Egypt Museum ancient Egypt art culture and history

Gold Dagger and Sheath of Tutankhamun

Gold Dagger and Sheath of Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun’s mummy was provided with two daggers encased in gold sheaths, one with an iron blade and the other with a blade of hardened gold. It is the latter specimen ceremonial Egyptian dagger which is shown here. The handle is exquisitely decorated with gold granulation and glass inlays and is fitted with a knob of...

Personalized cartouche jewelry pendant

Cartouche Jewelry Pendant

Translate your name into ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs on this beautiful personalized handmade cartouche jewelry pendant. The pendant will be custom made, by hand, in the ancient bazaar of Khan el-Khalili in the heart of Cairo. Each cartouche is stamped, often in two places, with the Egyptian government’s hallmark certifying the gold or silver content. Each...

Relief Plaque of Cobra on a Neb Basket

Relief Plaque of Cobra on a Neb Basket

This relief depicts the cobra on a neb basket from the king’s Two Ladies name. Small Late Period and Ptolemaic reliefs or sculptures that depict a subject in a partial or unfinished way but are themselves finished objects constitute a special class of object. Guidelines like those for artists are often prominently exhibited as part...

Statuette of the goddess Renenutet

Statuette of the goddess Renenutet

The serpent goddess Renenutet had two main roles. As the root of her name (Renen) makes clear, she was the ‘nurse’, mainly of the king, to whom she ensured a favorable destiny from birth. The goddess was also worshiped because she ensured the success of the harvest and the protection of the crops. In Ancient...

Amulet depicting the goddess Heqet

Amulet of the goddess Heqet

This shiny faience amulet vividly reproduces the moist skin of this amphibian, it was the sacred animal of the goddess Heqet, protector of births. The frog raises its head, while its legs, tense and nervous, are ready to jump. Amulets in the shape of frogs were produced throughout the Pharaonic period and in very different...

Statue of Hatshepsut

Statue of Hatshepsut

In this life-size statue, Hatshepsut is wearing the nemes headdress and the shendyt kilt. These are part of the ceremonial attire of the Egyptian king, which was traditionally a man’s role. In spite of the masculine dress, the statue has a distinctly feminine air, unlike most representations of Hatshepsut as ruler. Hatshepsut, the most successful...

Statue of a Woman Carrying Offerings

These exquisite examples of Egyptian wood carving, depicting women bearing offerings, were discovered in a concealed chamber beside the passage leading into the rock-cut tomb of Meketre, the royal chief steward. These two remarkably similar female figures (Egyptian Museum, Cairo, JE 46725; Metropolitan Museum of Art, 20.3.7) stood flanking a collection of twenty-two intricate models,...

Hawk Mummies

Hawk Mummies

Some ‘hawk’ mummies are the remains of birds who were bred and lived in captivity. Many hawk mummy bundles contain only partial skeletons, or none at all. Most animals, however, may have been seen rather as heralds who entered the Afterlife grateful to the sponsor who paid for their care and feeding and embalming. They...

Headless Statue of Queen Arsinoe II

Statue of Queen Arsinoë II

Rising from the sun-dappled ruins of Heracleion, the black granite statue of Arsinoë II, now housed in the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Antiquities Museum, stands as a resplendent emblem of divine queenship and cultural fusion. A masterpiece of Ptolemaic sculpture, it reflects the dynasty’s conscious interweaving of Ancient Egyptian tradition and Greek elegance. Arsinoë steps forth in...

Silver Winged Scarab

Winged Scarab Amulet

This silver winged scarab is inlaid with lapis lazuli, red jasper and green feldspar. It seems to have been fixed to a larger object since there are fasteners on the back side. The winged scarab was a powerful image of solar rebirth for the deceased. Amulets in the form of scarab beetles had become enormously...