Ivory

Comb with the name of Djet

Ivory Comb with the name of Djet

Some important artifacts were found in the tomb of the 1st Dynasty king Djet, at Abydos in Petrie’s Tomb Z. Such as this wide-toothed comb, which is made of hippopotamus ivory. The king’s name is engraved inside the serekh, or palace facade. It is the earliest surviving depiction of the heavens symbolized by the outspread...

Apotropaic Wand Fragment

Apotropaic Wand Fragment

“One side of this ivory fragment wand carving depicts a figure of a crocodile with its tail curved below the head and body. The mouth, eyes, leg scales, and body ridges are carved in minute detail. With its eye open and jaws closed in alert pose it faces right toward the accompanying figures (now lost)....

Statuette of King Khufu

Statuette of King Khufu

The Khufu Statuette or the Ivory figurine of Khufu is an ancient Egyptian statue. Historically and archaeologically significant, it was found in 1903 by Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie during excavation of Kom el-Sultan in Abydos. Despite the discovery of a few other small fragments of the king’s statues and statuettes, this ivory statuette is...

Senet Game of King Tutankhamun

Senet Game Board of Tutankhamun

Senet was an ancient Egyptian board game popular with all classes. Archaeological evidence reveals that senet was played by both royalty (as demonstrated by this elaborate ivory set) and commoners (crude boards scratched in rock). The course of the game was thought to parallel the course of the deceased through the underworld. From the Tomb...

Dancing Pygmies

Dancing Pygmies

This ivory artifact, discovered inside a tomb of a young girl called Hapy, shows three pygmies in a dancing stance. Each one of them is standing on a round base with anklets on their legs. As this is a child’s toy, a system of strings threaded through holes and around a pulley makes the figures...

Early Dynastic Ivory Board Game Pieces

Ivory Lions Board Game Pieces of Mehen

These six board game pieces were associated with a game called ‘Mehen’ coil, because it was played on a circular limestone board that took the form of a coiled snake, its skin divided into squares. Three playing pieces represent recumbent lions, and three recumbent lionesses.  From Qift ‘Coptos’. Early Dynastic Period, 1st Dynasty, ca. 3100-2890...