Middle Kingdom

Fish amulet

Fish amulet

This fish amulet is made from gold with a green feldspar inlay. The amulet is open on both sides. The central cloisonné, to which are attached fins and tail, is roughly made from a strip of sheet metal curved around to make an oval shape. The inlay is a piece of feldspar which has been...

Usekh Collar of Princess Neferuptah

Usekh Collar of Princess Neferuptah

The Usekh collar of Princess Neferuptah was made of gold, carnelian, feldspar, and fired glass paste (faience). Two smaller chains of beads are attached to the falcons, leading to a counterpoise, which also bears the image of a falcon, with further horizontal rows of beads hanging from it. At the bottom of the collar, teardrop...

Necklace of Princess Khenmet

Necklace of Princess Khenmet

This beautiful necklace of Princess Khenmet was found on her mummy. It was worn by the deceased princess not only as jewelry, but also as an amulet to protect her from the evil powers in the netherworld. It is formed of a series of amulets on either side of a central composition. They are arranged...

Model of a man cooking a duck. Egyptian Museum, Turin. S. 8944

Model of a Man Cooking a Duck

This wooden model depicts a man squatting on the floor and cooking a thigh of a duck he holds in his left hand, while on the other hand he holds a fan to spark the fire, painted in front of him on the base. These models were placed in the tombs to provide the dead...

Statue of King Senusret I

Wooden Statue of Senusret I

This small wooden statue of King Senusret I was found in a private tomb. It consists of several pieces joined together with wooden pins. His body is muscular and his feet, attached to a rectangular base, are bare. The exposed skin is painted a dark reddish-brown. The sculpture is in excellent condition, and is almost...

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...

Model of a Sailing Boat

Model of a Sailing Boat

A middle kingdom wooden model of a sailing boat with the pilot in the bow and the owner resting under a canopy. Boats were the commonest type of funerary models placed in tombs during the Middle Kingdom. They provided the dead person with the magical means of traveling along the waterways of the Underworld. All...

Pectoral of King Amenemhat III

Pectoral of Amenemhat III

A 12th dynasty Egyptian Middle Kingdom pectoral belonging to princess Mereret, the daughter of king Senusret III and sister of king Amenemhat III. The pectoral shows the cartouche or royal name of king Amenemhat III and depicts this king triumphantly defeating his enemies. “The king himself appears on either side in a stance familiar to...

Diadem of Princess Khenmet

Diadem of Princess Khenmet

Diadem of Princess Khenmet, c. 1932–1898 B.C. Princess Khenmet is best known from her undisturbed tomb, which contained an exquisite collection of personal adornments. This masterpiece was discovered in the tomb she shared with her sister, Princess Ita, at Dahshur. While her parentage is uncertain, the proximity of her burial to the pyramid of Amenemhat...

Model of a cattle census. Tomb of Meketre (TT280). Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 46724

Model of a Cattle Census

This large model shows a courtyard where the inspection of cattle took place. Meketre, his son, and four scribes sit under a columned canopy with scribes and guards standing nearby. Cattle are driven before them by several farmers and herdsmen in order to be counted for inspection purposes. All men are wearing short kilts and...