Category: Egyptian Artifacts

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Egyptian Artifacts

Limestone Sculpture of the Goddess Hathor

This limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ sculpture of the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ Hathor ๐“‰ก is one of my favorite pieces that I saw in the Louvre. This piece is dated to the Ptolemaic Period, and used to be part of a column.

Hathorโ€™s ๐“‰ก name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช is quite unique compared to some of the other gods/goddesses. Her name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– is composed of a composite hieroglyph ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ which literally translates to โ€œHouse of Horus.โ€ Hathor ๐“‰ก was the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ of women ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“‚‘๐“๐“๐“ช, motherhood, joy, music ๐“‰”๐“‡Œ๐“†ธ, happiness ๐“„ซ๐“…ฑ๐“›, and a goddess ๐“Šน๐“ of the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰.

One detail that I love about this piece is that Hathor ๐“‰ก is shown with her cow ears! Hathor ๐“‰ก was usually depicted in Egyptian art as either a woman ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“‚‘๐“๐“ or a cow ๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“๐“ƒ’, so this little detail is just so cool! Another detail that I love is how her wig is decorated with rosettes! The details are in raised relief, which only make them stand out more.

In Middle Egyptian, the words โ€œbeautiful womanโ€ and โ€œcowโ€ were the same – the only thing that was different was the determinative symbol! This was most likely due to an association with Hathor ๐“‰ก, and to this day remains one of my favorite โ€œfun factsโ€ about hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช!

๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“๐“ (beautiful woman)
๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“๐“ƒ’ (cow)

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Egyptian Artifacts

Limestone Stela Dedicated to Hathor

Iโ€™m making another post with Hathor ๐“‰ก in it because why not?! Hathor ๐“‰ก was the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ of women ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“‚‘๐“๐“๐“ช, motherhood, joy, music ๐“‰”๐“‡Œ๐“†ธ, happiness ๐“„ซ๐“…ฑ๐“›, and a goddess ๐“Šน๐“ of the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰.

This limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ is dated to the 18th Dynasty (New Kingdom). The stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ was dedicated to Hathor ๐“‰ก and the 11th Dynasty pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Montuhotep II ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช by a priest ๐“Šน๐“› named An. On this stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ, Hathor ๐“‰ก appears in her cow ๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“๐“ƒ’ form, while the human figure (probably Montuhotep II) on the left is cut off. An is not pictured on the stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ, which means it was probably already made and An just had his name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– added to it. It was most likely placed in a shrine at Deir el-Bahri, because both Hathor ๐“‰ก and Montuhotep II ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช were both worshipped there. It was not uncommon for pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ to be worshipped long after they died.

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

๐“Šน๐“„ค๐“ŽŸ๐“‡ฟ๐“‡ฟ(๐“‡ณ๐“Šค๐“ŽŸ) – โ€œThe Great God, Lord of the Two Lands, Nebhapetraโ€ (Nebhapetra is Montuhotep IIโ€™s throne name)

๐“‰ก๐“๐“Š“๐“ท๐“๐“Š–๐“‹† – โ€œHathor, Chief one of Thebesโ€ (Thebes can also be written as โ€œ๐“Œ€๐“๐“Š–โ€ – Iโ€™m just copying the symbol directly from the stela, even though it may look โ€œbackwardsโ€).

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Egyptian Artifacts

Partial Granite Sphinx of Hatshepsut

This is another amazing piece from Gallery 115 at the MET – aka The Hatshepsut Room (as I call it). This granite ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ–๐“Œณ๐“ฟ statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ is from the joint reign of Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช and Thutmosis III ๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ It is titled โ€œHead and Shoulders of a Sphinx of Hatshepsutโ€ because it used to be part of a large Sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ค.

Six ๐“ฟ large sphinxes ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ฆ of Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช were found at Deir el-Bahri ๐“‚ฆ๐“‚‹๐“‚ฆ๐“ฅ๐“‰ during the excavations done by the MET. Though it is hard to see in the picture๐“๐“…ฑ๐“, the sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ค does actually have some remainders of the original paint on it! I canโ€™t even imagine how beautiful ๐“„ค it must have looked after it was just carved and painted!

Much like your typical Sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ค, Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช is seen wearing the false beard and the nemes headcloth ๐“ˆ–๐“…“๐“‹ด, which was the normal style for how pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ were depicted.

A lot of Hatshepsutโ€™s statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช that are from her temple at Deir el-Bahri ๐“‚ฆ๐“‚‹๐“‚ฆ๐“ฅ๐“‰ are made of either granite ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ–๐“Œณ๐“ฟ or red granite ๐“…“๐“Œณ๐“๐“Žถ, which is a very hard rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ (aka very resistant to weathering/breakdown). Granite ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ–๐“Œณ๐“ฟ was mined is Aswan ๐“‹ด๐“ƒน๐“ˆ–๐“Œ๐“ฒ๐“Š– and then shipped up the Nile ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ- definitely an incredible journey!

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Egyptian Artifacts

“Royal and Divine Triad”

Triads (groups of three ๐“ผ) were popular among ancient Egyptian statuary and mythology. This piece from the Louvre is called the โ€œRoyal and Divine Triadโ€ (Dynasty 19, New Kingdom c. 1279-1203 B.C.E.) because it represents three ๐“ผ of the most powerful figures in the Egyptian pantheon. Rameses II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ or his son ๐“…ญ Merenptah ๐“‡ณ๐“ƒ’๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน is on the left, Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ is in the middle, while Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ is on the right. The pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป was viewed as a god ๐“Šน on Earth, Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ was the king of the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน, and Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ was lord ๐“ŽŸ of the afterlife.

I find this piece super interesting because the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป kind of inserted himself amongst the most famous of the Egyptian triads – Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ, Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ and Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ – who were supposed to represent the divine family (mother ๐“…๐“๐“, father ๐“‡‹๐“๐“€€, and child ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“€•). In some instances (like with this statue), the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป would function as the child in the statue.

Not all triads represented families, though that was the most common. Ptah ๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฑ, Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“, and Nefertem ๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“๐“ƒ๐“€ฏ was a family triad that was extremely popular in Memphis. During the New Kingdom (around the time of Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“), the triad of Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–, Ra ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“›, and Ptah ๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฑ became very popular due to the powerful nature of these three ๐“ผ deities

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Egyptian Artifacts

Ushabti of Sati

This is the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ of Sati, and the Brooklyn Museum has two ๐“ป of them! The ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ dates to either the reign of Amenhotep III ๐“‡ณ๐“ง๐“Ž  or Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– (New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, c. 1390-1352 B.C.E.).

This piece is unique because of the color (I love the blue ๐“‡…๐“†“๐“› accents) and extreme attention to detail – the process to make it was so labor intensive that only a few like these were made!! While Sati was not royal (the only title associated with her was โ€œmistress of the houseโ€), these ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ were clearly a royal gift just due to the craftsmanship that went into making it.

This ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is made out of faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ and is mummiform in appearance, with the arms ๐“‚๐“ฆ crossed along the chest. In each hand ๐“‚๐“บ, the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is holding a hoe and a basket. This indicates that the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ was meant to do some type of agricultural labor for the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ in the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰! The ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is also wearing a broad collar ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Statue of an “Amarna King”

The Amarna Period and Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– reign as pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป has always fascinated me. All of the radical changes that were made – such as changing the religion from polytheistic to the monotheistic worship of Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ, to moving the capital, to the changes in the art – it must have been quite crazy during those years!

This is actually one of my favorite pieces in the Brooklyn Museum – the Museum has the statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ labeled as โ€œAmarna Kingโ€ but to me itโ€™s clear that this piece represents Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–. He is represented in typical Amarna art style here: distended belly/large hips, very long arms, narrow neck and angular face. It is not known whether these are exaggerated features, or if the art was meant to be a more realistic representation of what the royal family looked like. Usually Egyptian art depicted people at their finest, with idealized features rather than realistic ones.

In this statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ, Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– is wearing the khepresh ๐“†ฃ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™๐“‹™ crown with the gold ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ Uraeus ๐“‡‹๐“‚๐“‚‹๐“๐“†— preserved at the front, a broad collar ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹ necklace and a skirt. While this limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ statueโ€™s ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ paint is preserved beautifully the gold ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ that is seen is actually gold leaf and not paint!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Sunken Relief of Ptolemy II

This sunken relief in granite ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ–๐“Œณ๐“ฟ depicts Ptolemy II Philadelphos ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“‚“๐“บ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜. Although the Ptolemaic Period of Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– had Greek/Macedonian rulers, they were still depicted in the ways of classical Egyptian art. This relief shows Ptolemy II ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“‚“๐“บ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜ in full Egyptian fashion – he is wearing the nemes headdress ๐“ˆ–๐“…“๐“‹ด with a Uraeus ๐“‡‹๐“‚๐“‚‹๐“๐“†— on the forehead.

Above Ptolemy IIโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“‚“๐“บ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜ head ๐“ถ๐“บ, you can see the hieroglyphs โ€œ๐“ŽŸ๐“Šช๐“๐“‡ฏโ€ which translates to โ€œlord of the skyโ€ or โ€œlord of the heavens.โ€ This title is usually associated with the god ๐“Šน Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–.

Above his raised arms, you can see the bottom of a cartouche, which most likely held Ptolemy IIโ€™s name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–. Userkara ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“‚“๐“บ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜ โ€œThe strong one of the soul of Ra, beloved of Amunโ€ was Ptolemy IIโ€™s throne name, while his birth name in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช was simply ๐“Šช๐“๐“ฏ๐“ƒญ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“‹ด Ptolemaios. It was not uncommon for the Greek rulers to phonetically spell their names with the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! It can honestly make them very easy to read for people who are just beginning to learn!

This piece is from the Ptolemaic Period (c. 282-246 B.C.E.).

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Egyptian Artifacts

Wooden Model Boat from the Tomb of Ukhhotep

This wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ model boat ๐“‚ง๐“Šช๐“๐“Šž is from the tomb of a man named Ukhhotep. This is one of two ๐“ป funerary boats that were found in his tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ – most Middle Kingdom tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ฆ that had wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ models always contained two ๐“ป boats ๐“‚ง๐“Šช๐“๐“Šž๐“ฆ – In the tomb one was oriented to the north and the other towards the south. During the actual funeral, the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ would take one last journey across the Nile River ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ. Models of boats ๐“‚ง๐“Šช๐“๐“Šž๐“ฆ (usually funerary boats), were usually found in tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ฆ as a way to symbolically bring the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ into the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰.

I really love this model because of the mummy ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ that you can see underneath the canopy! The canopy also has a leopard skin at the top. The mummy ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ is accompanied by two ๐“ป women ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“‚‘๐“๐“๐“ช mourners – they are probably meant to represent Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ and Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡. There is also a priest ๐“Šน๐“› (dressed in the leopard skin) who holds a scroll with a funerary offering on it. There is a second priest ๐“Šน๐“›, also dressed in leopard skin with his arm ๐“‚๐“บ extended outward in a mourning gesture.

Wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ models were very popular amongst Middle Kingdom tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ฆ. This particular boat ๐“‚ง๐“Šช๐“๐“Šž is dated to the 12th Dynasty (c. 1981โ€“1802 B.C.E.)

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Egyptian Artifacts

Osiride Statue of Hatshepsut

Itโ€™s been a little bit since Iโ€™ve spoke about Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช!! As many of you know, Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช is my favorite pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป and she has been an inspiration to me ever since I was a little kid! The โ€œHatshepsut Roomโ€ at the MET is my most favorite gallery in any museum that Iโ€™ve been to – I feel so lucky that itโ€™s so close to me here in NY! I still get so excited every time I get to step into the gallery! It is breathtaking every single time! Even with the mask, I think itโ€™s very easy to see just how happy I am in the picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“.

This is a bust of Pharaoh Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช, in the form of Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ (Osiride). The statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ originally stood over 4.6 m (15 ft) high and is originally from Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri ๐“‚ฆ๐“‚‹๐“‚ฆ๐“ฅ๐“‰. This statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ was not a free-standing statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ- it was actually carved from the blocks that were once part of the temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰.

Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช holds the traditional crook ๐“‹พ and flail ๐“Œ… across her chest, along with an ankh ๐“‹น and scepter ๐“Œ€. In antiquity, Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช was wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt ๐“„ค๐“‹‘ on her head. About twenty ๐“Ž†๐“Ž† years after Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช died, these statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช were cut off of the temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ and thrown into a pit near the entrance. The statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช remained buried until they were discovered by excavators from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the 1930s.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Corn Mummies

Corn Mummies are an interesting part of Egyptian religious practices. While millions of animal mummies have been found at sites all over Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–, mummies made of grains like wheat and barley have also been found. Corn mummies are found in cemeteries and are usually dated from the Third Intermediate Period through Roman times though they first appeared during the Middle Kingdom. This particular corn mummy is from the Ptolemaic Period (332โ€“30 B.C.E.).

Corn Mummies are meant to be a representation of the god ๐“Šน Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ and Egyptologists came to this conclusion because the โ€œcoffinsโ€ that contain the corn mummies almost always contain Osirisโ€™ ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ name and his titles/epithets. Another reason Egyptologists made the connection to Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ was the cyclic nature of growing grains – in Egyptian religion, anything that was cyclical was related to the birth-life-death cycle humans experience.

Even though the corn mummies are dedicated to Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ, they are almost always found in cases with a falcon head. The falcon head is representative of the god Sokar ๐“Šƒ๐“Žก๐“‚‹๐“…‹, who is often connected to Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ. Their connection goes all the way back to the Old Kingdom, and The Pyramid Texts are the one of the first instances in which they are shown to have a connection.

Sokar ๐“Šƒ๐“Žก๐“‚‹๐“…‹ was originally thought to be the god ๐“Šน of craftsmanship, but due to his association and worship at Memphis, he became a prominent god ๐“Šน of the afterlife. The combination forms of the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน, Sokar-Osiris (Middle Kingdom), Osiris-Sokar (New Kingdom) and the most popular Ptah-Sokar-Osiris also emphasizes this connection between the two ๐“ป.