Fitzwilliam Museum

Head of king Senusret III with nemes headdress

Head of king Senusret III with nemes headdress

Fragment of a granite head from a statue of king Senusret III with royal nemes headdress and cobra uraeus. The face of Senusret III is one of the most individual and recognizable in all of Egyptian art. The deep-set, heavy-lidded eyes, the thin lips, and the series of diagonal furrows marking the rather hollow cheeks...

Gold faced Egyptian mummy

Gold faced Egyptian mummy

This mummy of a woman has a gilded, golden face and a wig of human hair adorned upon her head. Unfortunately, not much is known about this woman, only her head remains. Discovered in Egypt, bequeathed by (Major) Robert Grenville ‘John’ Gayer-Anderson, the head of the unknown woman now resides at The Fitzwilliam Museum, in...

Egyptian Faience Hedgehog Figurine

Hedgehog Amulet

Faience hedgehog amulet with a white core and turquoise and black coating. Hedgehog-shaped objects of the most diverse types have been present in Egypt since the Predynastic Period. Images of hedgehogs were painted in tombs of the Old Kingdom as decoration on the bows of boats. It was also used in the production of small,...

Red granite sarcophagus lid of King Ramesses III

Sarcophagus lid of Ramesses III

In the center of the lid of this sarcophagus, King Ramesses III is depicted as the god Osiris in mummy form. On his head he wears the Atef crown composed of ostrich feathers, a sun disk and a pair of ram’s horns. Emerging from his forehead is a uraeus, the royal symbol of protection. The king...

The journey of the sun god Re. Detail in the inner coffin of Nespawershefyt. Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. E.1.1822 

The Journey of the Sun God Re

The scene shows the journey of the sun god Re, in his falcon form, seated in his shrine. On the prow, we see the god Hor-nedj-it-ef, Horus the avenger of his father, harpooning the evil snake Apep or Apophis, symbol of chaos and destruction. By the end of the barque, we see the steer holder...