Furniture

Side chair of an unidentified hardwood

Side chair of an unidentified hardwood

Typical 18th Dynasty side chair of an unidentified hardwood, having legs imitating the fore and hind legs of a lion. It has a high sloping back hollowed to fit the occupant’s back. Ornamentation consists of alternation of light and dark wood and nine inlays of bone or ivory simulating broad headed nails of no constructional...

Chest of Tutankhamun with Miniature Panoramas

Chest of Tutankhamun with Miniature Panoramas

This magnificent wooden chest of Tutankhamun is painted on all its surfaces with hunting and war scenes. On one side of the lid, King Tutankhamun is depicted in his chariot, hunting gazelles, deers, ostriches, and other desert animals. On the other side, he is shooting arrows at lions. The short sides shows the king is...

Chair of Reniseneb

Chair of Reniseneb

The back of this wooden chair, which belonged to the scribe Reniseneb, is handsomely veneered with ivory and embellished with incised decoration showing the owner seated on a chair of identical form. It is the earliest surviving chair with such a representation, and it is the only non-royal example known. The scene and accompanying text...

Funerary Couch in the form of Mehit

Funerary Couch in the form of Mehit

This wooden bed is covered with gilded plaster designed to represent two elongated lionesses represent the goddess Mehit. According to the ancient Egyptian beliefs, Mehit was identified with Hathor, Sekhmet, and Isis and helped to cause the Nile flood when she was appeased. The eyes of these animals are inlaid with blue glass paste; the...

Tutankhamun's Stool Decorated with Sema-Tawy Symbol

Stool of Tutankhamun with Sema-Tawy Symbol

This stool is decorated with sema-tawy symbol of the unification Upper and Lower Egypt. The four sides of this wooden stool, painted white, are decorated with the symbol of the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. It is gilded with gold sheet. The chair’s legs were modeled to look like the legs of a lion....

Tutankhamun's Box Decorated with Tyet and Djed Signs

Tutankhamun Box with Djed and Tyet Signs

This rectangular box with djed and tyet signs was found in the annex of the tomb of Tutankhamun. It stands on four slim elegant legs and the panels are made of cedar wood. At the bottom of the box is an alternating decoration of fretwork hieroglyphs. The Tyet sign, the symbol of the blood of...

Arm Panel From a Ceremonial Chair of Thutmose IV

Arm Panel From a Chair of Thutmose IV

This wooden panel is part of the left arm of a throne that belonged to the king Thutmose IV. Traces of glue on the surface suggest that the low relief, with its exquisitely carved details, was once covered with gold foil. On one side, the king is shown as a standing sphinx subduing the enemies...

Relief fragment showing a carpenter squatting on scaffolding and working on a wooden object with his adze.

Relief of a Carpenter at work

Relief fragment showing a carpenter squatting on scaffolding and working on a wooden object with his adze. Contrary to custom he is shown disheveled and unshaven. New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, ca. 1292-1189 BC. From Deir el-Medina, West Thebes. Now in the Staatlich Museum, Berlin. The beard was a sign of neglect and was reserved for...

Funerary Bed of Tutankhamun, with Sides Representing goddess Mehet-Weret

Funerary Bed of Tutankhamun with Mehet-Weret

This is one of the couches of King Tutankhamun. It is in the form of the goddess Mehet-weret, the cow goddess of the sky whose name means “great flood.” Three ritual funerary couches were found in the antechamber of Tutankhamun. They are made of stuccoed gilded wood in the form of sacred animals whose eyes...

Throne of Princess Sitamun

Throne of Princess Sitamun

The wooden throne Princess Sitamun is an example of the subtlety and elegance of Egyptian woodwork in the 18th Dynasty. It is made from red wood, covered in parts by a 4 mm thick veneer of red wood. The legs are shaped like lion’s paws. These paws sit atop high bases which are divided by...