The stele of Merneptah was originally erected by King Amenhotep III in his mortuary temple on the west bank of Thebes. King Merneptah, the thirteenth son and successor of King Ramesses II, reused the back face of this gray granite stele. The round top of this face, topped by the winged sun disk and flanked...
Portrait head of a princess of one of the daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti from a composite statue, it was discovered within the workshop of the royal sculptor Thutmose at Tell el-Amarna, or Akhetaten. In Amarna art the daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti express the tenets of the new religion. Gathered playfully near their parents,...
This stele of the sculptor Bek with his wife Taheret is a significant artefact from the Amarna Period, dating approximately to 1353-1336 B.C. It features Bek, whose name translates to “Servant” in Egyptian, and who was the first chief royal sculptor under Akhenaten. His father, Men, held the same prestigious position under Akhenaten’s father, Amenhotep...
This sunken relief depicts Hatshepsut offering incense to the fertility god Min-Amun, most often represented in male human form, shown with an erect penis which he holds in his left hand and an upheld right arm holding a flail. Although it had been demolished and parts were reused in antiquity, following rediscovery, the chapel has...
This fine limestone statue probably comes from a chapel dedicated to the god Horus, in the vicinity of the tomb of King Djer at Abydos. At the time of the discovery, the statue still retained significant remains of its polychromy. The breast was covered with a gold leaf, and the wings still had, in places,...
The ankh mirror case of Tutankhamun is carved in gilded wood and the king’s name is inlaid on the lid with colored glass and semiprecious stones. The interior of the case is lined with silver. The mirror it once contained was not found. Mirrors, made of polished gold, silver, copper, or bronze, were part of...
The khopesh sword of Tutankhamun is a single piece of bronze divided into three parts. The first part is the hilt, which is black. The second and third parts form the blade. The second part is straight, on the same level as the handle, and is engraved with the figure of a lotus flower with...
This statue of Anubis was fixed on the sliding cover of a casket in the form of a shrine. The shrine rested on a litter which was used to carry the image of the god in processions. The statue was found at the entrance to the Treasure Room with its nose turned towards the funerary...
The burial of Tutankhamun was remarkable not merely for its golden splendour but also for the unusual arrangement of his coffins. Within the stone sarcophagus rested a set of three anthropoid coffins, nested one inside the other like precious reliquaries, each fashioned with exquisite craftsmanship and layered symbolism. The second coffin, which encased the innermost...
The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 by Howard Carter was one of the most extraordinary archaeological events of the 20th century, unveiling a treasure trove of artefacts that shed light on ancient Egyptian life and culture. Among these treasures were two remarkable trumpets, one made of silver and the other of bronze, each offering...
