Louvre Museum

Rose granite Amenhotep III

Measuring at just under 20cm tall (19.1cm), this rose, or red granite head depicts the 18th Dynasty king Amenhotep III and dates from approximately 1390 -1352 B.C. Currently on display at the Louvre in Paris, unfortunately, not much else is documented about the piece. After ascending the throne as a teenager, Amenhotep III ruled for...

Trial pieces

Ostracon are various shards of limestone and/or pottery, which were used by Ancient Egyptian artisans and scribes as a tablet. The term osatracon however, is not just used for the study of Egyptology, but used by historians studying the geographical regions of various other ancient cultures too. These fragmentary pieces have provided vast amounts of...

Amenhotep I or Ramesses II wearing the Khepresh

This striding statuette of a New Kingdom king, depicts the king in a kilt (shendyt) adorned with an elaborate belt, a usekh collar around his neck, and most notably, the “Blue Crown of War”, known to the Egyptians as the “Khepresh” upon his head, which is given a realistic glisten by the addition of rounded...

Two-faced Anuket symbol

This wooden emblem of the goddess Anuket is a rather unique item and depicts the goddess with her famous ostrich feather headdress, with two depictions of the goddess on each side. She was the goddess of the First Cataract of the Nile and was associated with the Nubian region, she was worshipped at Elephantine. During...

Tahtib Dance

Painted in brisk strokes upon a limestone ostracon from Deir el-Medina, two lithe figures whirl their canes in the art of tahtib, a stick-dance still enlivening weddings along the Upper Nile today. The tradition’s pedigree stretches back to the Old Kingdom, with reliefs in the Pyramid of Sahure at Abusir (c. 2500 B.C.) depicting soldiers...

Serene face

This wooden face from a coffin is beautifully carved with fine features and a sense of serenity can be felt from the expression and realism of the craftsmanship. The eyes and brows are inlaid with glass. Blue glass fills the brows and liner of the eyes, whereas the eyes themselves are white and black inlay,...

Amarna Princess

This delicate limestone statuette portrays a daughter of King Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti. She is depicted wearing the distinctive “side-lock of youth,” a plaited strand of hair emerging from a cap-like crown, seemingly fashioned from layered beads. The term “side-lock of youth” was coined by Egyptologists to describe this particular hairstyle, which was traditionally worn...

Coffin of Lady Madja

The coffin of Madja, a woman of the Theban necropolis, rests among the finest examples of 18th Dynasty funerary craftsmanship. Shaped in elegant mummiform, the surface unfolds as a painted world of gods, rituals, and eternal light. At the head stands Isis, at the foot Nephthys: the divine sisters who guard the deceased as they...

Bust of Akhenaten

Limestone bust of Akhenaten from Tel el-Amarna (ancient Akhetaten) New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, reign of Akhenaten, c. 1352-1335 B.C. Musée du Louvre. E 11076

Portrait of a woman, from Faiyum

Portrait of a woman, from Faiyum

The portrait was found by the archaeologist Albert Gayet during the excavation campaign of 1904 or 1905 at the necropolis of Antinoopolis in Middle Egypt. It entered the Louvre’s collections in 1905. A fragment of the right side of the board has been reglued. The paint has worn away on the nose, leaving a dark...