Although he must have been nearly 50 years old when this portrait was carved, in this head sculpture, King Amenhotep III appears more youthful than ever. Over a round, curly wig he wears a diadem with side streamers adorned with uraei or rearing cobras bearing sun disks on their heads. The stone quartzite was associated...
The mummy of Lady Rai is one of the oldest known mummies uncovered in Egypt. She was discovered in 1881 and researchers estimate that she was about 30 – 40 years old when she died around 1530 BC. From the writings left behind about Lady Rai, we know that she was the nursemaid to Queen...
In this relief, the powerful face, thick lips, and coarse profile of the deity are reminiscent of King Djoser as he is depicted at Saqqara. The fragment relief depicts a seated god wearing a long wig and the “divine” beard, with curled tip. A broad collar embellishes the plain, clinging garment from which one hand...
The bears and the jar holding oil represented on this relief exemplify the exotic animals and precious goods among the Near Eastern booty. Territorial conquest was not the aim of these enterprises; rather it was the acquisition of raw materials, animals, and sometimes people.) Shown under the northern courtyard portico was booty from the Levant....
An engrossing biography of the longest-reigning female pharaoh in Ancient Egypt and the story of her audacious rise to power. “Hatshepsut—the daughter of a general who usurped Egypt’s throne and a mother with ties to the previous dynasty—was born into a privileged position in the royal household, and she was expected to bear the sons...
This pair of gold earrings, bearing the cartouche of King Ramesses XI, was found on a female mummy. They are formed of convex disks grooved along the edge and decorated with five uraei, or royal cobras, on the outer face. The three snakes in the middle bear a sun disk while the two outer ones...
This wooden bed is covered with gilded plaster designed to represent two elongated lionesses represent the goddess Mehit. According to the ancient Egyptian beliefs, Mehit was identified with Hathor, Sekhmet, and Isis and helped to cause the Nile flood when she was appeased. The eyes of these animals are inlaid with blue glass paste; the...
On this piece the uraeus cobra functions as the protector of the royal name, the name of king Amenhotep III “The Lord of Maat is Re” is in the center of the plaque. The top and center part of the inscription is written twice and the direction of the hieroglyphs was reversed. Only the very...
The statue shows Kai sitting on a high-backed chair. He wears a shoulder length wig, decorated with horizontal rows of curls. Each eye is framed in copper, while his eyebrows are in raised relief. The lips are thin and finely drawn. Below, he wears Usekh or Wesekh (broad) collar, composed of seven horizontal bands of...
Upper part of a steatite figurine depicting the god Khnum. The ram headed deity was the embodiment of the creative force and was thought to control the waters of the Nile from caves near the first cataract. Intimately connected to the river and the concept of fertility, the god was often depicted as a potter,...
