This headrest of Tutankhamun is similar in shape to a folding stool. Headrests were used in ancient Egypt and are still used in some African regions to protect the head of the sleeper and ease the circulation of air around the head in the hot summer nights. Although it may seem uncomfortable, headrests are still...
This amulet depicts two finger that are about life-size. Two finger amulets were used exclusively for the dead and were often found placed on the embalming incision, which was made during the mummification process. These amulets were meant magically to heal the wound. The first examples of this amulet type date to 26th Dynasty, ca....
This elegant, tiny amulet of beaten gold in the shape of a human-headed bird represents the Ba. It symbolizes the immortal soul, which is invoked to come back after death and “to attach itself to its corpse in the god’s domain,” according to the Book of the Dead, Spell number 89. It was charged with...
“Written some 3,500 years ago, the Papyrus of Ani is the most complete, ornate, and best preserved example of Ancient Egyptian philosophical and religious thought. Presented here for the first time in its original form, with the hieroglyphic images matched to what has been acknowledged as the finest English translation of the test. The Egyptian...
The linen gloves of king Tutankhamun is the same as a modern gloves. A glove would be in the shape of the hand and have five fingers like this one, or two fingers like another one that was found belonging to the same king in his tomb. The tiny gloves were among the clues that...
This marvelous model sickle of King Tutankhamun is made of gilded wood and decorated with the cartouches of the king, bearing his birth and throne names. The serrated blades are made of colored glass. The sickle was probably used for ceremonies in which the king himself took part during Peret, the annual harvest feast. The...
Under a sacred sycamore, the Great Cat of Heliopolis, one of the forms taken by Re called Miw-aa or the great cat, slays the evil serpent Apep (or Apophis), god of the underworld and symbol of the forces of chaos. Section of vignette of chapter 17 of the book of the dead. Apep is sometimes...
It is composed of the globe of the sun, inside which are carved the sun god in two of his guises: his dawn form Khepri, the scarab beetle, and his night form, the ram-headed Re. The scene from the tomb of Seti II is shown the central image of the title illustration associated with the...
Simple in form, muted in color, the art in the Tomb of Thutmose III (KV34) depicts the defeat of the serpent of chaos, Apep, a key episode of the Book of the Dead. The stone sarcophagus in which Thutmose’s body was placed is still in place in the burial chamber, albeit damaged by tomb robbers...
This pectoral was found in the chapel of Anubis within the Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62); it shows the goddess Nut in human form with her wings and arms outstretched, protecting the cartouches of Tutankhamun. Below her wings can be seen eight rows of hieroglyphs, again related to protection by the gods. The pectoral is surmounted...
