Deir el-Medina

This votive stela, dated from the reign of Amenhotep III and found at Deir el-Medina, is dedicated to the goddesses Taweret and Mut of Isheru, both female deities of motherhood and femininity. It was commissioned and dedicated by a man “[ … ] of [the house of] Amun, Khonsu“, in hopes for a woman’s safe and successful pregnancy and childbirth.

Votive stela with figures of Goddesses Taweret and Mut of Isheru

This votive stela, dated from the reign of Amenhotep III and found at Deir el-Medina, is dedicated to the goddesses Taweret and Mut of Isheru, both female deities of motherhood and femininity. It was commissioned and dedicated by a man “[ … ] of [the house of] Amun, Khonsu“, in hopes for a woman’s safe and successful pregnancy and childbirth.

Amennakht (the Scribe of the Place of Truth) offering praises and tribute before the goddess Meretseger

Amennakht before Meretseger

The Scribe of the Place of Truth, Amennakht (New Kingdom, 20th Dynasty, c. 1170 B.C.) kneels before the goddess Meretseger, “She who loves silence”. Amennakht, is in praise of Meretseger who sits before him on a throne of red, blue and orange. She is wearing a red dress and a cuff on her upper left...

The deified Ahmose Nefertari, as depicted within TT 359, Deir el-Medina

Ahmose Nefertari, the deified Queen of Egypt

Ahmose Nefertari was the sister and Great Royal Wife of king Ahmose I, the first king of the 18th Dynasty. After taking the reins from the Hyksos’s hands and unifying a dismantled Egypt, Ahmose I was the first ruler of Egyptian origin to bring Egypt into what is referred to as it’s Golden Age, also...

Scribe Ramose from Deir el-Medina. Musée du Louvre. E 16346

Scribe Ramose from Deir el-Medina

Scribe Ramose from Deir el-Medina New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, c. 1279-1213 B.C. Musée du Louvre. E 16346 This painted limestone figure of the Scribe Ramose, shows the Scribe with a beautifully detailed thick wig. His shoulders are adorned with the cartouches of Ramesses II, Thutmose IV and Horemheb. Ramose (scribe in the Place of truth,...

Statue of Pendua and his wife Nefertari

Statue of Pendua and Nefertari

This statuary group is representing the scribe Pendua and his wife Nefertari. The couple embrace in an unusual depiction, seated on a wide high-backed seat with their arms passing behind the other so that their hands rest on each other’s shoulder. Both Pendua and Nefertari (whose name was the same as the reigning queen) wear...

Cult Statue of King Amenhotep I

Cult Statue of Amenhotep I

A fine painted limestone statue depicting King Amenhotep I. After his death, Amenhotep I was deified and became a source of law and order for centuries. This piece is likely a cult sculpture dating to the 19th Dynasty. King Amenhotep I was celebrated as the founder of the village of Deir el-Medina and divinized by...

Folding Cubit Rod of the architect Kha

Folding Cubit Rod of the architect Kha

The cubit rod of Kha folds in half with a simple bronze hinge at the center; there are absolutely no inscriptions. When Ernesto Schiaparelli discovered the rod, it was folded inside a leather bag with a strap. This extremely rare folding cubit rod was loved by Kha, who was the overseer of works in Deir...

Workers' strike at Deir el-Medina

Workers strike at Deir el-Medina

The first workers strike in recorded history took place in the 12th Century BC in Egypt. Even though they regarded the king as a kind of living god, Egyptian workers were not afraid to protest for better working conditions. The most famous example came in the 12th century BC during the reign of the New...

Stele of dedicated to Amun-Re by Baki

Stele of dedicated to Amun-Re by Baki

This round-topped stele of the foreman Baki is carved in low relief and painted in several colors. The pictorial plane is divided into two registers, the upper one containing two rams facing each other. The animals, with cobras rising on their foreheads, wear tall headdresses composed of two tall plumes with a solar disk at...

Two lions of the god Aker

Two lions of the god Aker

Aker appears as a pair of twin lions, one named Duaj (meaning “yesterday”) and the other Sefer (meaning “tomorrow”). Aker was thus often titled “He who’s looking forward and behind”. Lions were widespread in prehistoric times and still present in the Nile Valley in the late Pharaonic history. The lion was an important element in...