Fragmentary limestone ostracon with a hieratic inscription recording the resolution of a dispute over a hut inherited by the workman Wennofer. The inscription is unusual in being incised and filled with blue frit, a technique used for formal hieroglyphic inscriptions. Perhaps Wennofer set this ostracon into a wall of the disputed hut like a stele....
One of the most typical royal scenes is reproduced on this ostracon, king Ramesses III in the act of crushing the defeated enemy. The scene was widely used on pylons and external walls of temples. On this piece the king is shown upright, his head adorned with red crown topped by the two feathers and...
This ostracon is depicting a scribe as a prayer, drawing on a piece of limestone. The ancient Egyptians drew on ostraca for a variety of reasons; for example, while planning work on tombs or as exercises. Ostraca are simple splinters of limestone or shards of pottery, on which the ancient Egyptians wrote or drew. This...
In the center of the lid of this sarcophagus, King Ramesses III is depicted as the god Osiris in mummy form. On his head he wears the Atef crown composed of ostrich feathers, a sun disk and a pair of ram’s horns. Emerging from his forehead is a uraeus, the royal symbol of protection. The king...
Decorations show scenes from the Amduat or “Book of What is in the Underworld”, detail of a wall carving in the second corridor of the Tomb of Ramesses IX (KV6). “Amduat (What is in the Netherworld) was used in Ancient Egypt as a generic name for descriptions of the netherworld, but in modern Egyptology is reserved...
The statue of King Ramesses VIII presenting Amun-Re is an example of hasty workmanship. It lacks vigor. One of the few statues that survive from the Ramesside Period, it demonstrates that the great era of creativity had ended. The face of the statue is heavy with a troubled expression devoid of interior strength. The wig,...
Statue of King Ramesses VI standing, grasping the hair of a Libyan captive in his left hand and an axe in his right. A short military campaign might have ensued and from Ramesses VI’s second year on the throne onwards these troubles seem to have stopped. This campaign could be connected with an unusual statue...
Painted wood ushabti ‘funerary figurine’ of the king Ramesses IV. Funerary figurines, known as “ Ushabtis” by the Egyptians (which means “those who answer”) are viewed as typical ancient Egypt objects. They represent the deceased in the form of a mummy in osirifide position. The figure’s name, headdress, and any hand-held accessories are the only way...
Under a sacred sycamore, the Great Cat of Heliopolis, one of the forms taken by Ra called Miw-aa or the great cat, attacking the evil serpent Apep (or Apophis), god of the underworld and symbol of the forces of chaos. Section of vignette of chapter 17 of the book of the dead. New Kingdom, 20th...
Aker appears as a pair of twin lions, one named Duaj (meaning “yesterday”) and the other Sefer (meaning “tomorrow”). Aker was thus often titled “He who’s looking forward and behind”. Lions were widespread in prehistoric times and still present in the Nile Valley in the late Pharaonic history. The lion was an important element in...
