Category: Egyptian Artifacts

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Egyptian Artifacts

Roman Oil Lamps

While my Nonno loved ancient Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–, he also absolutely loved Ancient Rome and the Roman Emperors. This is why he loved the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods of Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– so much. Even though the Ptolemaic Period was technically Hellenistic Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–, there was still a heavy Roman influence because Rome was still very powerful at the time! 

When Cleopatra VII ๐“ˆŽ๐“ƒญ๐“‡‹๐“ฏ๐“Šช๐“„ฟ๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“๐“„ฟ๐“†‡ committed suicide in 31 B.C.E., that was seen as the end of the pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ and the beginning of Roman Egypt. This makes Cleopatra ๐“ˆŽ๐“ƒญ๐“‡‹๐“ฏ๐“Šช๐“„ฟ๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“๐“„ฟ๐“†‡ the last pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป of Egypt! Nonno often told me stories about Mark Antony, Cleopatra ๐“ˆŽ๐“ƒญ๐“‡‹๐“ฏ๐“Šช๐“„ฟ๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“๐“„ฟ๐“†‡, Augustus ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“€€, Julius Caesar – he loved that whole part of history so much.ย 

These are ancient oil lamps ๐“†ผ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒ€๐“ฒ๐“ ๐“ค๐“‡ถ! These oil lamps ๐“†ผ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒ€๐“ฒ๐“ ๐“ค๐“‡ถ are made of clay ๐“Šช๐“ˆ–๐“‹ด๐“ˆ‡ and can be found throughout countries that were ruled by the Roman Empire! Many are found in present-day Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–, Turkey, Syria, and many others! My Nonno absolutely adored these – he loved that you could still see where the oil ๐“‚๐“†“๐“–๐“Š๐“ฆ had burned on some of them (thatโ€™s the black ๐“†Ž๐“…“ discoloration at the opening). Nonno always made sure to point these out in museums and now of course I always look for them. I love seeing the different designs on them! Each lamp ๐“†ผ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒ€๐“ฒ๐“ ๐“ค๐“‡ถ is unique which I love!

Isis and Horus design on the oil lamp, along with the black discoloration on the opening!

Due to Roman influence in Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–, oil lamps ๐“†ผ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒ€๐“ฒ๐“ ๐“ค๐“‡ถ from Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– were sometimes made with the Egyptian Gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน on them! The oil lamp ๐“†ผ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒ€๐“ฒ๐“ ๐“ค๐“‡ถ all the way on the right depicts Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ nursing Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ. As Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ grew in popularity, she was associated with cosmological order and was considered to be the embodiment of fate by the Romans.  Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ was widely worshipped ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข during the Roman times, and Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ feeding Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ as a baby ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ˆ–๐“€• has even appeared on the back of Roman coins. Amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช and bronze ๐“ˆ”๐“ค๐“ˆ’๐“ฆ statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช of Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ feeding Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ were also made in abundance during this time period. 

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Egyptian Artifacts

Aswan Granite

After limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ and sandstone ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“‚ง๐“๐“Œ—๐“ˆ™, โ€œAswan Graniteโ€ was the third most used rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ by the ancient Egyptians! โ€œAswan Graniteโ€ is actually a collective term used to describe all of the intrusive igneous rocks in the Aswan ๐“‹ด๐“ƒน๐“ˆ–๐“Œ๐“ฒ๐“Š– area, even though they arenโ€™t all granitic! Diorite and granodiorite ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“๐“ŠŒ are other igneous rocks looped into this category, even though granite ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ–๐“Œณ๐“ฟ is a felsic rock (lighter in color and lower in density with more quartz ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Œ๐“ˆ™) as opposed to diorite/granodiorite ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“๐“ŠŒ (intermediate rock, less quartz ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Œ๐“ˆ™, both dark and light in color). 

The most common of the โ€œAswan Graniteโ€ rocks ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™๐“ฆ is known as red granite ๐“…“๐“Œณ๐“๐“Žถ. Red granite ๐“…“๐“Œณ๐“๐“Žถ was used for many different types of things such as vases, statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช, sarcophagi ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ๐“ช, stelae ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ๐“ฆ, obelisks ๐“‰ถ๐“‰ถ๐“‰ถ, and for parts of buildings and temples ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰๐“ช! 

Quarrying of the โ€œAswan Graniteโ€ started in the Old Kingdom and was even used to build the Pyramids ๐“‹๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‰ด at Giza! During the New Kingdom (particularly 18th Dynasty), red granite ๐“…“๐“Œณ๐“๐“Žถ became extremely popular again, especially amongst the pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ช and many of them had their statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช and funerary equipment ๐“ˆŽ๐“‚‹๐“‹ด๐“๐“๐“Šญ carved out of this durable stone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“Šช! 

One of the best examples of these red granite ๐“…“๐“Œณ๐“๐“Žถ statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช are the ones that used to line Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช temple at Deir el-Bahri ๐“‚ฆ๐“‚‹๐“‚ฆ๐“ฅ๐“‰. She had the red granite ๐“…“๐“Œณ๐“๐“Žถ shipped 500 ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ miles up the Nile ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ from Aswan ๐“‹ด๐“ƒน๐“ˆ–๐“Œ๐“ฒ๐“Š– to the temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰!ย 

The ancient Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช were such master geologists they even distinguished regular โ€œgranite ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ–๐“Œณ๐“ฟโ€ from โ€œred granite ๐“…“๐“Œณ๐“๐“Žถโ€ in the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! The picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ below is a close up of a sample red granite ๐“…“๐“Œณ๐“๐“Žถ from my collection so you can get a better look at this gorgeous ๐“„ค rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™!ย 

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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Alexander the Great in Hieroglyphs

In 332 BCE, Alexander the Great ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒญ๐“Žก๐“Šƒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“Šƒ conquered Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– and became pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป! This was the beginning of the Hellenistic Period of Egyptian history. 

So why was Alexander ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒญ๐“Žก๐“Šƒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“Šƒ recognized as a pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป? The Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช saw him as the person who liberated them from the Persians! Alexander ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒญ๐“Žก๐“Šƒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“Šƒ also restored many of the Egyptian temples ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰๐“ช and even built new monuments ๐“ ๐“ dedicated to the Egyptian gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน! Some of these monuments ๐“ ๐“ show him worshipping Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–, who basically wouldโ€™ve been the Egyptian version of Zeus. After Alexanderโ€™s ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒญ๐“Žก๐“Šƒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“Šƒ death ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ in Babylon, Ptolemy I ๐“Šช๐“๐“ฏ๐“ƒญ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“‹ด became pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป and founded the Ptolemaic Dynasty.

Since Alexander ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒญ๐“Žก๐“Šƒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“Šƒ was Macedonian and not native Egyptian, his cartouche is very phonetic – all of the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช used are uniliteral signs, which means that they correspond to a single sound, just like a letter in the alphabet. Letโ€™s take a closer look! 

๐“„ฟ – The โ€œEgyptian Vulture ๐“„ฟโ€ represents the sound โ€œ3โ€ which would be pronounced like โ€œah.โ€ 

๐“ƒญ – the โ€œrecumbent lion ๐“ƒญโ€ was traditionally a biliteral phonogram for the sound โ€œrw,โ€ however, during the Hellenistic Period it adopted the sound of โ€œL.โ€ 

๐“Žก – The โ€œBasket with a Handle ๐“Žกโ€ symbol has the sound of โ€œk.โ€

๐“Šƒ – The โ€œdoorbolt ๐“Šƒโ€ symbol represents the sound โ€œzโ€ or โ€œs.โ€ Itโ€™s also the ideogram for the word โ€œdoorbolt.โ€ 

๐“‡‹ – The โ€œreed ๐“‡‹โ€ represents the sound of โ€œฤฑอ—,โ€ however it can also function as an ideogram for the word โ€œreed ๐“‡‹๐“บ.โ€ 

๐“ˆ– – The โ€œripple of water ๐“ˆ–โ€ is associated with the sound of โ€œn!โ€ 

๐“‚ง – The โ€œhand ๐“‚งโ€ represents the sound โ€œdโ€ and is also the ideogram for the word โ€œhand.โ€ 

๐“‚‹ – The โ€œmouth ๐“‚‹โ€ symbol is used to represent the sound โ€œr.โ€ It can also be used as an ideogram for the word โ€œmouth ๐“‚‹๐“บ.โ€ 

๐“Šƒ – see above! 

The hieroglyphs of โ€œ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒญ๐“Žก๐“Šƒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“Šƒโ€ basically spell out โ€œAlksindrs.โ€ Itโ€™s pretty cool to see the versatility of the hieroglyphic ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช symbols with examples of foreign names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Tutankhamun and Amun

This diorite ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“๐“ŠŒ statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ portrays Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ and the god ๐“Šน Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–. Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ is credited with restoring the Cult of Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–, after it was eradicated by his father Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– in order to solely worship the sun ๐“‡ณ๐“บ god ๐“Šน Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ.ย 

This statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ is very interesting because it displays Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ– very large, while Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ is very small ๐“ˆ–๐“†“๐“‹ด๐“…ฉ. Since the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป was considered a god ๐“Šน on Earth ๐“‡พ๐“‡พ, they were usually depicted as large, intimidating, and regal figures. However, the pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ช were second to the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน themselves – especially Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ– who was the king ๐“‡“ of the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน. So in the presence of Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–, the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป is very small ๐“ˆ–๐“†“๐“‹ด๐“…ฉ. 

The statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ has sustained damage, most notable is the fact that Tutankhamunโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ head is missing. This is because this era of the 18th Dynasty was supposed to be โ€˜forgottenโ€™ by history. The pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ช that came after Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ tried to erase all evidence of the Amarna era. Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ fell victim to this as well, even though he restored the traditional Egyptian pantheon. It was due to his familial relation to Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– that he was also subjected to having his images ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ destroyed.ย 

A lot of Tutankhamunโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ images ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ and statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ฆ were usurped by the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Horemheb ๐“‡ณ๐“‚ฆ๐“†ฃ๐“ผ๐“‡ณ๐“‰๐“ˆ–, who was not only Tutankhamunโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ general ๐“€Ž๐“ฆ, but was the last pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป of the 18th Dynasty. 

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Egyptian Artifacts

Limestone Trial Piece of Two Hands

For some reason, this very simple relief of two ๐“ป hands ๐“‚ง๐“๐“ฆ was one of my favorite things that I saw at the Petrie Museum in London! 

Flinders Petrie was one of the main excavators at present-day Tel el-Amarna, the site of Akhenaten’s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– new capital of Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–.ย  Amarna as it is commonly referred to as, is the modern name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– for โ€œAkhetaten ๐“ˆŒ๐“๐“‰๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“Š– – Horizon of the Aten,โ€ which replaced Thebes ๐“Œ€๐“๐“Š– as the capital of Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–.ย 

During excavations at Amarna ๐“ˆŒ๐“๐“‰๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“Š– the workshops ๐“„ฏ๐“๐“‰๐“ฆ of artists were found, which contained a lot of unfinished reliefs. These “trial pieces” are though to have been made by young artists who were learning their craft. Even though this is such a simple relief of hands ๐“‚ง๐“๐“ฆ with many cracks, I find it to be so beautiful ๐“„ค. The art of the Amarna period fascinates me because it is so different stylistically from other Egyptian art! I love seeing all of the unfinished pieces that were found at Amarna – itโ€™s kind of like getting a behind the scenes view of the art! 

A lot of reliefs in Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– were made on limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰. From a geological perspective, limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ (due to its composition of the mineral calcite ๐“ฑ – which comes from dead marine organisms), is a very easy rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ to sculpt and work with because calcite ๐“ฑ is a softer mineral ๐“‡‹๐“Œป๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™. Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– used to be completely under water ๐“ˆ— hundreds ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ of millions ๐“จ๐“จ๐“จ of years ago, hence why limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ (and sandstone ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“‚ง๐“๐“Œ—๐“ˆ™) are so abundant – both of these rocks ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™๐“ฆ are classified as sedimentary rocks, which are primarily formed under large bodies of water ๐“ˆ—!

Limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ is composed of dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ marine organisms, which I find correlates with ancient Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– as a whole – their entire life ๐“‹น/religion focused on preparing for death ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ, and they basically built ๐“๐“‚ค๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“€ง their civilization out of dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ things! 

Itโ€™s so fascinating how geology and Egyptian history are so closely interrelated! Did you know that Petrie was a geologist and that he was the first to apply stratigraphy (studying rock layers) to the field of archaeology?! 

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Egyptian Artifacts

The Board Game “Senet”

If an object has Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– on it, I am going to get excited about it – no matter what the artifact is!

This piece is a type of ancient Egyptian board game called Senet ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ ! Senet ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“  is the worldโ€™s oldest board game – thereโ€™s evidence of its existence all the way back to the First Dynasty (though this particular board is dated c. 1390-1353 B.C.E.). 

During the New Kingdom, the game represented the journey of the Ka ๐“‚“ (soul) to the afterlife/Duat ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰. The word โ€œSenetโ€ ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“  actually means passage or gateway (though there are other ways to write these words as well)! If you look really closely, you can see details of the โ€œAnkh ๐“‹น,โ€ which is the symbol that means โ€œLifeโ€ along with the โ€œDjed Pillar ๐“Šฝโ€ which means โ€œStabilityโ€ painted on the side of the game! On both the left and right sides, you can also see the word ๐“‹ด๐“ˆ–๐“ƒ€ which means โ€œHealth!โ€ Such lovely messages on the side of a board game!

Senet ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“  is still a game that can be played today, though some of the rules are debatable! I find it so interesting that board games have been around for so long in history! Some things an about humanity have not changed!ย 

The version of Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– that appears on the side of the Senet ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“  board is her throne name, which is the name she took when she became pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป! Her throne name is โ€œMaatkare ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“โ€ which translates to โ€œTruth is the Soul of Re.โ€ 

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Egyptian Artifacts

First Dynasty Lion Cub

How cute is this lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› cub?! Whenever I am at the MET, I always make sure to stop by and see him!ย 

When I was a kid ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“€”, I absolutely loved this quartzite statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ of a lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› cub because it reminded me of Simba from The Lion King! Only the main features of the lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› cub are seen, and none of the features are โ€œsharply defined ๐“‹ด๐“Šช๐“‚ง๐“š๐“บ๐“›,โ€ however, it is clear that this is a statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ of a lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› and it is one of my favorite examples of early Egyptian art!

This cute little lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› is from the First Dynasty (c. 3100โ€“2900 B.C.E.)! During the Pre-Dynastic through Early Dynastic periods, statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช of animals were usually smaller in size (amulet ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…† size or just a little larger – look above the lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ in the picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ to see examples) This statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ thought is almost like a transition piece towards the larger and grander statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช of the later dynasties. This little lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› was originally found in southern ๐“‡”๐“ Upper Egypt ๐“‡“. I love being able to see the changes in Egyptian art through time! 

Geology Time!!! Since quartzite is a very hard stone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“Šช, the Egyptians had to learn how to work with and sculpt these types of rocks ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™๐“ฆ! Quartz ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Œ๐“ˆ™, the mineral ๐“‡‹๐“Œป๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™ quartzite is mostly composed of has a hardness of 7 out of 10 on Mohโ€™s Hardness Scale, which means it is very resistant to being scratched! Quartzite is a metamorphic rock, which means it was originally sandstone ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“‚ง๐“๐“Œ—๐“ˆ™ before it was subjected to intense heat and pressure, which recrystallized it into quartzite. Quartzite is a much stronger and durable rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ than the original sandstone ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“‚ง๐“๐“Œ—๐“ˆ™. 

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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Sphinx of Senwosret III (Part II)

Here is a link to Part I!

The Horus Name is one of five ๐“พ ways to write the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of a pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, and it is the oldest way to do so. The purpose of the Horus Name was to identify the king ๐“‡“ as an earthly representation of the god ๐“Šน Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ.ย 

The Horus Name consists of three elements: the palace facade ๐“Š, Horus the Falcon ๐“…ƒ standing on top of the palace ๐“Š, and the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป within the palace ๐“Š. The palace ๐“Š hieroglyph ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ is pronounced like โ€œserekhโ€ and some Egyptologists are now referring to the Horus Name as the Serekh Name. This was basically the early version of the cartouche! 

On the sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ of Pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Senwosret III ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“, you can see the Horus name, however, the throne name is also in the serekh! This is unusual to see both names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ in the serekh! 

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! 

๐“Šน๐“†ฃ๐“…ฑ – โ€œHorus, Divine of Formโ€ (Neter-kheperu) (Horus Name)

๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“ – โ€œThe Souls of Ra have Appearedโ€ (Kha kau ra) (Throne Name)

Something I love about this sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ, is that it is made out of gneiss, which is one of my favorite rocks ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™๐“ฆ! Gneiss is a foliated metamorphic rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ which means that it was subjected to such extreme heat and pressure during its formation (probably due to mountain ๐“ˆ‹๐“…ณ building or plate tectonics), that the minerals ๐“‡‹๐“Œป๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ฆ have separated into bands of light (felsic) and dark (mafic) colored minerals ๐“‡‹๐“Œป๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ฆ! This gives gneiss a natural zebra-like appearance! 

Gebel el-Asr is the only quarry ๐“Ž›๐“๐“๐“‰ in Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– where gneiss can be found, and gneiss was prized from the Predynastic to Middle Kingdoms for statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ making!

The following pictures ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ show a close up of one of my samples of gneiss, so you can see this banding! 

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Sphinx of Senwosret III (Part I)

Pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ were commonly represented as sphinxes ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ฆ in ancient Egyptian art for many reasons. A sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ is a mythical creature that has the body of a lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› and the head of a human. In ancient Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–, lions ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„›๐“ช have been associated with kingship ๐“‡“๐“‡Œ since prehistoric times due to their strength ๐“Œ€ and ferocity. The sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ was the perfect representation of the strength ๐“Œ€ of the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป due to its lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› body, while the face still preserved the image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ of the king ๐“‡“ himself. 

This magnificent sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ is a representation of the 12th Dynasty Pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Senwosret III ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“. Senwosret III ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“ has very distinctive facial features, so he is very easy to spot in Middle Kingdom art. Senwosret III ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“ is wearing the characteristic nemes head cloth ๐“ˆ–๐“…“๐“‹ด and false beard ๐“๐“ƒ€๐“Šƒ๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ธ, which are both signs of kingship ๐“‡“๐“‡Œ. 

While this is not a professional term, to me, Senwosret III ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“ looks like a โ€œsad and tired old man,โ€ which is how I distinguish him from statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช of other pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ. This depiction of a pharaoh demonstrates how in the Middle Kingdom, some of the art took a more realistic approach, instead of the typical idealistic approach. Usually, pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ and people were shown at their best, not how they actually looked. However, this sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ shows a detachment from idealistic depictions. 

This sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ is in a crouching position, which to the Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช meant that it was a guardian of a sacred place, such as a temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ or an important building. This is why rows or lines of sphinxes have been found at various temples ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰๐“ช around Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– – the sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ, and therefore the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, was using his strength ๐“Œ€ and might to protect these sacred places!ย 

Here is a link to Part II!

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Ushabti and Miniature Coffin

Today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ, we are going to take a look at this unique ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ that was discovered in the mortuary temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ of the pyramid ๐“‹๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‰ด of the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Senwosret I ๐“„Š๐“‹ด๐“‚‹๐“๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ– (Dynasty 12). This was probably left as some type of offering ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช๐“๐“”๐“ฆ. The ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ and coffin ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ are made out of wood ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ and are covered in gold ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ leaf. 

The ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ and coffin ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ contain the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of Wahneferhotep, who was probably the son ๐“…ญ of Senwosret I ๐“„Š๐“‹ด๐“‚‹๐“๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ– due to the title โ€œKingโ€™s Son ๐“‡“๐“…ญโ€ appearing in the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช. These two ๐“ป objects seen here are the only place where Wahneferhotepโ€™s name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–appears, so we know nothing about him!ย 

What is so cool about the miniature coffin ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ is that it is so detailed and similar to an actual coffin ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ! The text ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ on the miniature coffin ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ is inscribed with the same funerary spells as regular sized coffins would be! The eyes ๐“น๐“๐“ฆ on this side of the coffin ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ would allow the mummy ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ (or in this case, the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ) to see outside of it! The ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ was even found covered with linen ๐“ฑ and laying on its side! This was very typical of Middle Kingdom burial practices ๐“ˆŽ๐“‚‹๐“‹ด๐“๐“๐“Šญ, and it was something my Nonno would always point out to me when we were in a museum! 

The text ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ on the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is a version of the standard โ€œShabti Spell. This spell ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“› gives the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ the power to complete tasks (farming, manual labor, etc) for the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ in the Field of Reeds ๐“‡๐“๐“ˆ…๐“‡‹๐“„ฟ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“†ฐ๐“Š– so the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ doesnโ€™t have to do any work in the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰.