Sculpture

The Seated Scribe

The Seated Scribe

The Louvre’s scribe, known as the “Seated Scribe”, is indeed sitting cross-legged, his right leg crossed in front of his left. The white kilt, stretched over his knees, serves as a support. He is holding a partially rolled papyrus scroll in his left hand. His right hand must have held a brush, now missing.  The...

Souls of Pe and Nekhen

Souls of Pe and Nekhen

These figures of the souls of Pe and Nekhen are identified as King Amenhotep III. The soul of Nekhen is represented by the jackal-headed figure. Its counterpart was the falcon-headed souls of Pe Dep (the double mounds of Buto), which was located in the northern part of the Egyptian Delta. The Souls of Pe and...

Colossal Statue of Amenhotep III and Tiye

Colossal Statue of Amenhotep III and Tiye

This colossal statue of Amenhotep III and Tiye is a group statue and three of their daughters. It is the largest known Ancient Egyptian family group ever carved. The almond-shaped eyes and arched eyebrows of the figures are of typical late 18th Dynasty style. Amenhotep III wears the nemes headdress with the uraeus or royal...

Head of the god Amun

Head of the god Amun

The braided beard and the flat cap with remnants of double plumes identify this head from a statue god as Amun. His small eyes are separated by a curved depression from the rounded brow ridge; his broad face shows full lips with sharp contours, and, from the side, a slightly drooping chin. These features closely...

Ancient Egyptian Statues: Their Many Lives and Deaths

“Why do ancient Egyptian statues so often have their noses, hands, or genitals broken? Although the Late Antiquity period appears to have been one of the major moments of large-scale vandalism against pagan monuments, various contexts bear witness to several phases of reuse, modification, or mutilation of statues throughout and after the pharaonic period. Reasons...

Ka Statue of Tutankhamun

Ka Statue of Tutankhamun

This wooden Ka statue is one of two statues that stood guarding the entrance of the burial chamber of Tutankhamun. The King is wearing the Khat headdress and in one hand the king is holding the hedge mace, as the traditional weapon of a victorious king; and in the other, a staff in the form...

Statue of Amenhotep II as Ptah-Tatenen

A fine limestone statue of king Amenhotep II depicted in the form of the god Ptah-Tatenen from the Karnak Cachette. Tatenen (or Tanen) was the god of the primordial mound in ancient Egyptian religion. His name means “risen land” or ‘exalted earth’, as well as referring to the silt of the Nile. Both Tatenen and...

Sphinx of Queen Hatshepsut

Sphinx of Hatshepsut

As a sphinx, Hatshepsut displays a lion’s mane and a king’s beard. Hatshepsut ruled as a man, not as a woman, and for this reason her royal protocols and titles are always written without the feminine qualification, which is the “T” letter in hieroglyphs. This is the case in the text inscribed on the base...

Discovery of the Tomb of Akhethotep, 1941

The discovery of the tomb of Akhethotep, overlord of the 5th dynasty, in 1941 was and will forever remain one of the most spectacular discoveries in the history of Egyptology. Hassabollah Taieb recorded the moment for posterity modestly, as he considered the wooden figures to be his own ancestors. Akhethotep’s titles included that of a...

The shrine of the Goddess Hathor. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 38575

Shrine of Hathor

The shrine of Hathor and the cow’s statue were retrieved from under heaps of debris south of the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari. The shrine is from the reign of Thutmose III. Its roof is painted blue with yellow stars to imitate the Vault of Heaven. The statue of Hathor as the divine...