Bracelet of General Djehuty

This golden bracelet belonged to the funerary treasures of general Djehuty and inscribed with the prenomen cartouche of king Thutmose III, together with four more in the RMO collection. A gold bracelet of the kind that Egyptian kings presented to their most deserving generals and high officials.

General Djehuty was famous in ancient Egyptian literature for capturing the city of Joppa on Thutmose III’s behalf by resorting to subterfuge. Djehuty is known from two sources. His undisturbed burial was found in 1824 at Saqqara and he is the main personality in the Egyptian story of “The Taking of Joppa” (today Jaffa) on Thutmose III’s behalf by resorting to subterfuge.

Djehuty was not a fictional person. In the winter of 1824, Bernardino Drovetti found his completely undisturbed tomb at Saqqara.

In these early days, Egyptian archaeology was in its infancy and only a few notes of the excavations were ever made.

Today, there are only brief descriptions of the discovery preserved in archaeological records. The objects were sold to different museum collections all around the world and, in most cases, can only be ascribed with certainty to Djehuty’s tomb when they bear his name.

The objects found in the general’s tomb include a solid golden and a silver bowl, both today in the Louvre, four canopic jars now in Florence, the heart scarab, this gold bracelet in the Rijksmuseum of Leiden and Djehuty’s dagger in Darmstadt.

Nothing is known about Djehuty’s coffin and mummy, although they were briefly mentioned by Drovetti.

New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, reign of Thutmose III, ca. 1479-1425 BC. Found in General Djehuty’s intact tomb at Saqqara. Now in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden.