Seated figure of Isis suckling Harpocrates (identifiable with the so-called ‘Isis lactans’ motif). The goddess is wearing a hathoric crown, consisting of a solar disc with horns resting on a stylised uraeiform modius. She is wearing a tripartite wig decorated with incised vertical streaks and with a stylised vulture headdress. The goddess is wearing an...
In Ancient Egyptian belief, Sopdet was a divine feminine personification of the star Sirius. Representing the star, whose annual heliacal rising coincided with the inundation of the Nile, Sopdet was associated with the most important event in the Ancient Egyptian agricultural year. Because she heralded fertility and renewal, Sopdet was seen as a bringer of...
Ani was a high-ranking scribe and treasury official who lived in Thebes during the 19th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, likely under the reign of Seti I or Ramesses II (c. 1290–1250 B.C.). Though his titles vary, he is often called the “Scribe of the Divine Offerings,” indicating a prestigious role in the temple economy. He...
“the good and beautiful swallow who remains in eternity,” In the bright blue skies of Ancient Egypt, few creatures fluttered with more quiet mystique than the humble swallow. Known to the Egyptians as menet or occasionally wer, this elegant little bird, most likely the Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica), with its deeply forked tail and acrobatic...
This painted limestone headrest features two standing female figures, their arms gracefully dangling at their sides, clad in elegant robes, and adorned with necklaces and bracelets. Each woman wears a Hathoric headdress, suggestive of the goddess Hathor’s attributes of femininity, protection, and fertility. While the precise identification of these figures remains debated, it is likely...
These exquisite panels, once the doors of a small wooden shrine, were crafted from Egyptian fig wood and reinforced with two Lebanese cedar dowels embedded in each. Discovered in Egypt, they offer a fascinating glimpse into the everyday devotion of the Greco-Egyptian society, reflecting the worship of two deities that bridged two cultures. Isis, a...
This unique stele commemorates the deceased ruler Ahmose (1539-1515 BC), who inaugurated the 18th Dynasty in the New Kingdom. The relief style places the stele’s manufacture later in the reign of Tutankhamun (1332–1323 BC). At this time, royal cults were reinstated after the reign of Akhenaten, who wiped out the cults of other gods in...
White-robed priests of Isis perform a water ritual as chanting devotees line the steps of the goddess’s temple in this wall painting from Herculaneum. Herculaneum was an ancient Roman town, located in the modern-day commune of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under volcanic ash and pumice in the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79...
This statue known as, “Isis of Coptos” is a granodiorite statue of the goddess Isis or Hathor thought to have discovered within the Temple of Min.Coptos is the Greek name for Qift, a city in the Qena Governorate of Egypt about 43 km north of Luxor. In Ancient Egyptian it would have been named “Gbtyw”....
According to the myth the sister goddesses Isis and Nepthys cared for the body of Osiris and later they protected his son Horus as a young child. The three deities depicted in this triad amulet are some of the main protagonists in the Osiride myth that tells the murder and revival of the god Osiris...
