Painted limestone relief depicting two men, Qar and Idu, hunting ducks with boomerangs. What ancient Egyptians like Qar and Idu were doing was taking one of the oldest hunting methods in human history (throwing a stick at something) and turning it into a pass time. In ancient Egypt, duck hunting held significance primarily as a...
This sculpted triad, a three-person statue, shows King Menkaure between two ladies. The goddess Hathor is on his right and goddess (Bat) the personification of Cynopolis, the 17th nome of Upper Egypt, is on his left. The King wears the crown of Upper Egypt and has a false beard. He wears the short pleated Shendyt...
These three schist triads of Menkaure were found by the Egyptologist George Reisner in the valley temple of Menkaure near his pyramid in Giza. The triads was discovered in 1908 in the valley temple of Menkaure in its own hierarchical group, and 5 were found and it is believed that they were eight as there...
Painted limestone standing statue of Satmeret, Wife of Neferherenptah, called Fifi. He was a purification priest and prophet of the mortuary cults of the kings Khafre and Menkaure. Neferherenptah was thus of considerable influence in Giza, where he was buried in his own Mastaba. His tomb contained statues, rather simple in character of himself, of...
Ancient Egyptian faience beaded fishnet dress. It is the oldest surviving example of a dress in this style. And yes, it would have put the wearer’s body on display in a way that is barely acceptable at a burlesque by today’s standards. The dress has been reassembled from approximately seven thousand beads (no record mentioned how...
Granite is extremely hard, but the sculptor of this statue was able to give the king’s plump face and small features a softly natural quality, perhaps suggesting the subject’s actual appearance rather than an idealized version. Originally, this fragment surmounted an oversize figure, achieving the same monumental quality as the pyramids being built at this...
This tablet for the seven sacred oils was discovered in the burial chamber of Ankhhaf. The names of the oils used in the ceremonies for the dead are inscribed in black ink. Small shallow depressions for the oils were also found. The name and titles of the owner are engraved upon the tablet. During royal...
The head of the Sphinx of Giza is encased in scaffolding and works are under way excavating the body. Early 20th-century excavation at the Giza Necropolis. An earlier Sphinx excavation was marked by the Dream Stele (around 1401 BC) of Thutmose IV, at lower center. The granite altar (bottom) between the Sphinx’s paws dates from...
Relief depicts metalworkers employed in the manufacture of jewelry, smelting gold by blowing into a furnace. Detail of a wall carving in the Mastaba of Mereruka. The ancient Egyptians did engage in gold manufacturing during the Old Kingdom. Gold was highly valued and sought after in ancient Egypt, and it was used for various purposes,...
Bas-relief depicts sculptors working on statues, detail of a wall carving from the joint Mastaba of Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum, royal servants. They shared the title of Overseer of the Manicurists in the Palace of King Nyuserre Ini. In the Old Kingdom of Egypt, sculpting statues held great importance for several reasons. Firstly, statues were created to...
