Egypt Museum ancient Egypt art culture and history
This sphinx was unearthed in 1912 by Flinders Petrie near the remains of Memphis. It is one of the largest monuments ever made from Egyptian alabaster. Sphinxes are often guards or protectors of ancient Egyptian sacred places. Some represent kings (pharaohs), with their human faces attached to the body of a lion – an animal...
This mummy mask of Kay-neferwy was excavated by Mohammed Zakaria Goneim, Keeper of the Antiquities of Saqqara, at Saqqara, during his first season (1951-1952). The mask of Kay-neferwy has an extraordinary presence with its combination of glass inlaid eyes, gilt face with shimmering, almost lifelike translucence, and realistic wig. The craftsman who fashioned the wig...
Statuette of Tutankhamun wearing the white crown and holding staff and flail, carried upon the back of a black leopard. The king is shown standing with his left leg forward on a rectangular pedestal fixed to the back of the leopard. He holds a long staff in one hand and the flail in the other....
This statue of Senusret III sculpted of black granite was found in the forecourt of the temple of Mentuhotep II at Deir el-Bahari. It was one of the six statues that Senusret III dedicated to the temple of his ancestor Mentuhotep. Senusret restored and endowed this temple, which was the site of an important local...
This standing statue portrays the nobleman Mentuemhat, who played an important role in the clergy of Amun-Re at Karnak and in the administration of Thebes. It shows him as a middle-aged man in the usual striding pose. Although the body was rendered in the traditional artistic style, well built and proportioned, his wrinkled facial features...
This seated figure’s rank of vizier is confirmed by the cord around his neck from which his official badge or seal would have been suspended. The seal would have been tucked into his kilt for safekeeping. Carved from anorthosite gneiss (also known as Khafre diorite, the material associated with the Old Kingdom king Khafre), the...
In this unique marble statue, King Thutmose III is shown kneeling in a pose of worship, offering two Nu vases for libation to Amun-Re. He wears the royal nemes headdress, surmounted by the uraeus, or rearing cobra. His body is well modeled with defined muscles. The king is kneeling on the nine bows, which represent...
An ostracon showing a topless dancer in an acrobatic position with elaborate hairstyle and hoop earrings in gymnastic backbend. This magnificently drawn sketch of a lady doing a back bend defies many of the conventions of Egyptian art. Performances were held at festivals, banquets, in the temple, and at funerals, but could take place anywhere....
This royal face of Thutmose III remained from a head of a statue. The style suggests that the sculpture was done during the first half of the 18th Dynasty, most probably for Thutmose III. Although only parts of this face carved in obsidian remain, it is clear that the features were very delicate. The eyes...
A black glass obsidian amulet in the form of two fingers of the right hand. The finger joints are indicated as well as the cuticles. Traces of yellowish dirt at separation of fingers. A detailed likeness of the index and second fingers of the right hand was one of the many amulets placed on the...