Category: Egyptian Artifacts

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Egyptian Artifacts

Reliefs in the Mastaba of Perneb

This picture 𓏏𓅱𓏏 shows a closeup of one of the many beautiful 𓄤 reliefs that decorate the inside of Perneb’s 𓉐𓂋𓈖𓎟𓃀 mastaba 𓉐𓆖. 

This relief shows two 𓏻 men carrying offerings 𓊵𓏏𓊪𓏏𓏔𓏦 of bread 𓏏𓏐 and fowl 𓅿. These reliefs are facing the False Door inside the tomb 𓇋𓐫𓊃𓉐, where family 𓅕𓉔𓅱𓏏𓀀𓁐𓏦 members would leave offerings 𓊵𓏏𓊪𓏏𓏔𓏦 as well. Drawing the people bringing offerings 𓊵𓏏𓊪𓏏𓏔𓏦 to Perneb 𓉐𓂋𓈖𓎟𓃀 towards the False Door was done on purpose! In the ancient Egyptian religion/culture, it was thought that the drawings on the walls of tombs 𓇋𓐫𓊃𓉐𓏪 could come to life. If people were drawn bringing food 𓇬𓀁𓅱𓏔𓏥 to the deceased 𓅓𓏏𓏱, then it was thought that the deceased 𓅓𓏏𓏱 would have enough sustenance for the afterlife 𓇼𓄿𓏏𓉐! 

Perneb 𓉐𓂋𓈖𓎟𓃀 was a palace administrator during the 5th Dynasty, and he had his tomb 𓇋𓐫𓊃𓉐 built at Memphis 𓏠𓈖𓄤𓆑𓂋𓉴𓊖 (modern day Saqqara). This type of tomb 𓇋𓐫𓊃𓉐 is commonly referred to today as a mastaba, but in ancient Egyptian times they were referred to as a “House of Eternity 𓉐𓆖.” The word “mastaba” is Arabic for the word “bench,” and these tombs 𓇋𓐫𓊃𓉐𓏪 got their modern name 𓂋𓈖 due to their rectangular structure and flat roofs! 

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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Closeup of the Hatshepsut Stela

Here’s a closeup of a part of the Hatshepsut 𓇳𓁦𓂓 Stela 𓎗𓅱𓆓𓉸 from the Vatican Museum in Rome! My Nonno took this picture on one of his trips to the museum. He knows how much I love this piece (it’s second only to the limestone statue of Hatshepsut 𓇳𓁦𓂓 at the MET).

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪! 

In the hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪, you can see the cartouches for the throne names (or prenomen) of both Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III. The prenomen was one of the five royal names of the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻.

𓇳𓁦𓂓 = Maatkare (Hatshepsut)
𓇳𓏠𓆣 = Menkhepra (Thutmosis III)

The hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 in between the two cartouches spell out 𓏙𓋹𓇳𓏇 which translates to “given life like Ra”

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Egyptian Artifacts

Pharaoh Horemheb with the God Amun

My Nonno took this picture!! This is a statue of the Pharaoh Horemheb 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓌺𓄿𓋔𓐝𓎱 with the god 𓊹 Amun 𓇋𓏠𓈖. Amun 𓇋𓏠𓈖 is pictured as larger than the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻. The gods 𓊹𓊹𓊹 were always depicted bigger to symbolize the fact that they were more important than the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻. The only being a pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 ever bowed to was a god, since the pharaohs themselves were gods 𓊹𓊹𓊹 on Earth.

Amun 𓇋𓏠𓈖 was the King of the Gods (kind of like Zeus). As early as the 11th Dynasty, Amun 𓇋𓏠𓈖 was the patron god 𓊹 of Thebes. At the start of the 18th Dynasty, the god 𓊹 Amun 𓇋𓏠𓈖 gained great national importance in the pantheon and this is illustrated with Amun’s fusion with the sun god Ra (Amun-Ra 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓏺𓇳).

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪! 

On the left side of the statue, the hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 read: 𓄤𓊹 𓎟𓇿𓇿(𓇳𓂦𓆣𓏼𓇳𓍉𓈖)𓇋𓏠𓈖𓏺𓇳 𓌻𓇌𓏙𓋹 – this translates to: “The great god, lord of the two lands, Djeser Kheperu Re, beloved of Amun-Ra, given life.”

While on the right side, the hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 read: 𓅭𓇳 𓎟𓈍𓏥(𓇋𓏠𓈖𓌺𓄿𓋔𓐝𓎱) 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓏺𓇳 𓌻𓇌𓏙𓋹 -this translates to: “Son of Ra, lord of appearances, Horemheb, beloved of Amun-Ra, given life.”

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Egyptian Artifacts

Egyptian Obelisks in Rome

Rome 🇮🇹 was my Nonno’s favorite place, and when we visited Rome as a family, it became my favorite city. The combination of ancient and modern is something that Nonno and I absolutely loved.

While my sister (who is in the picture with me) was excited to visit Piazza Navona because of the book “Angels and Demons,” (which I totally recommend – it’s an incredible book), I was most excited to see the obelisk 𓉶! The obelisk 𓉶 was commissioned by Emperor Domitian. The hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 on the obelisk 𓉶 state that Emperor Domitian rebuilt the Temple of Isis at Philae.

Since we are on the topics of Egyptian Obelisks 𓉶𓏪 in Rome, here’s a picture of my sister and I in Piazza San Pietro (Saint Peter’s Square) in Rome 🇮🇹!

What’s different about this obelisk 𓉶 is that there’s no hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 on it – it’s completely blank! Of the 13 obelisks 𓉶𓏪 in Rome, eight of them are completely Egyptian, while the other five were procured by Romans after they conquered Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖.

The Vatican Obelisk was brought to Rome by Emperor Caligula. But the question is: why are some obelisks 𓉶𓏪 inscribed with hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 and some not? This question has baffled historians, but Egyptologist Bob Brier has come to the conclusion that the inclusion/non inclusion of hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 simply has to do with the Roman emperor’s attitude towards Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖. Some emperors had positive views of Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖(Domitian, Hadrian), while some Emperors had very negative views of Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖(Augustus, Caligula). For example, Augustus hated Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖 because he lost a lot of Roman men in battle there.

Fun fact: Rome has a total of 13 obelisks 𓉶𓏪! That is the most obelisks 𓉶𓏪 in any city outside of Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Ushabti of Pharaoh Seti I

Pharaoh Seti I 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓌻𓇌𓁣𓈖 had over 700 ushabtis 𓅱𓈙𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾𓏪! The typical number was around four hundred – 365 worker ushabtis 𓅱𓈙𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾𓏪, and the rest were overseer ushabtis. Most of Seti I’s 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓌻𓇌𓁣𓈖 ushabtis 𓅱𓈙𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾𓏪 were wood 𓆱𓏏𓏺- when Giovanni Belzoni discovered Seti I’s tomb 𓇋𓐫𓊃𓉐 in the Valley of the Kings in 1917, he used a lot of the wooden 𓆱𓏏𓏺 ushabtis 𓅱𓈙𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾𓏪 as torches (this fact still haunts me – it was also one of my Nonno’s favorite stories to tell).

Besides the wooden 𓆱𓏏𓏺 ushabtis, Seti I 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓌻𓇌𓁣𓈖 had many faience ushabtis 𓅱𓈙𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾𓏪. His faience ushabtis are such a beautiful blue color and are inscribed with hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪. Seti I’s throne name, Maatmenra 𓇳𓁦𓏠, is clearly seen on the first line of hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Bronze Statue of Maat

Not only was Maat 𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓁦 the goddess 𓊹𓏏 of truth, fact, law, order and justice, “maat” was also a concept and a way of life in ancient Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖. The noun “maat” is translated as “truth” so living by maat, meant living a pure and truthful life. Maat was also the balance and order in the whole universe.

Maat 𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓁦 is usually shown as a woman with a feather on her head. Her most important role was in the judgement of the dead 𓅓𓏏𓏱. The god Anubis 𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓁢 would weigh the heart 𓇋𓃀𓄣 of the deceased against Maat’s 𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓁦 feather 𓆄 to see if they were worthy to enter the Underworld 𓇼𓄿𓏏𓉐 and meet Osiris 𓁹𓊨𓀭. If the deceased’s heart 𓇋𓃀𓄣 was balanced with the feather 𓆄, they were declared “true of voice” 𓐙𓊤, and could meet Osiris 𓁹𓊨𓀭.

This statue is at the Petrie Museum at UCL in London!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Bronze Imhotep

My Nonno always made a point to make sure we saw Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪 in every museum that we went to. It was part of the fun of going to the museum!! After seeing “The Mummy” for the first time when I was about ten years old, I had already known about Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪 for years from a historical perspective!!

Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪, meaning “He who comes in peace,” was a non-royal man who became deified. This is a very rare occurrence, as it was thought by the Egyptians 𓆎𓏏𓀀𓁐𓏪 that the Pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 was the only god 𓊹 on the Earth. Imhotep was not deified in his lifetime – it was 2,000 years after his death that he began to be worshipped as a god 𓊹. Not much is known about Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪 from his lifetime – much information about Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪 is from Demotic texts or stelae 𓎗𓅱𓆓𓉸𓏪 that were written thousands of years after his death.

Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪 was regarded as the Son of Ptah, who was the god 𓊹 of craftsmen and architects. He was also part of the Memphis Triad, which consisted of Ptah 𓊪𓏏𓎛𓀭, Sekhmet 𓌂𓐍𓅓𓏏𓁐, and Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Faience Tiles from Djoser’s Step Pyramid


Djoser 𓂦 was the first pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 of the 3rd Dynasty, and his Step Pyramid 𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴 was the first large stone structure in Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖. Designed by the architect Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪, who was later deified, the Step Pyramid 𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴 was meant to provide the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 with a large funerary complex and a home for eternity 𓎛𓇳𓎛.

These blue faience tiles decorated the lower levels of Djoser’s 𓂦 Step Pyramid 𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴 Complex. There were over 30,000 tiles used!!! The tiles were meant to represent various types of reeds that covered the walls of Djoser’s 𓂦 palace.

I have always been obsessed with anything having to do with the Step Pyramid 𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴 solely because of Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪. My Nonno always spoke more about Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪 than Djoser 𓂦! My Nonno always pointed these tiles out to me in the museum. While to most people, the tiles look somewhat insignificant compared to beautifully 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 𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴 and one of Djoser’s 𓂦 other buildings at Saqqara. The tiles were pretty much a “uniquely Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪” thing according to Nonno!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Osiride Bust of Hatshepsut

This is a bust of Hatshepsut 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓎹𓏏𓄂𓏏𓀼𓏪 in the form of Osiris 𓁹𓊨𓀭 (Osiride) and originally stood over 15 𓎆𓏾 feet high! This “statue” is originally from her temple 𓉟𓏏𓉐 at Deir el-Bahri – this statue was not free-standing – it was actually carved from the blocks that were part of the temple 𓉟𓏏𓉐!!! Hatshepsut 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓎹𓏏𓄂𓏏𓀼𓏪 holds the traditional crook 𓋾 and flail 𓌅 across her chest along with an Ankh 𓋹 and scepter 𓌀. She once wore the white crown 𓋑 of Upper Egypt on her head.

About twenty 𓎆𓎆 years after Hatshepsut 𓇳𓁦𓂓 died, these statues were cut off of the temple 𓉟𓏏𓉐 and thrown into a pit towards the front entrance. There, these Osiride portraits of Hatshepsut 𓇳𓁦𓂓 remained buried until they were discovered by excavators from the MET in the 1930s.

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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Ancient Plagiarism – aka Usurping

This statue is very interesting because it was originally made for the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 Amenemhat II 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓅓𓄂𓏏 during the 12th 𓎆𓏻 Dynasty. However if you look at the hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪, the cartouches of Rameses II can be read! The pharaohs 𓉐𓉻𓏥 used to recycle statues all the time – this is a process known as usurping (taking one pharaoh’s monuments, erasing their name, and putting yours!). It’s kind of like ancient plagiarism!!

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪! 

𓆥(𓇳𓄊𓁧𓇳𓍉𓈖) King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Usermaatre
𓅭𓇳(𓁩𓁛𓈘𓄟𓋴𓇓) Son of Ra, Rameses

This statue is made of granodiorite, a type of volcanic (igneous) rock. It was quarried at Aswan and then transported up the Nile to Memphis, where it was sculpted.