The outer coffin lid of Henuttawy, intended to resemble a wrapped mummy, wears an elaborate pectoral topped by a cavetto cornice in the shape of a small shrine within which are two winged wadjet eyes, with suspended uraeus cobras holding ankhs. Below these, Horus falcons flank a central scarab that pushes a sun disk upward,...
Sha-Amun-en-su was an Ancient Egyptian ritualistic singer and priestess of Amun at the Temple of Karnak. Her name translates to “Fertile Fields of Amun”, and she died around 750 B.C. Sha-Amun-en-su lived during the Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt (Bubastite Dynasty), where the kings ruled from the city of Bubastis (“House of Bast“, Ancient Egyptian: “Per-Bast“)....
Although the coffin belongs to an Ancient Egyptian man named Pa-Di-Tu-Amun, the coffin lid was originally made for a female priestess, with the titles “mistress of the house, chantress of [Amun]”. The feminine quality of the art is still noticeable. Acquired in Egypt during the 1920s, by the Swedish scientist Olof Vilhelm Arrhenius, this Third...
Scaraboid amulet of a cute little hedgehog. Hedgehogs were common on amulets in the New Kingdom (1500s–1000s BC) and can also be seen on the backs of seals and scaraboids. Although never very common, hedgehog amulets have a long history in ancient Egypt, with their popularity peaking in the New Kingdom. These amulets functioned as...
At the time of her unwrapping, when surveying the mummy of Neskhon; plumpness of her physique and well-endowed bust seemed to indicate pregnancy or motherhood to archaeologists, and to this day it is widely believed she was either pregnant or had died during childbirth. Neskhon (“She Belongs to Khons [Khonsu, the Egyptian God of the...
The Sarcophagus lid of Tjentwerethequa, “Priestess of Amun”. Third Intermediate period, Early 22nd Dynasty, c. 1000- 901 B.C. It is believed, Tjentwerethequa’s grandson, a senior priest of Amun-Re named Iufenamun, was of the priesthood responsible for the reburial of the old kings into the secret caches, which hid the past rulers of Ancient Egypt away...
This papyrus belonged to the Mistress of the House and Chantress of Amun, Tanetshedkhons, a Theban noblewoman of the 21st Dynasty. The scroll is inscribed with portions of two funerary texts known as the “Litany of Re” and the “Amduat,” or “Book of that which is in the Underworld.” The “Amduat”, like the “Book of...
The mummy of Queen Henuttawy was found in the Deir el-Bahari Royal Cachette (TT320). She was the wife of Pinedjem I of the 21st Dynasty. The whole body of mummy of Queen Henuttawy was colored in yellow, while the cheeks and lips were painted red to improve her appearance. The head is adorned with an...
Light blue faience ushabti of Queen Henuttawy wife of Pinedjem I. One column of painted inscription down front of body; painted flail grasped in each hand. At knees glaze is cracked or more probably the ushabti has been broken and put together. It depicts a small mummiform figure. Arms are crossed opposite, right over left,...
Although this example is uninscribed, its size and style identify it as a “heart” scarab, meant to be placed within the wrappings of the mummy. Many such scarabs bear the text of Chapter 30B of the Book of the Dead, in which the owner asks his or her heart not to testify against them at...
