The lungs and windpipe or sema amulet was often placed on a mummy‘s chest in order to give it life in the underworld. As such, the shape of this sign frequently appears in Egyptian art in scenes of the king uniting the two lands of Upper and Lower Egypt. The Sema or Sma hieroglyph, used...
In this portrait statue, Senenmut is kneeling and grasps a symbolic cobra that supports a sun disk and cowhorns and rests on a base composed of two upraised arms (the hieroglyphic sign for ka)—a magical gesture intended to preserve life and ward off evil. The inscription consists of three vertical lines of incised hieroglyphs on...
A painted limestone relief depicting a standing woman in a pleated sheer linen blue dress. The woman wears a luxurious wig which is held in place by a diadem of blossoms. A band ties the wig about mid-way through its length with a knot in the back. This slightly pulls the wig back, exposing the...
“An insightful volume delving into the enduringly compelling Egyptian art, from a new historical perspective. The art and architecture of Egypt during the age of the pharaohs capture the imagination of the modern world. Vivid, graceful forms decorating monuments that emanated ambition and authority spark our wonder about this distant culture. Ever youthful and elegant...
“Ancient Egyptians always had an intense and complex relationship with animals in daily life as well as in religion. Despite the fact that research on this relationship has been a topic of study, gaps in our knowledge still remain. This volume presents well over 30 contributions that explore Human-Animal relationships from the Predynastic to the...
The Colossus of Ramesses II is an enormous statue carved in limestone. It is about 10m (33.8 ft) long, even though it has no feet, and is located near the village of Mit Rahina (Memphis). The statue was found in 1820 by an Italian traveler Giovanni Battista Caviglia. The colossus is an incredible piece of...
In the Ptolemaic period, the mummy was not enclosed by a complete mummy case, but only by individual pieces of covering, including a mummy mask. Before placing the mummy in its coffin, a number of decorations could be applied. The outer mummy bandages could be painted, the mummy could receive a net of beads with...
The sarcophagus of the priest Pa-nehem-isis [Pnehmêse] is a remarkable example from the Ptolemaic Period, with its large face and its profusion of inscriptions and images, covering the whole surface. The figures have been carved in the hard stone with great precision. The deceased is wearing the tripartite wig and a broad collar. No other...
Some important artifacts were found in the tomb of the 1st Dynasty king Djet at Abydos in Petrie’s Tomb Z. Such as this wide-toothed comb, which is made of hippopotamus ivory. The king’s name is engraved inside the serekh, or palace facade. It is the earliest surviving depiction of the heavens symbolized by the outspread...
This calcite-alabaster canopic chest and its lid were made for storing the canopic jars of Shoshenq I (943-922 BC), the founder of the 22nd Dynasty of Egypt. The nomen and prenomen cartouches of Shoshenq I are carved on the surface. No trace has yet been found of the tomb of Shoshenq I. Egyptologists differ over...
