British Museum

Female Mourners from the Papyrus of Ani

Ani, held numerous titles including, “True Scribe of the King; His Beloved Scribe”, as well as “Overseer of the Double Granary of the Lord of Tawer”. Ani’s famous papyrus is one of the best preserved documents from Ancient Egypt, and is known as the Book of the Dead. A Book of the Dead is a...

Mummy of Cleopatra. British Museum. EA6707

Mummy of Cleopatra

This is the mummy of a 17-year-old young woman called Cleopatra, who lived during the Roman Period of Ancient Egypt, c. 100-120. She is cited as the daughter of Candace, a member of the Cornelius Pollius family, the Archon of Thebes, under the rule of Emperor Trajan. The inscriptions state that Cleopatra died at age...

Statue of Viceroy of Kush, Paser, son of Minmose

Statue of Viceroy of Kush, Paser, son of Minmose

Sandstone statue of the Viceroy of Kush, Paser, son of Minmose, holding a ram-headed altar, with an invocation inscribed to Amun-Ra, and prayers to Min & Isis on the back. Also, additional prayers to “Horus, lord of Nubia, and Amun-Ra on behalf of the Viceroy of Kush, Paser” feature. A Viceroy is “the governor of...

Is this the head of Meryrahashetef?

Statue of Meryrahashetef, c. 2345-2181 B.C.

Sir Flinders Petrie discovered this human head of a man, resting upon a head rest in Sidmant el-Gebel within the Tomb of Meryrahashetef (?). Petrie identified the mummy as the Old Kingdom, “Keeper of the Palace Garden” and “Lector Priest”, Meryrahashetef of the 6th Dynasty. A wooden statue of Meryrahashetef, which has been carved from...

The Gebelein Man also known informally as Ginger

Pre-Dynastic Mummies: The Gebelein Man “Ginger”

The Gebelein Man (British Museum. EA32751), also known informally as “Ginger” due to his red hair; is the mummy of a young Egyptian man found in Gebelein (modern Naga el-Gherira, 25 miles south of Thebes), dating from the Late Pre-Dynastic Period, c. 3400 B.C. During the period of Gebelein Man’s life and death, Egyptians were...

Mummy of an adult man

Mummy of an adult man

Mummy of an adult man, name unknown. The preparation has been carried out with great care and skill by the embalmer, and the rounded and shapely contours of a living body have been skillfully imitated. The features of the face are painted upon the outermost wrappings. The fingers and toes are each wrapped separately; the...

Model Cattle stable from the tomb of Meketre

Models in Ancient Egypt

Wooden tomb models were deposited as grave goods in the tombs and burial shafts throughout ancient Egypt since its early history, most notably in the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. They included a wide variety of wooden figurines and scenes, such as boats, granaries, baking and brewing scenes and butchery scenes. These served as ways to...

model of a farmer ploughing with oxen

Wooden model of a farmer ploughing with oxen

Painted wooden model group: a peasant farmer wearing only a linen kilt, typical dress for a field worker, guides a team of two speckled oxen ploughing who draw a simple wooden plow which would have had a metal blade. He pushes down strongly on the handle and has sunk up to his ankles in the...

Relief from the Tomb of Kemsit

Relief from the Tomb of Kemsit

Kemsit sits on a wide, low-backed chair holding a vase of scented ointment to her nose. In front of her was the smaller figure of a male servant, of which only his hand remains, holding a small cup that is receiving the stream of liquid he was pouring into it with his other hand. This...

Limestone fragmentary stele with Akhenaten

Fragmentary stele of Akhenaten

In this stele, Akhenaten is slouched on a low-backed, cushioned chair with side struts in the form of the ancient royal symbol for the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, which is partly obscured by the long sash of his pleated kilt. The Aten disk was above him, in the center of the stele. The...