“Today the history of ancient Egypt is known around the world, recognizable in precious museum collections and countless retellings from popular culture. Yet for hundreds of years, from the late Roman Empire to the 19th century, the wonders of this ancient civilization were frozen in time, locked in artifacts that could not be understood due...
Akhenaten and Nefertiti became gods on earth by transforming Egyptian solar worship, innovating in art and urban design, and merging religion and politics in ways never attempted before. November 2022 marks the centennial of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun and although “King Tut” is a household name, his nine-year rule pales in comparison...
This stele comes from the tomb (most probably in Thebes; its current location is unknown) of this well-known Vizier Ptahmose from the reign of Amenhotep III. The quality of the carving shows the level of perfection achieved by certain specialist workshops in Upper Egypt during this period. In the middle section is Ptahmose, sitting next...
This bronze statue may have been offered in the temple of Thoth at Hermopolis or one of the numerous sites sacred to this god. The cult of Thoth, god of learning, wisdom, medicine, and writing was popular in pharaonic Egypt. The wooden base is original. Bronze votives in the form of figurines of gods, men,...
Gold and carnelian necklace composed of 29 hollow gold flies alternating with spherical carnelian beads and tubular gold foil beads. Fly ornament necklaces, occasionally presented to courageous soldiers, may have been worn as talismans to ward off insects. Small fly amulets have been found in Egypt made from gold, silver, bone, lapis lazuli, faience, carnelian,...
This bronze mirror portrays Isis as a figure of fertility and maternity. She holds her son, Horus, who appears as a miniature adult. As the mother of Horus, the protector of the king, Isis was essentially the queen of the gods, and thus the universal mother. The form above her head looks much like the...
Thuya or Tjuyu was an Egyptian noblewoman and the mother of queen Tiye, and the wife of Yuya. She is the grandmother of Akhenaten, and great grandmother of Tutankhamun. The statuette of Thuya is carved from two species of wood that the Egyptians imported from the south – shea wood for the base, and African...
Typical 18th Dynasty side chair of an unidentified hardwood, having legs imitating the fore and hind legs of a lion. It has a high sloping back hollowed to fit the occupant’s back. Ornamentation consists of alternation of light and dark wood and nine inlays of bone or ivory simulating broad headed nails of no constructional...
Polished red ware double pottery jar in the shape of human breasts: handmade, with a turned rim. There is a dark red slip on the exterior and inside the rim, and it is burnished vertically. The jar is of an unusual shape with two lobes dependent on a single neck. Death was believed to be...
A cosmetic spoon in the form of a jackal. The jackal’s head is seen from above and is symmetrical, while the body is seen from the left. The tail of the jackal is long and thick and reaches to the paws of the outstretched back legs. The two forepaws are placed symmetrically one above and...
