Middle Kingdom

Figurine of a Female Dog nursing 5 Pups

Carved and delicately painted, this limestone figurine showcases a mother dog nursing her five pups. Upon a vibrant yellow backdrop, the mother dog is collared and her lead/leash cascades to the floor in a decorative spiral. Her teets are depicted 2-dimensional against the raised limestone 3-dimensional effect of the pups and mother herself. Her face...

Relief of Amenemhat I

In this relief Amenemhat I is shown celebrating his thirty-year jubilee (Sed Festival), ritually demonstrating that he was still vigorous and fit to rule. The king is flanked by the jackal-headed god Anubis and the falcon-headed Horus, deities closely associated with coronation rituals; each god offers him an ankh, the hieroglyph for life. To the...

Hounds & Jackals

With a board carved in the shape of an axe-blade, and resting upon legs shaped in the form of bull’s legs, this game of Hounds & Jackals also comes with a pull-out drawer to hold the pieces; 5 jackals and 5 hounds. This set of the game Hounds and Jackals was unearthed in 1910 by...

Stele of Amenemhat and his wife Hemet

Stele of Amenemhat and his wife Hemet

This stele was colored with a mixture of pigment and tempera. First, however, it was sculpted in raised and sunken relief; only later were some of its surfaces embellished with black, brown, green, yellow, and white paint. The stele commemorates for all eternity a man named Amenemhat and his wife, Hemet. Before them are two...

Amenemhat III Seated

Amenemhat III (Ancient Egyptian: Ỉmn-m-hꜣt meaning ‘Amun is in the forefront’), also known as Amenemhet III, was a king of Ancient Egypt and the sixth ruler of the Twelfth Dynasty in the Middle Kingdom. His father, Senwosret III, elevated him to the throne as co-regent, and he shared the throne as active king for twenty...

Model of a Slaughter House

Model of a Slaughter House

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...

Imertnebes

This wooden figure of a priestess named Imertnebes was discovered in Thebes and dates from the Middle Kingdom period, c. 1991-1783 B.C. Imertnebes was a high-ranking priestess who bore a title that would eventually be designated for princesses who served as high-priestesses of Amun; “God’s Wife“. Depicted in typical Middle Kingdom fashion, Imertnebes’s figure is...

Middle Kingdom Woman

This wooden statuette depicts a Middle Kingdom woman with a wig of plaited hair parted in the middle, creating a pigtail appearance. Her real hair can be seen within the middle part of the wig peeking through, with slight painted lines indicating hair strands. Such a hairstyle was usually associated with the goddess Hathor. The...

Aamu

Aamu (Egyptian language: 𓂝𓄿𓅓𓅱 ꜥꜣmw) was an Egyptian word used to designate Western Asians in antiquity. It is commonly translated as “Western Asiatic,” however some argue that it could refer to the Canaanites or Amorites: ○ Canaan was a Semitic-speaking culture and territory of the Southern Levant in the Ancient Near East that existed in...

Hairdressing Scene

These limestone fragments were originally part of a scene in which royal hairdressers attended Queen Neferu. The relief on the right represents Neferu, referred to as “The King’s Wife,” wearing a magnificent beaded usekh collar. Behind her, Henut, the hairdresser, has already pinned one strand of hair and twisted another. The relief on the left...