“The five centuries that followed the unification of Egypt around 3100 BC–the first three dynasties–were crucial in the evolution of the Egyptian state. During this time all the key elements of the civilization that would endure for three millennia were put in place, centered on the semidivine king himself. The First Pharaohs: Their Lives and...
This plaque depicts a woman giving birth on the birthing-chair, being assisted by two women with Hathor heads and crowns; the Hathor crown consists of two horns with the sun disk between them and tall plumes. The figures of the women are rendered in frontal view, and are nearly three-dimensional. They are carved in sunken-relief,...
This wooden plumb level from the tomb of Sennedjem consists of two short pieces projecting at right angles from a longer slab. A limestone bob is strung from the top of the long slab and the upper short projecting wooden piece. The string would touch the lower projecting piece when the long slab was held...
This part of a wall painting of geese was found in the Mastaba of Nefermaat and his wife, Itet, at Meidum where it decorated the lower part of one of the walls in the passage leading to Itet’s chapel. The colors used here derived from natural materials: white from limestone, red from hematite and green...
The Egyptian word for “year” was rnpt and was closely related to the idea of annual growth and the renewal of the cycle of vegetation; the hieroglyph would represent a branch of palm, leafless and carved for measurement purposes. The beginning of the year for the ancient Egyptians was not on January 1st, but in...
