Egypt Museum ancient Egypt art culture and history

Scribe Ramose from Deir el-Medina. Musée du Louvre. E 16346

Scribe Ramose from Deir el-Medina

Scribe Ramose from Deir el-Medina New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, c. 1279-1213 B.C. Musée du Louvre. E 16346 This painted limestone figure of the Scribe Ramose, shows the Scribe with a beautifully detailed thick wig. His shoulders are adorned with the cartouches of Ramesses II, Thutmose IV and Horemheb. Ramose (scribe in the Place of truth,...

Statuette of a woman carrying an offering. Musée du Louvre. E 10781

Statuette of a woman carrying an offering basket upon head

A painted wooden statuette of a woman carrying offerings. Middle Kingdom, 12th Dynasty, c. 1963-1862 B.C. The Ancient Egyptians believed in physical offerings for spiritual sustenance. Therefore, in funerary scenes depicted upon tomb walls, you will see numerous men and women carrying objects to be buried alongside the deceased. Not only were these items of...

Statue of God Nefertem

Statue of God Nefertem

This may have been a statue from a temple of Nefertem. Large silver statues are very rare in ancient Egypt. The god of perfume, Nefertem, was also a god of healing who was said to have eased the suffering of the aging sun god Re with a bouquet of sacred lotus. Nefertem therefore not only...

Mummy board painting of two brothers from Faiyum. Egyptian, Roman Period c. 30 B.C. - 2nd Century A.D.

Mummy board painting of two brothers from Faiyum, c. 30 B.C. – 2nd Century A.D.

These mummy board painting of two brothers, commonly known as ‘Faiyum Portraits’ due to being found in the town of Faiyum, were realistic portraits placed over the mummified dead. It is thought that perhaps they show the deceased at their best, possibly even portraits hung in houses previously to death. However, that is not certified,...

Seated limestone statue of Senwosret I, from el-Lisht. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. CG417

Senwosret I, c. 1961-1917 B.C.

Kheperkare Senwosret I was the son of Amenemhat I, who became Co-Regent alongside his father, sometime after his father’s 20th Regnal Year.Senwosret, following in the footsteps of his father, led brutal campaigns south into Nubia, dominating the region all the way down to the Second Cataract of the Nile, documented on the Buhen Stela. With...

Statue of Viceroy of Kush, Paser, son of Minmose

Statue of Viceroy of Kush, Paser, son of Minmose

Sandstone statue of the Viceroy of Kush, Paser, son of Minmose, holding a ram-headed altar, with an invocation inscribed to Amun-Ra, and prayers to Min & Isis on the back. Also, additional prayers to “Horus, lord of Nubia, and Amun-Ra on behalf of the Viceroy of Kush, Paser” feature. A Viceroy is “the governor of...

Is this the head of Meryrahashetef?

Statue of Meryrahashetef, c. 2345-2181 B.C.

Sir Flinders Petrie discovered this human head of a man, resting upon a head rest in Sidmant el-Gebel within the Tomb of Meryrahashetef (?). Petrie identified the mummy as the Old Kingdom, “Keeper of the Palace Garden” and “Lector Priest”, Meryrahashetef of the 6th Dynasty. A wooden statue of Meryrahashetef, which has been carved from...

Forensic reconstruction of Nebiri

Forensic reconstruction of the head of the dignitary Nebiri, by forensic artist Philippe Froesch. Nebiri was an Official who worked under King Thutmose III of the 18th Dynasty. Despite his body being pretty much destroyed, most likely due to tomb robberies in antiquity, the immaculate way in which he was mummified, showcases his status in society,...

Relief of Hetepheres II and daughter Meresankh III. Old Kingdom, 4th Dynasty, c. 2548-2522 B.C.

Hetepheres II and daughter Meresankh III

Double Mastaba of Meresankh III, G7530-40 (originally built for Hetepheres II), Giza Necropolis. Hetepheres II is the daughter of King Khufu, her daughter Meresankh III is granddaughter to Khufu and the wife of King Khafre. “Her mother, beholder of Horus and Seth, the great favourite, the controller of the butchers of the house of the...

Relief of Hetepheres II and daughter Meresankh III

A relief of the deceased Queen Meresankh III and her mother Hetepheres II sailing in the marshes to gather papyrus reeds for the ritual of ‘shaking the papyrus’ to induce the goddess Hathor to them: “Her mother, daughter of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khufu, the great favourite, Hetep-heres. Her beloved daughter, the...