An early example from Predynastic Egypt, is a ceramic model of a boat with a man in a fetal position, sailing to the afterlife where he will be reborn. Belief in a physical afterlife endured for thousands of years. This totemic item from predynastic Egypt shows the deceased curled up in the fetal position in...
The both sides of the two dog palette are carved in low relief with scenes depicting the frenzy o an animal hunt. The imagery includes real animals, such as the pair of Cape hunting dogs that frame the top (from which the palette takes its name). They dogs are shown alongside mythical creatures, including felines...
This flared bowl with crocodiles and a flattened rim is typical of the pottery production of the early Predynastic Period. Generally characterized by the red coloring of the surfaces, decoration consists of geometric motifs or stylized plants or animals rendered by means of rapid brushstrokes in white paint. On the outside of this particular vessel,...
This clay head found in one of the most recent levels of the settlement at Merimde Beni Salama, a village in the Western Delta is enigmatic. This is one of the earliest known representations of a human head in Egypt. The perfectly oval face has features in the form of depressions of various shapes and...
A group of five stars depicted on the Gerzeh Palette or Hathor palette dating back to Naqada II Period. This unusual schist palette was part of a Predynastic funerary assemblage which also contained ordinary vessels. It has an oval shape that widens slightly towards the top and it is pierced so that it could be...
