Egypt Museum ancient Egypt art culture and history

Red Jasper or Porphyry head of Akhenaten

Red Jasper or Porphyry head of Akhenaten

A head of king Akhenaten made from Egyptian jasper or porphyry. This head of Akhenaten is similar to portraits of the king that we believe come from early in his reign. The less exaggerated features of the soon-to-be “Amarna Period”, this serene, slight smile of the young king looks ahead, as he wears the blue...

outer Coffin of Henuttawy

Outer Coffin of Henuttawy

The outer coffin lid of Henuttawy, intended to resemble a wrapped mummy, wears an elaborate pectoral topped by a cavetto cornice in the shape of a small shrine within which are two winged wadjet eyes, with suspended uraeus cobras holding ankhs. Below these, Horus falcons flank a central scarab that pushes a sun disk upward,...

Relief of Scribes at work

Relief of Scribes at work

A fragment of a wall relief showing scribes intent on writing, probably under dictation, holding their tablets in their left hand and their pens in their right. The relief was part of a more elaborate composition from the memphite tomb of Horemheb at Saqqara. This limestone relief with traces of painting from the Saqqara tomb...

How to Survive in Ancient Egypt

How to Survive in Ancient Egypt

“Focusing on Thebes in 1360 BCE, How to Survive in Ancient Egypt is the ultimate guide to living in ancient Egypt including all of the religious beliefs and sites to see. Imagine you were transported back in time to Ancient Egypt and you had to start a new life there. How would you fit in?...

Bust of a Priestess of Hathor

Bust of a Priestess of Hathor

This bust is just a fragment of a statue of a Priestess of Hathor from the New Kingdom in Egypt. The priestess served the Egyptian cow goddess Hathor who unlike many other gods and goddesses had both male and female servants. Egyptian priests were meant to serve the gods and with this responsibility many of...

Priest Sepa and his wife Nesa

Priest Sepa and his wife Nesa

Sepa was a priest who lived during the 3rd Dynasty of Ancient Egypt’s Old Kingdom (c. 2700-2620 B.C.) With titles such as, “Responsible for Royal Matters”, “Greatest of the ten of Upper Egypt”, “Priest of the god Kherty” and “Herdsman of the White Bull”, Sepa was clearly a man of status and importance within society,...

Statue of dwarf Khnumhotep

Dwarf Khnumhotep

Limestone statue of the dwarf Khnumhotep, “Overseer of Ka-priests”, and dancer at the funeral of the Sacred Bulls.Old Kingdom, 6th Dynasty, c. 2350–2170 B.C.Saqqara. Khnumhotep, the priest and overseer of the royal wardrobe, was an Egyptian dwarf who suffered from physical deformity. He is represented with his torso exaggeratedly large in proportion to his short...

Gold faced Egyptian mummy

Gold faced Egyptian mummy

This mummy of a woman has a gilded, golden face and a wig of human hair adorned upon her head. Unfortunately, not much is known about this woman, only her head remains. Discovered in Egypt, bequeathed by (Major) Robert Grenville ‘John’ Gayer-Anderson, the head of the unknown woman now resides at The Fitzwilliam Museum, in...

Birds of ancient egypt

The Birds of Ancient Egypt

“Animals of all kinds are amply illustrated in ancient Egypt, none more so than birds, in both secular and religious contexts and in hieroglyphic scripts. A great variety of bird species has for millennia made twice yearly migrations passing over Egypt, which is also an important overwintering area for many. These migrant birds, together with...

5000-Year-Old Pharaonic wine jars found intact at Abydos

5000-Year-Old Pharaonic wine jars found intact at Abydos

The Egyptian-German-Austrian archaeological mission excavating the tomb of Queen Merit-Neith of the 1st Dynasty in Umm El Qa’ab at Abydos in Sohag, succeeded in uncovering hundreds of sealed jars, containing remnants of wine, in addition to uncovering a group of funerary equipment. Mostafa Waziri, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the archaeological...