Egypt Museum ancient Egypt art culture and history

Gold and enamel earring with Hathor and rosette Meroë, Nubia (Kushite region), c. 90 B.C. –50 A.D. Boston Museum of Fine Arts. 23.341

Golden Hathor earring found in Meroë

This golden earring depicting the Ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor was discovered in the location of the ancient city of Meroë, capital of the Kingdom of Kush for several centuries from around 590 B.C., until its collapse in the 4th century A.D. The golden Hathor earring would have been a representation of the goddess and may...

Woman with child on lap

Woman with child on lap

This small limestone figurine of a woman holding a male child on her lap is only 4cm in height and dates from around 1550–1450 B.C, making it a product of the 18th Dynasty and New Kingdom era of Ancient Egypt. This little figure is a rather unique piece, as usually the bond between a child...

Pottery fragments, once in the form of a woman holding a basket

Pottery fragments

Pottery fragments, once in the form of a woman holding a basket. Pottery from ancient Egypt are valuable archaeological artifacts that provide insights into the daily life, culture, and craftsmanship of the ancient Egyptians. These fragments can come from various types of pottery vessels, such as bowls, jars, and amphorae, and they can be decorated...

Head of king Senusret III with nemes headdress

Head of king Senusret III with nemes headdress

Fragment of a granite head from a statue of king Senusret III with royal nemes headdress and cobra uraeus. The face of Senusret III is one of the most individual and recognizable in all of Egyptian art. The deep-set, heavy-lidded eyes, the thin lips, and the series of diagonal furrows marking the rather hollow cheeks...

Predynastic figure of a woman

Predynastic figure of a woman

This figure of a woman in a shawl is dated between 3100 -2700 B.C. She stands 13.5cm high, and is a finely carved from a piece of Hippopotamus ivory. Hippopotamus ivory is harder than elephant ivory and is much more difficult to carve. The woman depicted, with hair parted in the middle, stares forth with...

Overseer of Builders, Amenhotep

Funerary Mask of the Overseer of Builders, Amenhotep. Amenhotep is believed to have lived and worked sometime between 1427–1390 B.C. of the 18th Dynasty. He is titled with the title of Over Seer of Builders, seemingly working under the king Amenhotep II and/or Thutmose IV.Thutmose being the son and heir of Amenhotep II. The death...

Cartouche Shaped Box of Tutankhamun

Cartouche Shaped Box of Tutankhamun

The cartouche shaped box carries the name of Tutankhamun, executed in the most handsome hieroglyphs, made up of ebony and stained ivory. Less grand, but still elegantly formed, hieroglyphs are used for the many texts which are incised and filled with blue paint on the upper rim of the lid, surrounding the cartouche, and in...

King Unas being suckled by a goddess

King Unas being suckled by a goddess

Fragment of a relief depicts king Unas being suckled by unidentified goddess. These reliefs are often found in temple complexes and tombs, and they serve as visual representations of the divine nature and legitimacy of the king. The concept of a king being suckled by a goddess is often seen as a metaphorical representation of...

Keftiu Minoan Cretan men visit Egypt. Tomb chapel of the vizier Rekhmire (TT100). Photograph by manna4u

Keftiu Minoan Cretan men visit Egypt

Keftiu (Minoan, Cretan, later Mycenaean) men depicted bringing tribute within the tomb chapel of the vizier Rekhmire (TT100). New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, reign of Thutmose III – Amenhotep II, c. 1479-1400 B.C. Valley of the Nobles, Theban Necropolis

Statue of Horus wearing Roman military costume

Statue of Horus wearing Roman military costume

This limestone seated statue of Horus, now housed in the British Museum (EA51100), stands as a testament to the intricate fusion of Egyptian and Roman artistic and religious traditions. Carved in the form of the falcon-headed deity but clad in Roman military attire, this sculpture embodies the cultural synthesis that defined Roman Egypt. The figure,...