Egypt Museum ancient Egypt art culture and history

Female Mourners from the Papyrus of Ani

Ani, held numerous titles including, “True Scribe of the King; His Beloved Scribe”, as well as “Overseer of the Double Granary of the Lord of Tawer”. Ani’s famous papyrus is one of the best preserved documents from Ancient Egypt, and is known as the Book of the Dead. A Book of the Dead is a...

The three men at the front kneel and raise their hands in praise for Tutankhamun

Tribute from the South, Lower Nubia (Wawat), Upper Nubia (Kush)

A relief of a tribute from the South from the tomb of Huy, the Viceroy of Kush, “King’s Son of Kush, Overseer of the Southern Countries”. A Viceroy is “the governor of a country or province who rules as the representative of a king or sovereign”. He rules over the foreign territories, for the sake...

Colossal of Ramesses II at Mit Rahina Museum, Memphis.

Colossal of Ramesses II, at Memphis

Limestone colossus of king Ramesses II, at Memphis, the colossal of Ramesses II, was discovered in 1820 by Giovanni Battista Caviglia, an Italian traveller. The statue is so large, an enclosure had to be built around it at the open air Mit Rahina Museum. Almost impossible to move, and after multiple attempts to relocate the...

Detail of the goddess Hathor from the Tomb of Seti I (KV17)

Goddess Hathor from the Tomb of Seti I (KV17)

Detail of the face of Goddess Hathor, with cobra earring, who, in this full relief, is seen welcoming Seti I to the afterlife with a protective menat necklace. The relief was taken from Seti I’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings, by Champollion. However, this may not have been an act of “treasure hunting”,...

Mummy of Cleopatra. British Museum. EA6707

Mummy of Cleopatra

This is the mummy of a 17-year-old young woman called Cleopatra, who lived during the Roman Period of Ancient Egypt, c. 100-120. She is cited as the daughter of Candace, a member of the Cornelius Pollius family, the Archon of Thebes, under the rule of Emperor Trajan. The inscriptions state that Cleopatra died at age...

Petamun and Penhorpabik, coffin and coffin lid for the two brothers

Petamun and Penhorpabik, coffin lid for the two brothers

Petamun and Penhorpabik, who lived and died around, c. 175-200 A.D., were young boys who shared the same father, a man named Amenope, but different mothers who are currently unknown. We know they were half brothers’ due to a papyrus scroll accompanying the pair at their burial, which may have been dedicated to the boys...

Ushabti of Djehuty-mose, "Overseer of the Cattle in the Temple of Amun"

Ushabti of Djehuty-mose, “Overseer of the Cattle in the Temple of Amun”

Ushabti of Djehuty-mose, “Overseer of the Cattle in the Temple of Amun”, holding a Djed Pillar & Knot of Isis, inscribed with the “Khamuas formula”. The Khamuas formula takes its name from the ushabtis of prince Khamuas or Khaemwaset, a son of Ramesses II on whose ushabtis this magical spell appears for the first time....

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...