Egypt Museum ancient Egypt art culture and history

Statuette of Taweret dedicated by the draughtsman Parahotep

Statuette of Taweret dedicated by Parahotep

The goddess Taweret is depicted with pendulous breasts and swollen belly, which recalls the image of a pregnant woman. The goddess usually wears a female wig that can be topped with a feathered headdress, a modius (a cylinder-shaped headdress with a flat end), or with horns and a sun disc. Another recurring element is the...

Statuette of a dignitary presenting a naos topped by a ram’s head

Statuette of a dignitary presenting a naos

The dignitary is shown in this statuette offering an altar with the head of a ram, the sacred animal of Amun-Re, the main god of Thebes and the New Kingdom. Steatite is a soft, easy to carve stone, which hardens and turns black when baked in a closed kiln. The man wears the so called...

Woman Statuette

Woman Statuette

This wooden statuette of a woman depicting her wears a wig with a wreath of leaves and a lotus flower on her forehead. In her left hand she holds a sistrum (a rattle used in the cult of female deities), whose handle only is preserved. The right arm, which was carved separately and attached with...

Triad of King Menkaure

Triads of Menkaure

These three schist triads of Menkaure were found by the Egyptologist George Reisner in the valley temple of Menkaure near his pyramid in Giza. The triads was discovered in 1908 in the valley temple of Menkaure in its own hierarchical group, and 5 were found and it is believed that they were eight as there...

Statue of Satmeret, Wife of Neferherenptah

Statue of Satmeret, Wife of Neferherenptah

Painted limestone standing statue of Satmeret, Wife of Neferherenptah, called Fifi. He was a purification priest and prophet of the mortuary cults of the kings Khafre and Menkaure. Neferherenptah was thus of considerable influence in Giza, where he was buried in his own Mastaba. His tomb contained statues, rather simple in character of himself, of...

Khopesh sword with cartouche of Ramesses II

A bronze Khopesh sword inscribed with the cartouches of King Ramesses II. The Khopesh is an Egyptian sickle-sword that evolved from battle axes. The blunted edge of the weapon’s tip also served as an effective bludgeon, as well as a hook. This Khopesh sword is made of bronze with a typical length of 57.5 cm....

Relief of the Goddess Seshat

In this relief, the goddess Seshat, depicted in a leopard skin, goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and is credited with inventing writing. She also became identified as the goddess of accounting, architecture, astronomy, astrology, building, mathematics, and surveying. In ancient Egypt, the levels of literacy were rather low, less than 1%. Although there were some areas,...

Map of Ancient Egypt – Sites and Settlements

Map of Ancient Egypt

This map of ancient Egypt details the key settlements of the Ancient Egyptian civilization. Also shown are many of the important Ancient Egyptian sites and temples that remain today. The various capitals of the period are highlighted on the map in addition to the locations of the natural resources and minerals exploited by the Ancient...

Ancient Egyptian Beaded Dress

Ancient Egyptian faience beaded fishnet dress. It is the oldest surviving example of a dress in this style. And yes, it would have put the wearer’s body on display in a way that is barely acceptable at a burlesque by today’s standards. The dress has been reassembled from approximately seven thousand beads (no record mentioned how...

Bastet, The Gayer-Anderson Cat

Bastet, Gayer-Anderson Cat

The Gayer-Anderson Cat, housed at the British Museum, is a stunning representation of Bastet in her domestic cat form, created during Egypt’s Late Period, (c. 664–332 B.C.). This bronze statue was acquired in the early 20th century by Major Robert Gayer-Anderson, a British collector and Egyptologist, who purchased it in Cairo. Though its precise archaeological...