Re,...
This winged scarab pendant of cloisonné technique is inlaid with semiprecious stones and colored glass. The central element of the pendant is a scarab of Libyan desert glass, grasping on one side a lotus and on the other a papyrus flower, flanked by two uraei, or rearing cobras. A gold frame outlines the main composition...
Howard Carter found the fragments of Tutankhamun corselet in various places around the antechamber of the tomb. Some were contained in three small chests and a small gilded wooden shrine, while others lay on the ground in the antechamber and the corridor. Two pendants were joined to the collars: the front one portrays Amun-Re on...
This faience hippo statuette was found in Dra’ Abu el-Naga’ in western Thebes. The glossy blue glaze is the color of the Nile, where the animal lived, and the decoration shows various representations of fauna and flora that grew by the river. The flowers, papyrus plants, and perching birds are depicted in black, linear forms....
The granite sphinx of Amenemhat III was discovered at Tanis (today San al-Haggar). It shows Amenemhat III with a human face and a lion’s body, in other words, a perfect creature, as intelligent as a human being yet as strong as a lion. Seven sphinxes of Amenemhat III were found in Tanis in the eastern...
