Egypt Museum

portrait bust

Portrait Head (possibly Cleopatra VII)

This limestone head (British Museum. 1879,0712.15) shows a woman with a hooked nose, curved nostrils, pointed chin and almond-shaped eyes; features strikingly close to those seen on coin portraits of Cleopatra VII. The hair is styled in the “melon” coiffure, drawn back into a plaited knot, with two ringlets falling by the ears. The ears...

Bust of Akhenaten

Akhenaten’s devotion to the Aten was not just religious; it was artistic and philosophical. In hymns likely written or commissioned by the king himself, such as the Great Hymn to the Aten, Akhenaten exalts the sun’s warmth as the giver of all life, with language that reads more like sacred poetry than royal decree. This...