Category: Egyptian Artifacts

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Egyptian Artifacts

British Museum King’s List

Something I was so excited to see in the British Museum was the Abydos King List.

There are two surviving King Lists from temples ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰๐“ช at Abydos, the cult center of Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ. One temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ is from Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ , and the other from his son Rameses II ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“, who were both pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฅ during the 19th Dynasty. Seti Iโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  list is still in the temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ at Abydos, while Rameses IIโ€™s ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ was excavated and brought to the British Museum.

While neither list is a 100% complete list, there are some glaring holes in the list – Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช, Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…ž๐“๐“ˆ–, Smenkhare ๐“‡ณ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ป๐“‚“๐“‚ฆ๐“†ฃ, Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“, and Ayโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“†ฃ๐“†ฃ๐“ช๐“น๐“™๐“ cartouches are missing. Obviously, these names were left off because these pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฅ are considered non-legitimate. Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช was the female pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, and Akhenaten-Ay is considered the Amarna Period, which was not well liked due to the drama of Akhenaten changing the religion and moving the capital of Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–.

The point of the King Lists was not to preserve history for future generations, rather the main objective was to glorify the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน, and as we know, pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฅ were considered gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน on Earth. These lists allowed Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  and Rameses II ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ to assert their legitimacy amongst the old pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฅ of Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–.

In this picture, Iโ€™m pointing to where Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช name should be, but is missing due to the fact that she was purposefully left off the list!

You can see Thutmosis IIIโ€™s the one name ๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ, and then Iโ€™m pointing to the space next to his name. Why next to Thutmosis III ๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ? Even though Thutmosis III ๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ was technically named as pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป first, and since he was too young to rule (he came to the throne at as young as two years old according to some historians), Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช was his co-regent until she named herself the sole pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป.

Here is a closer look at the Kingโ€™s List – how stunning are these hieroglyphs?! Iโ€™m always so amazed that even after thousands of years, the colors on the monuments are still there!

On the left hand side, you can see the inscription ๐“†ฅ(๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“ง๐“‡ณ๐“‰๐“ˆ–). This is his prenomen, or Throne Name:

๐“†ฅ – King of Upper and Lower Egypt
๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“ง๐“‡ณ๐“‰๐“ˆ– – Usermaatre Setepenre, which means Keeper of Harmony and Balance, Chosen by Ra.

Next to that inscription, you can see the following: ๐“…ญ๐“‡ณ (๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“œ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“Šƒ).

๐“…ญ๐“‡ณ – Son of Ra
๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“œ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“Šƒ – Rameses, Beloved of Amun.

Hereโ€™s an even further breakdown of Rameses IIโ€™s Nomen:
๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜ – Beloved of Amun
๐“œ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“Šƒ – can be translated multiple ways โ€œBorn of Ra,โ€ โ€œRa bore him,โ€ etc.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Limestone Relief of Thoth

This is a limestone relief of the god ๐“Šน Thoth ๐“…ค๐“€ญ at the Vatican Museum! While Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ is my favorite Egyptian god ๐“Šน, Thoth ๐“…ค๐“€ญ was always my second favorite because he was the god ๐“Šน of scribes ๐“Ÿ๐“€€๐“ช and writing ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ! Since I love hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช, Thoth ๐“…ค๐“€ญ was always a figure that I found fascinating!

Here are some fun facts about Thoth!
-โ€œThothโ€ is actually his Greek name – in Egyptian his name is โ€œDjehutyโ€

-While Thoth ๐“…ค๐“€ญ is mainly known as being the patron of scribes ๐“Ÿ๐“€€๐“ช and the god ๐“Šน of writing ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ/creator of language, he is also considered the god ๐“Šน of the sciences and the moon!

-He is credited with inventing the calendar and controlling space and time!

-Thoth ๐“…ค๐“€ญ has also provided guidance to the other gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน and can also be associated with truth and justice.

-Since Thoth ๐“…ค๐“€ญ was the god ๐“Šน of the moon, he replaced Ra ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“› in the sky at night ๐“Žผ๐“‚‹๐“Ž›๐“„›.

-He can be represented as an Ibis๐“…ž, as a human body with an Ibis head๐“Ÿ, or as a baboon๐“ƒป!

-He was the bookkeeper at the Weighing of the Heart Ceremony

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Egyptian Artifacts

Bastet vs. Sekhmet

This image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ shows bronze statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช of the beloved ๐“Œป๐“‚‹๐“‡Œ Egyptian goddess ๐“Šน๐“ Bastet ๐“Žฏ๐“๐“๐“. Here are some fun facts about Bastet ๐“Žฏ๐“๐“๐“!!

The goddesses ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“ Bastet ๐“Žฏ๐“๐“๐“ and Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“ were both depicted as cats ๐“…“๐“‡‹๐“…ฑ๐“ƒ ๐“ช, however, Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“ usually had the body of a woman while Bastet ๐“Žฏ๐“๐“๐“ usually had the body of a cat ๐“…“๐“‡‹๐“…ฑ๐“ƒ .

However, when Bastet ๐“Žฏ๐“๐“๐“ was depicted with the body of a woman, she was usually holding a sistrum ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ™๐“๐“ฃ in one hand! Since Hathor ๐“‰ก was usually seen with sistrums ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ™๐“๐“ฃ๐“ช, this shows a link between the two ๐“ป goddesses!

Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“ and Bastet ๐“Žฏ๐“๐“๐“ were believed to be the two unpredictable personalities of the same goddess ๐“Šน๐“. While Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“ represented the destructive and unpredictable side, Bastet ๐“Žฏ๐“๐“๐“ was the gentler and calmer side.

Bastet ๐“Žฏ๐“๐“๐“ was the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ of pregnancy and childbirth and was considered to be the protective form of the goddess ๐“Šน๐“.

Bastetโ€™s ๐“Žฏ๐“๐“๐“ father was Ra ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“›! Which is why her alter ego Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“ can be associated with the sun.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Late Period Faience Amulets

These are some Late Period faience amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช! Amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช were protective symbols that could be used by either the living ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“ or the dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ and each amulet ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…† had its own power based on the image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ it represented.ย 

The first amulet ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…† on the left is Shu ๐“‡‹๐“…ฑ๐“€ญ, the god ๐“Šน of the air and atmosphere. In the Egyptian creation myth, Shu ๐“‡‹๐“…ฑ๐“€ญ raised the atmosphere from the Earthโ€™s ๐“‡พ๐“‡พ surface, separating the two ๐“ป. Shu ๐“‡‹๐“…ฑ๐“€ญ was often worshipped ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข by sailors, who were looking for favorable winds ๐“‡‹๐“‡ฌ๐“ˆ–๐“…ฑ๐“Šก๐“ฆ! 

The next two ๐“ป amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช are different representations of the god ๐“Šน Khnum ๐“Žธ๐“๐“€ญ. Khnum ๐“Žธ๐“๐“€ญ is usually represented as a ram and is one of the oldest Egyptian deities ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน – evidence of worship ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข dates back to the First Dynasty!! Khnum ๐“Žธ๐“๐“€ญ is the god ๐“Šน of the Nile River ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ and fertility. In the creation myth, Khnum ๐“Žธ๐“๐“€ญ is said to have created all of the worldโ€™s people on his potterโ€™s wheel. He is associated with Ptah ๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฑ, who created the heavens ๐“Šช๐“๐“‡ฏ and Earth ๐“‡พ๐“‡พ on a potterโ€™s wheel. 

The next two ๐“ป amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช are a hare ๐“ƒน๐“บ and an Apis Bull ๐“Ž›๐“‘๐“Šช๐“ƒ’. The hare ๐“ƒน๐“บ amulet was thought to have regenerative powers, and in a funerary context, would help the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ be reborn ๐“„Ÿ๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ in the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰. The Apis Bull ๐“Ž›๐“‘๐“Šช๐“ƒ’ was associated with fertility and rebirth ๐“„Ÿ๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ and was mostly worshipped ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข in Memphis ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“‰ด๐“Š–. 

Taweret ๐“๐“„ฟ๐“…ฉ๐“‚‹๐“๐“†— is a fierce Egyptian goddess ๐“Šน๐“ who is associated with childbirth. Women who were pregnant would wear amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช of Taweret ๐“๐“„ฟ๐“…ฉ๐“‚‹๐“๐“†— for protection. Taweret ๐“๐“„ฟ๐“…ฉ๐“‚‹๐“๐“†— is always represented as a pregnant hippopotamus ๐“Œ‰๐“๐“ƒฏ and was a household deity – she didnโ€™t have any temples ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰๐“ช dedicated to her specifically. 

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Egyptian Artifacts

Museum Display at the Louvre

I love the randomness of some museum displays – thereโ€™s always so much to look at! By โ€œrandomness,โ€ Iโ€™m referring to the varying objects that can be grouped together, however they are from the same time period so the conglomeration of different objects can give you a sense of the varying objects common during that period! It also gives you a look into the art styles that were popular!

Starting from the left, you can see a figure of the god Bes ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“„œ. Bes ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“„œ didnโ€™t become commonly worshipped until the beginning of the New Kingdom. He was the god of childbirth, protector of the household ๐“‰๐“บ, and defender of all that is good! He was considered to be a โ€œdemonic fighter,โ€ and was also a war god.

There are two ๐“ป ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ figures with beautiful hieroglyphic ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช inscriptions. These little guys were buried with the deceased and were meant to be their servants in the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰. Mostย ushabtisย ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช are inscribed with a spell that tells you what their function was. When Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ ๐“€ญ called upon the deceased for labor, the deceased would say the spell on theย ushabtiย ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ and it would come to life and perform the labor in place of the deceased!

Next are the sistrums ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ™๐“๐“ฃ๐“ช! A sistrum ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ™๐“๐“ฃ was almost like an ancient tambourine or rattle – while the part that makes the music is often not found intact, the handle with Hathorโ€™s ๐“‰ก face usually is. Sistrums ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ™๐“๐“ฃ๐“ช can be found dating back to the Old Kingdom, but most that are found are usually from the Late – Graeco/Roman periods.

And lastly, a statue of the goddess Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“! Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“ was one of my Nonnoโ€™s favorite mythological figures. Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“ was a war goddess and was associated with the destructive aspects of the sun ๐“‡ณ๐“บ (like the unrelenting heat of the desert).

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Egyptian Artifacts

Non-Royal Art from the Amarna Period

Both of these pieces may seem small, but they are quite interesting!

Both the head of a statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ (left) and the statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ of two men and a boy (right) are non-royal art pieces from the Amarna Period. The Amarna Period refers to the reign of the pharaoh Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–. Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– is referred to as the heretic pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, because he changed the entire Egyptian religion from the traditional polytheistic to the monotheistic worship ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข of the Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ.

Besides the dramatic religious shift, and the move of the Egyptian capital from Thebes ๐“Œ€๐“๐“Š– to his new capital (aptly named โ€œAkhenatenโ€), one thing that made the Amarna period quite different was the shift in the art style. Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– and the royal family were always depicted strangely compared to past Egyptian art styles. Many think this could be due to a genetic connective tissue disease than ran through the family. However, these two ๐“ป pieces show that even the non-royals were also depicted in what is now considered to be typical Amarna style art. Amarna art usually shows people with long limbs, strangely shaped heads, and prominent bellies.

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Egyptian Artifacts

False Door of Merykhufu

This is a False Door for the inspector and priest ๐“Šน๐“› named Merykhufu (๐“๐“…ฑ๐“†‘๐“…ฑ)๐“Œธ๐“‚‹.

False Doors were an important aspect of Egyptian funerary practices and served as ways for the living relatives to make offerings to the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. While this piece most likely dates to the 4th Dynasty, False Doors have been found throughout various periods of Egyptian history.

This piece strikes me as super interesting because at first glance, it looks like it belongs to the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Khufu ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“†‘๐“…ฑ, because his cartouche is present. However, this personโ€™s name is Merykhufu (๐“๐“…ฑ๐“†‘๐“…ฑ)๐“Œธ๐“‚‹ – he incorporated the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Khufuโ€™s ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“†‘๐“…ฑ name into his own. His name actually means โ€œBeloved of Khufu.โ€

Merykhufuโ€™s (๐“๐“…ฑ๐“†‘๐“…ฑ)๐“Œธ๐“‚‹ wife, son ๐“…ญ, and daughter ๐“…ญ๐“ are also present on the False Door. This is hard to date because Khufu ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“†‘๐“…ฑ was admired by a cult long after his death. However, the wig that Merykhufuโ€™s (๐“๐“…ฑ๐“†‘๐“…ฑ)๐“Œธ๐“‚‹ wife is wearing is an early dynastic style, which is why this piece most likely dates to the Old Kingdom (Dynasty 4).

The word โ€œbelovedโ€ can also be written like this โ€œ๐“Œป๐“‚‹๐“‡Œโ€œ and is actually the more phonetic way to write it. However, sometimes words were shortened to fit the piece/person – almost like an abbreviation!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Quail Chick Hieroglyph Relief

This beautiful ๐“„ค sculpture is a raised relief of a quail chick ๐“…ฑ hieroglyph ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ dates to the Ptolemaic Period in Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–. This relief shows the full hieroglyph ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ in beautiful ๐“„ค detail. This style of an object being โ€œunfinished but actually finishedโ€ was very popular during this time period. Limestone pieces such as these are often referred to as โ€œsculptors modelsโ€ by Egyptologists because they are very detailed and only show one part of the object.

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Egyptian Artifacts

4th Dynasty Lion Statue

This lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› statue is from the 4th Dynasty, which means it even pre-dates the Pyramids ๐“‹๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‰ด๐“ช at Giza!

This lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› most likely guarded the entrance to some type of sanctuary or temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰. Even early on in ancient Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–, lions ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„›๐“ช were seen as representative of royalty due to the fact that they were the most powerful predator in the vicinity of the Nile Valley ๐“‡—! This statue is actually the oldest preserved example of a full lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› that archaeologists have found!

When you enter the Egyptian Galleries at theย MET,ย this statue is actually one of the first things that you see!!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Gilded Sarcophagi


Here are some gilded sarcophagi ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ๐“ช at the British Museum!

Theย British Museumย has so many different sarcophagi ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ๐“ช in their collection that it was almost overwhelming trying to see everything!!! Sarcophagi ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ๐“ช such as these are usually made of wood ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ with a gold leaf overlay – it makes it look like the sarcophagus ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ is made of pure gold when it is not! These are decorated beautifully ๐“„ค with many of the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน and goddesses ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“ of the Egyptian pantheon! The sarcophagus ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ on the left contains a dedication to Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ, which runs down the center of the lid!