New Kingdom

Ancient Egyptian Royal Tomb, Thutmose IV

Ancient Egyptian Royal Tomb, Thutmose IV

Illustration of the interior of a royal tomb of a king of Ancient Egypt. This depiction is partially based on the tomb of Thutmose IV, the 8th king of the 18th Dynasty. Thutmose IV ruled from 1401 BC to 1391 BC. The tomb has many rooms and side room, with the tomb at lower right. An...

Queen Nefertari before Goddess Isis

Queen Nefertari before Goddess Isis

Painting of the goddess Isis offers the ankh, the symbol of life, to Nefertari. A detailed view of Pillar II in Chamber K (the burial chamber). The tomb of Nefertari is located in the Valley of the Queens, near the ancient city of Thebes. It is one of the best preserved and most ornate of...

Earrings of Seti II

This earrings of King Seti II was found in 1908 with other artifacts belonging to the king and to Queen Tausert in a hiding place in the Valley of the Kings. It is composed of a flat trapezoidal centerpiece from which hang seven pendants in the form of cornflowers. At the end of the upper...

Souls of Pe and Nekhen

Souls of Pe and Nekhen

These figures of the souls of Pe and Nekhen are identified as King Amenhotep III. The soul of Nekhen is represented by the jackal-headed figure. Its counterpart was the falcon-headed souls of Pe Dep (the double mounds of Buto), which was located in the northern part of the Egyptian Delta. The Souls of Pe and...

Wadjet Eye Pectoral of King Tutankhamun

Wadjet Eye Pectoral of Tutankhamun

This wadjet eye pectoral was found on the mummy of the king Tutankhamun, symbol of the entity of the body. The cobra goddess Wadjet wearing the Red Crown of Lower Egypt “Deshret”, while the vulture goddess Nekhbet wearing the White Crown of the Upper Egypt “Hedjet”. Howard Carter believed that this pectoral was a piece...

The Third Outer Shrine of Tutankhamun

The Third Outer Shrine of Tutankhamun

The third outer shrine of Tutankhamun is of similar design to the second, with a sloping roof and somewhat smaller dimensions. It is gilded over its entire surface and decorated in sunk relief with vignettes and extracts from Egyptian religious texts. The sides of the shrine are inscribed with abridged versions of the second and...

Gold Signet Ring of Amenhotep II

Gold Signet Ring of Amenhotep II

Ancient Egyptian signet-ring with a rectangular bezel bearing a cartouche with the name of King Amenhotep II flanked by Nile gods (Hapi). The Egyptians primarily used signet, or seal, rings, in which a seal engraved on the bezel can be used to authenticate documents by the wearer. Egyptian seal rings typically had the name and titles...

Relief of the God Osiris. Tomb of Horemheb (KV57)

Relief of Osiris

Detail of a wall relief depicts Osiris, Lord of the underworld, god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation. Osiris was the god of afterlife, the underworld and the dead, green-skinned with a king’s beard, wearing the atef crown with two large ostrich feathers at either side, and holding a symbolic crook...

Funeral Procession of Ramose

Funeral Procession of Ramose

Mural scene from a funeral procession of Ramose, detail of a wall painting from the Tomb Chapel of Ramose (TT55). Ramose was Vizier under both Amenhotep III and Akhenaten. Ramose (Egyptian: rꜥ-ms(. w)) was an ancient Egyptian name, meaning “Re is born”. Variants of the name include Ramesses (Ramessu) and Paramessu; these various spellings could...

Attendants of the Royal Family

Court Musicians from the Amarna Period

A fragment of a relief depicts court musicians from the Amarna Period and attendants of the royal family, six ladies in waiting and gentlemen sunshade-bearers. During the Amarna Period the need for speedy erection of new temples for Aten led to the use of smaller, now called Talatat, blocks of stone, which were easier to...