5th Dynasty

Statue of Ranefer

Statue of Ranefer

The statue depicts Ranefer, standing and is wearing an overlapped kilt of medium length. His hair was cut short and the eyes are painted. This splendid statue was found together with another statue, almost identical, in two niches in the chapel at his tomb at Saqqara. This one shows him in an old age while...

Relief shows a Syrian tribute in the form of bears and a vessel

Relief of bears and jar tribute from the Levant

The bears and the jar holding oil represented on this relief exemplify the exotic animals and precious goods among the Near Eastern booty. Territorial conquest was not the aim of these enterprises; rather it was the acquisition of raw materials, animals, and sometimes people.) Shown under the northern courtyard portico was booty from the Levant....

Statue of Kai

Statue of Kai

The statue shows Kai sitting on a high-backed chair. He wears a shoulder length wig, decorated with horizontal rows of curls. Each eye is framed in copper, while his eyebrows are in raised relief. The lips are thin and finely drawn. Below, he wears Usekh or Wesekh (broad) collar, composed of seven horizontal bands of...

Figurine of a Woman Making Beer

Statuette of a Woman Making Beer

This lively statuette of a woman is presented in the act of making beer, kneading dough in a strainer over a large jar. The woman is wearing only a close-fitting, medium-length white skirt and a necklace. The pale blue shape of which can be clearly seen around her neck. Her hair is covered by a...

Statue of the Lector Priest Kaaper

Statue of Kaaper, Sheikh el-Balad

The statue depicts Kaaper, the chief lector priest, in charge of reciting prayers for the deceased in temples and funerary chapels. Sheikh el-Balad, Arabic title for the chief of the village, was the name given to this remarkable wooden statue discovered by the workmen of Auguste Mariette, the French archaeologist, because it resembled their own...

Group Statue of Seneb and His Family

Group Statue of Seneb and His Family

Seneb was a dwarf who served as a high-ranking court official in the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, circa 2520 BC. Despite his diminutive size, Seneb was a person of considerable importance and wealth who owned thousands of cattle, held twenty palace and religious titles and was married to a high-ranking priestess of average size...

Statue of Nykara and his Family

Statue of Nykara and his Family

This family statue depicts Nykara, whose title is Scribe of the Granary, seated between the two standing figures of his wife and son. If Nykara were shown standing, his dimensions are such that he would tower over the other two figures. Also, although the boy’s nakedness, sidelock of hair, and finger-to-mouth gesture indicate that he...

Sculptors Working on Statues

Bas-relief depicts sculptors working on statues, detail of a wall carving from the joint Mastaba of Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum, an ancient Egyptian royal servants. They shared the title of Overseer of the Manicurists in the Palace of King Nyuserre Ini. Old Kingdom, 5th Dynasty, ca. 2494-2345 BC. Saqqara Necropolis.

Inside the burial chamber in the Pyramid of Unas decorated with Pyramid Texts, mid-24th century BC, Saqqara.

Pyramid Texts in the burial chamber of Unas

The sarcophagus chamber in the Pyramid of Unas; some of the Pyramid Texts can be seen written on the gable. The Pyramid Texts are the oldest religious writings known to exist. They were first recorded in the pyramid of Unas, last king of Egypt’s Fifth Dynasty, and are called “Pyramid Texts” because they were carved...

Discovery of the Tomb of Akhethotep, 1941

The discovery of the tomb of Akhethotep, overlord of the 5th dynasty, in 1941 was and will forever remain one of the most spectacular discoveries in the history of Egyptology. Hassabollah Taieb recorded the moment for posterity modestly, as he considered the wooden figures to be his own ancestors. Akhethotep’s titles included that of a...