The so-called “heart scarabs” had to protect the heart of the deceased. According to ancient Egyptians, the heart contained the intellect and emotions. For this reason, it should have been preserved in the Afterlife as well. Heart scarabs were very popular amulets. Positioned on the chest of the mummy, they usually take the shape of...
This finely executed representation of Thutmose III as a sphinx is made of extremely hard stone. The transition between the head of the king and the powerful feline body has been masked by the nemes headdress and the stylized lion’s mane which forms a bib-like panel on the chest. A short column of inscription running...
The life, dramatic reign, and enduring legacy of the pharaoh Ramesses the Great, with lessons for the present, from internationally acclaimed Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson “The author succeeds in bringing this distant age to life through telling detail and insightful analysis. . . . Whenever he can, the author takes advantage of opportunities to peer beneath...
This fish pendant represents a Synodontis Batensoda, more commonly known as the Nile catfish, a species of fish named for its black belly. Often worn at the end of a plait of hair, amulets like this one were used by children and young women to protect against drowning. This fine amulet is made of gold...
In this magnificent example, the face belongs to Senusret III of 12th Dynasty whose features are very distinctive. With the body of a lion and the head of a human, the sphinx symbolically combined the power of the lion with the image of the reigning king. He wears a pleated linen headcloth, called a nemes...
King Seqenenre Tao II’s mummy was originally buried at Dra’ Abu el-Naga’, and later reburied at Deir el-Bahari in his original coffin. It was discovered in the Deir el-Bahari cache (“DB320”), revealed in 1881. The body of this king, who died in his forties, was poorly preserved. However, the brain is still in the cranial...
This obsidian head, a masterpiece of Egyptian craftsmanship, was part of a full-length statue that probably portrayed king Senwosret III in his mature years. The king is wearing a pleated head-dress (nemes), with the sacred serpent (uraeus), the symbol of royal power. In this piece the artist conveys the impression of a firm but very...
A wall painting of a Nubian dancing girl appears in the procession of tribute for king Thutmose IV (Tomb of Horemheb, TT78). This scene is depicted within the Tomb of Horemheb, not the later king with the same name, but an Official of King Thutmose IV. Horemheb held many titles, including; “Great Confidant of the...
This statue of kneeling captive can be dated to the reign of Pepi II for stylistic reasons. Beginning at least in the mid 5th Dynasty, large sculptures of bound foreign captives appeared in the pharaoh’s pyramid complex. Pepi I and Pepi II had great numbers of them. Statues of prisoners were presumably placed in areas...
“An illustrated cultural guide to the archaeological site of Amarna, the best-preserved pharaonic city in Egypt. Around three thousand years ago, the pharaoh Akhenaten turned his back on Amun, and most of the great gods of Egypt. Abandoning Thebes, he quickly built a grand new city in Middle Egypt, Akhetaten―Horizon of the Aten―devoted exclusively to...
