As a sphinx, Hatshepsut displays a lion’s mane and a king’s beard. Hatshepsut ruled as a man, not as a woman, and for this reason her royal protocols and titles are always written without the feminine qualification, which is the “T” letter in hieroglyphs. This is the case in the text inscribed on the base...
The discovery of the tomb of Akhethotep, overlord of the 5th dynasty, in 1941 was and will forever remain one of the most spectacular discoveries in the history of Egyptology. Hassabollah Taieb recorded the moment for posterity modestly, as he considered the wooden figures to be his own ancestors. Akhethotep’s titles included that of a...
Maatkare Mutemhat was the daughter of Pinedjem I, the powerful High Priest of Amun, who, in his reverence for the past, bestowed upon his children the names of Egypt’s greatest rulers. To his daughter, he gave the throne name of Queen Hatshepsut, linking her legacy to that of one of the most formidable women to...
This exquisite funerary shroud, woven and painted in 2nd century A.D. Roman Egypt, presents a compelling fusion of cultures: where Pharaonic faith endures beneath the veneer of imperial Rome. Now housed in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, the textile is a testament to how Egypt’s ancient religious identity was never entirely eclipsed...
Gleaming and delicately incised, this slender gold plaque once rested upon the embalmed body of king Psusennes I, positioned directly over the visceral incision, that necessary but vulnerable breach made by the embalmers to remove the internal organs during mummification. In both symbolism and execution, this exquisite object exemplifies the deeply spiritual and ritualistic concern...
The shrine of Hathor and the cow’s statue were retrieved from under heaps of debris south of the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari. The shrine is from the reign of Thutmose III. Its roof is painted blue with yellow stars to imitate the Vault of Heaven. The statue of Hathor as the divine...
The Great Hymn to Aten is one of the most famous texts from Akhenaten’s reign. It describes Aten as the sole creator, sustainer of life, and a universal omnipresent deity, making it one of the earliest religious texts that resemble later monotheistic traditions. The hymn, inscribed in Akhenaten’s tomb at Tel el-Amarna, praises Aten as...
The Narmer macehead is an ancient Egyptian decorative stone mace head. It was found in the “main deposit” in the temple area of the ancient Egyptian city of Nekhen (Hierakonpolis) by British Egyptologist James Quibell in 1898. The mace is a club-like weapon with a heavy top stone that is pierced for the insertion of...
The stele of Merneptah was originally erected by King Amenhotep III in his mortuary temple on the west bank of Thebes. King Merneptah, the thirteenth son and successor of King Ramesses II, reused the back face of this gray granite stele. The round top of this face, topped by the winged sun disk and flanked...
Portrait head of a princess of one of the daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti from a composite statue, it was discovered within the workshop of the royal sculptor Thutmose at Tell el-Amarna, or Akhetaten. In Amarna art the daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti express the tenets of the new religion. Gathered playfully near their parents,...
