When Re was in the underworld, he merged with Osiris, the god of the dead, and through it became the god of the dead as well. The union of the gods Re and Osiris (in the guise of a ram-headed mummy which wears the sun’s disk between its horizontal, corkscrew horns). The “Amduat”, like the...
The term hypocephalus refers to a piece of Late Period and Ptolemaic funerary equipment. It is specifically an amuletic disc made of cartonnage, bronze, textile, or rarely from papyrus and even wood, emulating a solar disc. It was made for Tasheritenkhonsu. Linen and plaster, inscribed in ink. It dates to the Late Period, 26th Dynasty,...
The both sides of the two dog palette are carved in low relief with scenes depicting the frenzy o an animal hunt. The imagery includes real animals, such as the pair of Cape hunting dogs that frame the top (from which the palette takes its name). They dogs are shown alongside mythical creatures, including felines...
Detail of a wall relief depicting Osiris and Isis in the Temple of Seti I in Abydos, the cult center of Osiris, lord of the dead. The necropolis is a place of pilgrimage and burial and at least ten temples were originally constructed there. Among those ten temples, three remain that are of special note. These...
This gold amulet was found on the mummy of King Psusennes I. The two ladies amulet combines two important deities, the vulture goddess Nekhbet and the cobra goddess Wadjet, the titulary deities of Upper and Lower Egypt who signified the union of the land. The two ladies are Nekhbet, the vulture goddess associated with Nekhen...
This statue represents the god Thoth in the form of a sitting ibis. The artist’s careful choice of materials, the bronze of the head and the white limestone of the body, give the statue the appearance of a real bird. The feathers of the body are in light relief while the tail, which is separate...
The statue of King Ramesses VIII presenting Amun-Re is an example of hasty workmanship. It lacks vigor. One of the few statues that survive from the Ramesside Period, it demonstrates that the great era of creativity had ended. The face of the statue is heavy with a troubled expression devoid of interior strength. The wig,...
Statue of King Ramesses VI standing, grasping the hair of a Libyan captive in his left hand and an axe in his right. A short military campaign might have ensued and from Ramesses VI’s second year on the throne onwards these troubles seem to have stopped. This campaign could be connected with an unusual statue...
This benevolent-looking hippopotamus figurine slips into the marshes, taking on their color and half-engulfed in water plants. Bright-blue Egyptian faience figures of hippopotami such as this were placed in the tombs of high-ranking civil servants toward the end of the Middle Kingdom. The hippopotamus was associated with the fertility of the Nile mud or silt....
The Clepsydra of Karnak has 12 carved columns of 11 false holes, corresponding to the hours of the night. The water flowed through a very small hole made in the center of the bottom, emerging on the outside under the figure of a seated baboon. This clepsydra is the oldest water clock of which there...
