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...
Statue of the goddess Isis, so-called “Isis of Coptos”. She wears a tripartite wig with uraeus. The sun disc and cow’s horns identify the sculpture as Isis or Hathor. Her dress is Egyptian in style and sheath-like in appearance, and around her neck she wears an incised collar of beads.
Osiris with Isis and NephthysThe Book of the Dead of the scribe HuneferNew Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, c. 1300 B.C.British Museum. EA9901,3 Hunefer was a scribe during the 19th Dynasty (c. 1300 B.C.). He was the owner of the Papyrus of Hunefer, a copy of the funerary Egyptian Book of the Dead, which represents one of the...
This small limestone figurine of a woman holding a male child on her lap is only 4cm in height and dates from around 1550–1450 B.C, making it a product of the 18th Dynasty and New Kingdom era of Ancient Egypt. This little figure is a rather unique piece, as usually the bond between a child...
Fragment of a relief depicts king Unas being suckled by unidentified goddess. These reliefs are often found in temple complexes and tombs, and they serve as visual representations of the divine nature and legitimacy of the king. The concept of a king being suckled by a goddess is often seen as a metaphorical representation of...
Khonsu-mes receives libation of food and drink from the tree goddess. The tree goddesses are usually associated with the namesake or manifestation of the goddesses Hathor, Isis or Nut. Hathor was often referred to as the “Lady of the Sycamore”. The sycamore tree held great significance in ancient Egyptian culture, believed to possess magical and...
