The Book of the Dead of Nakht is one of the most beautifully preserved and spiritually rich funerary papyri to survive from Ancient Egypt’s New Kingdom. Dating to the early 18th Dynasty, around 1400 B.C., it was created for Nakht, a scribe and astronomer of the Temple of Amun at Karnak, who held esteemed religious...
The Red Chapel of Hatshepsut (often called the Chapelle Rouge) is a small temple constructed of red quartzite to house the sacred barque of the god Amun of Karnak. Erected within the precinct of Amun at Karnak, the largest religious complex in Ancient Egypt, the Red Chapel of Hatshepsut was not secluded; rather, it was...
Sennedjem (“The one who pleases”) lived during the late 18th Dynasty through the 19th Dynasty, working under Seti I and Ramesses II (c. 1290–1250 B.C.). He held the title “Servant in the Place of Truth” (sḏm-ʿš m st-mꜣꜥt), which means he was a craftsman of the royal necropolis, living at Deir el-Medina. His work involved...
This sandstone relief comes from the early reign of Amenhotep IV (later known as Akhenaten) and based upon the style it is believed this relief was from Karnak Temple, prior to the founding of the experimental capital of Akhetaten (Amarna). Early in his reign, Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten), like many kings before him, undertook ambitious building...
Maru-Aten was not a palace in the traditional domestic sense, but more a ritual garden estate with strong royal and possibly sacred associations. While Princess Meritaten (daughter of Akhenaten & Nefertiti) may have resided there temporarily, but it wasn’t likely a full-time domestic residence like a proper palace, more so a retreat rather than a permeant household.
Reference to Mutbenret as “sister of the Great Royal Wife” comes from an inscription in the tomb of Meryre II at Tell el-Amarna; Tomb 7 in the southern group of Amarna’s private tombs. Meryre II was a Royal Scribe and Overseer of the House of the Great Royal Wife, serving Queen Nefertiti during the reign of Akhenaten.
Nefertiti, one of the most known figures of the ancient world. Her face is instantly recognisable, from Cairo to Berlin, alas, behind that famous visage lies a figure shrouded in mystery. Beyond the sculpted grace of surviving artworks, we know remarkably little. Her origins remain uncertain, her early life lost to time. We do not...
Amenhotep III and his Great Royal Wife, Tiye‘s firstborn son, was a prince named Thutmose. As the eldest royal son, he was heir to the throne, and so Thutmose bore prestigious titles such as High Priest of Ptah, indicating his early grooming for both religious and royal responsibilities. A carved statuette depicting him as a...
The wooden figure depicts a naked woman holding what is identified as a cat to her chest, though the animal’s form is somewhat indistinct. Though undated in the museum’s entry, the figure was acquired by the early 19th-century Scottish traveller and collector Robert Hay of Linplum, who amassed a substantial number of antiquities during his...
Despite the front of the statue having extensive damage, the back provides us with quite a bit of information about Minmose, thanks to the wonderful inscriptions having survived. Minmose’s primary titles reveal his close association with the cult of Osiris; the deity central to Egyptian beliefs about resurrection and the afterlife. He is described as...
