Walters Museum

gold medallion of Caracalla

Gold medallion of Caracalla

This gold medallion of the Roman Emperor Caracalla, was found in Abu Qir, Egypt, and dates from, c. 215-243 A.D. It is one of 20 medallions found within a hoard in Abu Qir, Egypt. One of the medallion’s is marked with “Olympic Games of the year 274”, which could mean that these were medallions given...

Round-Crown and Wig inlay. Walters Art Museum. 1920.1976

Round-Crown and Wig inlay

Both of these faïence depictions of royal headdresses date from the late 18th Dynasty to possibly early 19th Dynasty. The first, is likely to have been depicted upon the head of a late 18th Dynasty queen, and next is the round crown, as seen adorning the head of kings such as King Amenhotep III. Lavender...

Ostracon of a king with a stubbled beard. Walters Art Museum. 32.1

King with a stubbled beard

The ostracon of Seti I is quite a rarity to behold, as a stubbled faced king is a rather peculiar sight in Ancient Egyptian art. Historians suggest the beard is a sign of mourning, growing out a beard is still common practices for mourning in varied cultures around the world until this very day. French...

A cartonnage mummy mask belonging to a Bearded High Official found in the Asyut Necropolis of Upper Egypt.

Bearded High Official

A cartonnage mummy mask belonging to a High Official found in the Asyut Necropolis of Upper Egypt. The mummy dates from the 11th-12th Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom, c. 2000-1980 B.C. The mask is now on display at The Walters Art Museum. 78.4 Another mummy mask with a similar bearded style was also discovered in...

Nile Catfish Pendant

Nile Catfish Pendant

This fish pendant represents a Synodontis Batensoda, more commonly known as the Nile catfish, a species of fish named for its black belly. Often worn at the end of a plait of hair, amulets like this one were used by children and young women to protect against drowning. This fine amulet is made of gold...

This small dog now resides in the Walters Art Museum, in Baltimore, Maryland. 71.622

Ancient Egyptian Domesticated Dogs

Made from the ivory from a hippopotamus, this dog was a figure piece from a game called “Mehen”, also known as The Serpant Game. Knowing the game pre-dates the period from which this collared dog was likely created in, it tells us that Egyptians had domesticated the dog possibly long before the unified Egypt even...

Amethyst head of Arsinoë II, Queen of Ptolemaic Egypt. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 42.190

Amethyst head of Arsinoë II, Queen of Ptolemaic Egypt

Arsinoë II was a Queen of Ptolemaic Egypt, who also held the Egyptian titles of King of Upper & Lower Egypt, making her pharaoh. Being wife of King Lysimachus; a Thessalian officer and successor of Alexander the Great, and King of Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedon, Arsinoë was also the Queen of Macedonia, Thrace, and...

Two Rings with Lotus Flowers

Two Rings with Lotus Flowers

These two unique two gold rings are decorated with lotus flowers. The blossoms are made from lapis lazuli and carnelian set into gold cloisons. One ring of this pair has a slender hoop attached to a lentoid bezel on which opposing lotus blossoms with petals of alternating dark and light blue glass are cut and...

Jubilee Vessel of Pepi I

Jubilee Vessel of Pepi I Meryre

The beautiful hieroglyphs on this jubilee vessel identify its owner and the ritual in which it was used, on the left is the Horus name of King Pepi I (one of a king’s five names), “Beloved of the Two Lands [Egypt].” At center is his throne name, Meryre; below are brief, symmetrical texts reading, “given...

Detail of the block statue of Kha-em-Waset. Walters Art Museum. 22.

Block Statue of Kha-em-Waset

This piece is a small serpentine, New Kingdom, block statue of Kha-em-Waset. Kha-em-Waset was a noble who held the titles of Fan-Bearer and Chief of Works in the Temple of Amun. This statue would have been placed as a votive in the temple of Amun. Kha-em-Waset sits with his knees drawn up upon a rectangular...