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Egyptian Artifacts

Limestone Column of Bes

This is part of a limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ column that is representative of the god ๐“Šน Bes ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“„œ and it is dated to the Ptolemaic Period (332-31 B.C.E.).

Bes ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“„œ was worshipped as the protector ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ of households ๐“‰๐“บ, mothers ๐“…๐“๐“๐“ช, children ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“€•๐“ช, and even childbirth. Bes ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“„œ also represented everything good, and was the enemy of anything evil. Bes ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“„œ is also thought to protect ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ people against sickness. Cups were fashioned in Besโ€™ ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“„œ likeness and people thought if they drank from the cup, Bes ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“„œ would heal them! Small statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช and amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช of Bes ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“„œ were also placed in bedrooms as a form of protection.

Fun fact: the Spanish island of Ibiza is thought to be named after Bes ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“„œ! Bes ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“„œ was worshipped by the Phoenicians (whose pantheon mixed with the Egyptians) and Phoenician settlers brought their worship of Bes ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“„œ with them to Ibiza when it was settled. Ibiza actually means โ€œIsland of Bes.โ€

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Egyptian Artifacts

Faience Tiles from the Step Pyramid

Djoser ๐“‚ฆ was the first pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป of the 3rd Dynasty, and his Step Pyramid ๐“‹๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‰ด was the first large stone structure in Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–. Designed by the architect Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช, who was later deified, the Step Pyramid ๐“‹๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‰ด was meant to provide the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป with a large funerary complex and a home for eternity ๐“Ž›๐“‡ณ๐“Ž›.

These blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ tiles decorated the lower levels of Djoserโ€™s ๐“‚ฆ Step Pyramid ๐“‹๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‰ด Complex. There were over 30,000 tiles used!!! The tiles were meant to represent various types of reeds that covered the walls of Djoserโ€™s ๐“‚ฆ palace.

I have always been obsessed with anything having to do with the Step Pyramid ๐“‹๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‰ด solely because of Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช. My Nonno always spoke more about Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช than Djoser ๐“‚ฆ! My Nonno always pointed these tiles out to me in the museum. While to most people, the tiles look somewhat insignificant compared to beautifully ๐“„ค carved reliefs and statues, my Nonno always said that these types of tiles were important because they were really only found in the Step Pyramid ๐“‹๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‰ด and one of Djoserโ€™s ๐“‚ฆ other buildings at Saqqara. The tiles were pretty much a โ€œuniquely Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šชโ€ thing according to Nonno!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Book of the Dead of Sobekmose

One of the greatest aspects of the Brooklyn Museumโ€™s Egyptian collection is The Book of the Dead for a man named Sobekmose, who had the title โ€œGoldworker of Amun.โ€ Sobekmose was buried in Memphis ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“‰ด๐“Š– and that is where this papyrus ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“› was found. This Book of the Dead dates to the 18th Dynasty (early New Kingdom 1500-1480 B.C.E.). It is displayed as one complete papyrus ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“›!

The Book of the Dead is interesting because it doesn’t follow a particular story. The spells ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“›๐“ฆ do seem to be grouped by theme, and sometimes pictures ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ can be representative of the spells ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“›๐“ฆ as well.

In this image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“, you can see some of the Hieratic script that the Book of the Dead is written in – don’t ask me to translate, because I can’t read Hieratic! I can only read hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! I would love to learn Hieratic though! The text is read from top to bottom, right to left.

Some of the Hieratic is in black ๐“†Ž๐“…“ ink while some of it is in red ๐“‚ง๐“ˆ™๐“‚‹๐“…Ÿ. The red ๐“‚ง๐“ˆ™๐“‚‹๐“…Ÿ ink seems to symbolize either the beginning or the end ๐“Žผ๐“‚‹๐“Ž›๐“‚๐“› of a spell ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“›, or it could highlight a word for a noun that was considered “bad” in Egyptian culture. However, sometimes even “offering table ๐“‚๐“ƒ€๐“…ก๐“„ฟ๐“‹ƒ” could have been written/drawn in red ๐“‚ง๐“ˆ™๐“‚‹๐“…Ÿ and offering tables ๐“‚๐“ƒ€๐“…ก๐“„ฟ๐“‹ƒ were not bad at all! So, some of the red ๐“‚ง๐“ˆ™๐“‚‹๐“…Ÿ ink seems kinda random.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Scribes in Ancient Egypt

Scribes ๐“Ÿ๐“€€๐“ช were very highly regarded in ancient Egyptian society. Due to the complexity of hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช/hieratic, those who were able to master it were extremely valued. Scribes ๐“Ÿ๐“€€๐“ช recorded magic spells, wills and other legal contracts, medical procedures, and tax records. Scribes ๐“Ÿ๐“€€๐“ช also helped to preserve Egyptian culture throughout time. They were considered part of the royal court and did not have to serve in the military because their job as a scribe ๐“Ÿ๐“€€ was so essential.

Nicole (me) and her sister Amanda with the scribe statue at the Louvre.

It took almost ten ๐“Ž† years for a person to complete scribal training and children started school as young as five ๐“พ years old. Though most scribes ๐“Ÿ๐“€€๐“ช are shown to be men ๐“Šƒ๐“€€๐“ค, there is archaeological evidence that some girls also attended school and learned to read. Most boys inherited the job of scribe ๐“Ÿ๐“€€ from their father ๐“‡‹๐“๐“€€ as is the same with other occupations in ancient Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–.

Fun fact: it took me about six ๐“ฟ years to really master reading hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! Even though Iโ€™ve been practicing/reading them for over 20 ๐“Ž†๐“Ž† years now, Iโ€™m still learning every single day!

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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Bronze Blades of Hatshepsut

Believe it or not, these two ๐“ป pieces were probably my favorite objects that I saw in the Petrie Museum.

I was so excited when I saw them, because Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“ throne name appears on it! Since I absolutely love anything to do with Hatshepsut ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“, I was incredibly excited to see something with her name on it. These two ๐“ป pieces are actually bronze ๐“ˆ”๐“ค๐“ˆ’๐“ฆ blades that were once attached to a handle.

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

๐“„ค๐“Šน – Perfect God

(๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“) – Maatkare (Hatshepsutโ€™s Throne Name – translates to โ€œTruth is the Soul of Re.โ€)

๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ– – Amun

๐“ƒ๐“‚ฆ๐“‚ฆ๐“‰- Holiest of Holies (Deir el-Bahri temple)

๐“Œบ๐“‡Œ – Beloved

Put together, the inscription reads: ๐“„ค๐“Šน(๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“)๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ƒ๐“‚ฆ๐“‚ฆ๐“Œบ๐“‡Œ โ€œThe Perfect God Maatkare, Beloved of Amun, Holiest of Holies.โ€

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Egyptian Artifacts

Magical Stela – Cippus

This is known as a Magical Stela, or a cippus.

It depicts Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ(or Harpokrates, the Greek version of Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ) standing on two ๐“ป crocodiles ๐“…“๐“‹ด๐“Ž›๐“†Œ๐“ฅ and holding other dangerous animals such as snakes ๐“‡‹๐“‚๐“‚‹๐“๐“†˜๐“ช and scorpions ๐“‹ด๐“‚‹๐“ˆŽ๐“๐“†ซ๐“ช in each hand. The god Bes ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“„œ also appears above Horusโ€™ ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ head ๐“ถ๐“บ. Bes ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“„œ was known to ward off evil and bad luck.

Normally, stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ were used to commemorate the dead so this is almost like a protective amulet ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…† in the form of a stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ. This cippus was used by the living for protection ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ. Since the Old Kingdom, Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ was called upon as a defender against snake or scorpion bites. Placing the cippus on a wound would evoke its magical and healing powers. Cippus stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ like this were usually kept in homes ๐“‰๐“บ.

However, cippus pieces have also been found in tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ช, so we can assume that the Egyptians thought it not only would help protect ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ the living, but the dead too.

Fun fact! The Middle Egyptian word for scorpion is ๐“‹ด๐“‚‹๐“ˆŽ๐“๐“†ซ which can be pronounced like โ€œSerket.โ€ Serket ๐“‹ด๐“‚‹๐“ˆŽ๐“๐“†ซ was a goddess ๐“Šน๐“ who was represented by a scorpion and she was associated with healing, protection, and magic. Serket ๐“‹ด๐“‚‹๐“ˆŽ๐“๐“†ซ could also be written like this: ๐“Šƒ๐“‚‹๐“ˆŽ๐“๐“.

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Egyptian Artifacts

The Abydos King 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–.

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Egyptian Artifacts

The Hatshepsut Gallery

The room is known as Gallery 115, but I have always called it โ€œThe Hatshepsut Roomโ€ simply because it is the gallery in the MET where all of her statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ฆ are. The MET was instrumental in excavating Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“ mortuary temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ at Deir el-Bahri ๐“‚ฆ๐“‚‹๐“‚ฆ๐“ฅ๐“‰, and all of the statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ฆ in this gallery are from that excavation.

While Hatshepsut ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“ was not the only female pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป in Egyptian history, she was without a doubt the most successful (if not one of the most successful pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ to ever live). During her rule, any Hyksos influence was now erased, and this time was kind of the โ€œgolden ageโ€ for New Kingdom art. Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– also had good relationships with neighboring peoples and trade flowed freely. This allowed Egypt to prosper in ways that it hadnโ€™t before ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Limestone Stela of Paser

This is a limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ that belonged to a man ๐“Šƒ๐“€€๐“ค named Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™ who lived during the 18th Dynasty.

This is not the same Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™๐“€ฝ who was the vizier ๐“…ท๐“๐“บ๐“€€ to the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Rameses II ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ – that Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™๐“€ฝ lived during the 19th Dynasty! On a random note, the Vizier Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™๐“€ฝ has his own large stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ in the British Museum (which I have written about in previous posts) but a smaller stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ was also found during the excavation of his tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰. I was so excited to see the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™ in the Petrie Museum when I was there with my Nonno because my Nonnoโ€™s favorite non-royal was vizier ๐“…ท๐“๐“บ๐“€€ Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™๐“€ฝ! That excitement ended when I saw the date of the piece and realized that these were not for โ€œTHEโ€ Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™๐“€ฝ and weโ€™re just for another man ๐“Šƒ๐“€€๐“ค with the same name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– ๐Ÿ˜‚.

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs! Whatโ€™s great about this stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ is thatall the people are labeled with a โ€œcaptionโ€ above them so they can be identified. The man ๐“Šƒ๐“€€๐“ค in the middle is Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™ and on either side of him is a woman ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“‚‘๐“๐“. Both women have the same name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– – Mery ๐“Œป๐“‡Œ. The word โ€œmeryโ€ in Middle Egyptian means โ€œbeloved,โ€ and can also be written like this: ๐“Œป๐“‚‹๐“‡Œ.

The woman ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“‚‘๐“๐“ that is sitting with Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™ on the lion legged chair is his wife ๐“‚‘๐“๐“, while the woman ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“‚‘๐“๐“ standing at the offering table ๐“‚๐“ƒ€๐“…ก๐“„ฟ๐“‹ƒ with the lotus flower ๐“†ธ is their daughter ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“€•. Two ๐“ป Eyes of Horus ๐“‚€ can be seen on either side of the Shen Ring ๐“ถ at the top of the stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Pink Granite Sphinx

Rome and The Vatican Museum were some of my Nonnoโ€™s absolute favorite places to be and I am so so lucky that we were able to travel there together in 2014. Some of the best days of my life were spent in Rome and Rome has remained my favorite city since that visit. I love Romeโ€™s combination of ancient and modern – the whole vibe of the city very much fits my personality!

This is the pink granite ๐“…“๐“Œณ๐“๐“Žถ Sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ค in the Vatican and it is dated to the first century AD. Even as a geologist itโ€™s so weird that this rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ is classified as pink granite ๐“…“๐“Œณ๐“๐“Žถ because it isnโ€™t pink! Red granite ๐“…“๐“Œณ๐“๐“Žถ is actually a lot more pink and many can get the two ๐“ป rocks ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™๐“ฆ confused! For the purpose of writing hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช, I used the same word for both red and pink granite since the rocks ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™๐“ฆ are definitely similar!

It was difficult to find information about this Sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ค which is why I havenโ€™t made a post about it even though I love this picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“!

But just looking at it you can tell the craftsmanship is exquisite! You can definitely see the merging of Egyptian and Roman styles in this piece. The Sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ค is also so big, which makes it even more impressive. It is so difficult to work with granite ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ–๐“Œณ๐“ฟ because it is a very hard and stable rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ (which is why itโ€™s so great to use for countertops)!