18th Dynasty

Statuette of Tutankhamun the Harpooner

Statuette of Tutankhamun the Harpooner

A gilded, wooden statuette of King Tutankhamun stands on a wooden boat that is painted to represent a papyrus boat. Its details are picked out in gold leaf. The king, wearing the Deshret Red Crown of Lower Egypt, holds a harpoon poised to strike an unseen enemy. According to the myth of Osiris and Isis,...

Chest of Tutankhamun with Miniature Panoramas

Chest of Tutankhamun with Miniature Panoramas

This magnificent wooden chest of Tutankhamun is painted on all its surfaces with hunting and war scenes. On one side of the lid, King Tutankhamun is depicted in his chariot, hunting gazelles, deers, ostriches, and other desert animals. On the other side, he is shooting arrows at lions. The short sides shows the king is...

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...

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...

Servant Girl Statuette

Servant Girl Statuette

This statuette is of a servant girl probably the best known of all the Egyptian objects in the Oriental Museum’s collection. It is reputedly from the tomb of Meryptah, High Priest of Ptah at Thebes. It is famous both for the quality of the craftsmanship and for the natural pose of the girl’s body. The...

Chair of Reniseneb

Chair of Reniseneb

The back of this wooden chair, which belonged to the scribe Reniseneb, is handsomely veneered with ivory and embellished with incised decoration showing the owner seated on a chair of identical form. It is the earliest surviving chair with such a representation, and it is the only non-royal example known. The scene and accompanying text...

Aten cartouche

Aten Cartouche Amulet

Amulet in the shape of a cartouche. The glaze is a deep cobalt blue. Two holes at either end enter on the edge and exit on the back of the amulet near the edge. The cartouche is one of the two cartouches used for the Aten and is translated: Ra-Horakhty lives, rejoicing in the horizon....

Finger Ring depicting King Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 26.7.767

Finger Ring of Akhenaten and Nefertiti

This gold ring of Akhenaten and Nefertiti was found at Tell el-Amarna. The hieroglyphs may be read as an ideogram. The two seated figures are probably Akhenaten (left) and Nefertiti (right) as the deities Shu (air as indicated by the feather he holds) and Tefnut (moisture). They were father and mother of the earth and...

Portrait of Queen Nefertiti

Portrait of Nefertiti

This relief portrait of Queen Nefertiti comes from a short end of a talatat, a limestone block of standardized size used during the Amarna Period in the building of the Aten temples at Karnak and Akhetaten. The standardized size and their small weight made construction more efficient. The term talatat is most likely derived from...

Carnelian Wadjet eye amulet

Carnelian Wadjet eye amulet

The symbolism of this wadjet eye amulet was one of the most pervasive and powerful in ancient Egypt. Combining a human eye with the stylized markings of a falcon’s, it represents the healed eye of the god Horus that was known as the “Sound One.” It was a symbol of recovery and regeneration. As amulet...