In Ancient Egyptian art, when a king is depicted touching the Was sceptre, it is a symbolic gesture signifying his divine authority and legitimate rule. The Was sceptre, often held by gods such as Thoth or Osiris, represents power, dominion, and the control of chaos. By touching it, the king affirms his connection to the...
Thie painted sandstone of Nefertiti, found besides a statue of her husband king Akhenaten in the same pose, depicts an offering scene and stands at 73.5cm tall. Now both headless, the statue of Nefertiti was found fragmented at the waist. Neferiti wears a pleated linen dress, remnants of a usekh collar can be seen upon...
This limestone stela dates from after the twelfth regnal year of king Akhenaten, and it depicts king Amenhotep III, and his Great Royal Wife Tiye. The couple sit under the rays of the Aten, before a grand display of nourishing offerings, in the form of vegetation, grains as well as a floral display of lotus...
From the Mastaba of Rahotep and his wife Nofret at Beni Suef, this limestone panel depicts Prince Rahotep sat on a bull-legged chair before an offering table. Traditional offering formula is written above the table in hieroglyphs. Upon the offering table, 8 half loaves of bread have been placed. Rahotep wears a short round cropped...
A woman’s offerings became clear after laser cleaning New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, c. 1320 B.C. Thebes, Tomb of Neferhotep (TT49). Since its construction, the tomb of Neferhotep (late 18th Dynasty) had been used for storing cattle and even as housing. When Jean-François Champollion entered the tomb, he wrote, “Now the tomb is almost completely damaged....
In this Old Kingdom, Late 5th Dynasty, triad statue, dating from approximately 2455-2350 B.C., we see an Ancient Egyptian style family portrait of a man called Ni-ka-re (Nykara), his wife Ni-ka.w-nb (.w) and their son Ankh-ma-re. Such statues were often placed in tombs for offerings to be received, yet they were also placed within households...
A painted wooden statuette of a woman carrying offerings. Middle Kingdom, 12th Dynasty, c. 1963-1862 B.C. The Ancient Egyptians believed in physical offerings for spiritual sustenance. Therefore, in funerary scenes depicted upon tomb walls, you will see numerous men and women carrying objects to be buried alongside the deceased. Not only were these items of...
