Ushabti of king Akhenaten from Amarna (ancient Akhetaten – Akhenaten’s experimental ‘new capital’ that was dismantled upon his death. A Ushabti was a figurine representing the deceased that would help with duties in the Afterlife. A Ushabti (Egyptian: wšbtj or šwbtj) was a funerary figure in the form of the likeness of the deceased, and...
This perfume bottle, with a depiction of an Amarna princess stood upon a lotus blossom, is in the shape of a hes-vase. It is made from Egyptian alabaster, with an inlay of coloured glass, carnelian, obsidian and gold. A hes-vase is named after the “hes” hieroglyph. The hes-vase was used as a libation vessel, meaning,...
Sculpture of unknown amarna royal. New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, Amarna Period, c. 1352-1323 B.C. Discovered in Tel el-Amarna (ancient Akhetaten – king Akhenaten’s experimental new capital), now in the Neues Museum, Berlin. This limestone bust of an Amarna royal has never been officially identified, yet the Neues Museum in Berlin does display it with the...
This fragment depicts face and upper torso of Akhenaten with the exaggerated but sensitive features characteristic of representations of this king. The full scene would have shown the king worshiping his sole god, the Aten. This relief is currently on long-term loan to the Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung in Berlin. Akhenaten was a progressive king...
This head of an unknown princess dates from the Amarna Period, and the family resemblance among the sculptures of the period is noticeable here. The youthful face and enlarged, elongated heads tended to be a choice for the Amarna artists to depict the daughters of the king. Found in Amarna, this head is now on...
Maya was a high ranking official, with titles such as, “Overseer of the Treasury“, who lived towards the end of the 18th Dynasty. With the collapse of the Amarna Period (Akhenaten and Nefertiti’s Aten experiment purposely dissolved), Maya was an important figure who held special status during the reigns of Tutankhamun (it is said Maya...
Egyptian-Alabaster Canopic jar of an 18th Dynasty queen, found within tomb KV55. New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, Amarna Period, c. 1349–1330 B.C. One of four Canopic jars believed to have belonged to Akhenaten’s secondary wife, Queen Kiya. Despite being associated with Kiya, the image of the beautifully carved wig adorned royal upon the jar lids has...
The Amarna Period was not only a religious but also an artistic one. The art of this era is recognizable by its unmistakable sinuous shapes and the singular expressiveness of faces and gestures, which end up surviving, albeit in a less marked manner, in the following epoch. It lasted less than twenty years: with the...
This painted sandstone figure of King Akhenaten contains many androgynous physical characteristics which have led to contemporary speculation on Akhenaten’s gender and sexuality, health and religious beliefs. Akhenaten was a progressive king of the 18th Dynasty, who introduced great changes to ancient Egyptian religion and art. This has led to some scholars suggesting that Akhenaten’s...
On this block from a temple relief, Akhenaten, recognizable by his elongated features, holds a duck toward the Aten. With one hand he wrings the bird’s neck before offering it to the god. In this relief, the artist has cut the outlines of the figures into the surface in a technique called sunk relief. Sunk...
