women in ancient egypt

Goddess Nut on the sarcophagus of Soter

The goddess Nut is illustrated with a laden fruit tree behind her. Her hair is long and in tresses, and she is adorned with various jewels such as a chaplet, floral collar, and a necklace with pendants. Her arms are decorated with golden bracelets in the form of snakes. A vertical register of hieroglyphs with...

Bronze Figure of a Woman

Measuring at 34.5cm, this bronze (copper alloy) figure of a woman dates from around 1069-664 B.C., putting it among the Third Intermediate Period. The figure depicts an unknown woman with a slender physique and a cropped wig of layered style. Based upon the stride of her legs and supposed material between, we can presume she...

Statuette of a Woman

Made from the wood from a sycamore fig tree, this painted statuette of a woman dates from the 18th Dynasty, c. 1427-1353 B.C. The woman depicted wears a beautiful linen white gown that is sleeveless on one side. This style of fashion was seemingly popular among the elite and royalty of the time, as we...

Hairdressing and Nursing Scene

This limestone statuette, despite its small size (h: 7.1 cm), showcases a charming scene of sentimentality. A woman does the hair of another woman who is nursing a son. The delicate detailing gone into carving the plaited hair and the remnants of paint tells us what care went into creating this piece. Pigments of yellow...

Middle Kingdom Figure of a Woman

This wooden statuette of a woman stands 16 1/8 in. (41 cm) tall and dates from the Middle Kingdom, c. 1900-1800 B.C.From Asyut, Egypt, this figure showcases a slender woman with a tight-fitting dress with long plaited wig cascading over her bosom. Pigments of yellow, black and white paint remain in fragments upon the wood....

Takabuti is the most famous Ancient Egyptian icon in Ireland. She has been on display at the Ulster Museum for over a century.

Mummy of Takabuti

Takabuti was a young Theban woman who died in her twenties or early thirties towards the end of Ancient Egypt’s 25th Dynasty, c. 755-656 B.C. The daughter of a Priest of Amun named Nespara and a woman named Tasenirit, Takabuti is believed to have been a married woman who lived and died in Thebes. She...