This painter’s palette was carved from a single piece of ivory. Six oval wells contain cakes of pigments including blue, green, brown (?), yellow, red, and black. The oval cartouche at one end encircles the throne name of Amenhotep III, Neb-Ma’at-Re, and the epithet “beloved of Re.” This could mean the palette belonged to an...
Painted limestone statuette of Tawaret. This figurine was donated to a woman named Taweret by her mother. She has one arm bent and a lotus bud in her uplifted hand, a gesture rarely seen in depictions of women. The lotus bud could refer to Taweret’s youth. This unopened bloom is rarely found in statues. As...
This statue of Chief Royal Scribe and Physician, Yuny was discovered at Asyut (Lykopolis) in 1913. The statue is made from limestone and dates from the reign of Seti I, 1294–1279 B.C. Yuny is portrayed kneeling, dressed in a nobleman’s robe, wig and sandals. His eyes and brows, which were originally created as inlays, have...
Made of indurated limestone, this torso of Nefertiti was discovered in the remnants of the Sanctuary of the Great Aten Temple, possibly found within a pit just south of the temple, during the Petrie/Carter excavations, 1891–92. The statue would have been a part of a double statue depicting Nefertiti alongside her husband, king Akhenaten, making...
This model of a slaughter house was discovered in a hidden chamber beside twenty-three other models of boats, gardens, and workshops that led to the royal chief steward Meketre’s rock-cut tomb. Meketre started working for the kings of the 11th Dynasty under King Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II and continued to serve them until the early 12th...
This double painted limestone statue depicts the King’s Acquaintances Memi and Sabu. This close up image showcases the craftsmanship of the Old Kingdom’s sculptors. The fine detailing of Memi’s layered wig, which envelops his head in an elaborate circular style, still has traces of black paint upon it, and the individual carvings of each strand...
Mitry (formerly spelt “Merti”) was a senior official and province governor. His tomb’s serdab (statue chamber) contained eleven extraordinarily huge wooden statues. Five are in The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection (26.2.2 – 26.2.6); five, including two wooden scribes, are in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo; and one is at Stockholm’s Medlhavsmuseet. Most of these...
The woman is represented as if lying flat upon her bier. She wears a long Egyptian-style wig made of plant fibers, a deep-red tunic with black clavi (stripes), and jewelry that includes a lunula (crescent pendant), and snake bracelets. At the lower edge of her tunic are two holes, which were used for attaching the...
This golden Ram’s-head amulet was probably made for a necklace worn by one of the Kushite kings. Representations show these pharaohs wearing a ram’s-head amulet tied around the neck on a thick cord, the ends of which fall forward over the shoulders. Sometimes a smaller ram’s head is attached to each end. Rams were associated...
This bronze statuette depicts a king of Kushite origin who ruled Egypt during the 25th Dynasty of the Third Intermediate Period. The Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XXV, alternatively 25th Dynasty or Dynasty 25), also known as the Nubian Dynasty, the Kushite Empire, or the Napatans after their city Napata, was Egypt’s final dynasty...
