Month: July 2022

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Reading Hieroglyphs

Three Golden Bracelets from the Tomb of Three Wives of Thutmosis III

These are three ๐“ผ golden ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ bracelets ๐“‚๐“ ๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“๐“‡›๐“ช /armlets ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“Žก๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ฅ. They were found in the tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ of three ๐“ผ minor wives ๐“‚‘๐“๐“๐“ช of Thutmosis III ๐“…๐“„ค๐“„ ๐“†ฃ. While some of the inlaid glass is missing, these bracelets ๐“‚๐“ ๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“๐“‡›๐“ช are in incredible condition. I love how the blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ, red ๐“‚ง๐“ˆ™๐“‚‹๐“…Ÿ and gold ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ all looks together!

Inside the bracelets, are the titles and cartouches of Thutmosis III ๐“…๐“„ค๐“„ ๐“†ฃ. The engravings were put inside the bracelet ๐“‚๐“ ๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“๐“‡› so his name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– would always be close to his wives ๐“‚‘๐“๐“๐“ช. I find this cool because even in modern times, itโ€™s very also popular to have engravings with names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ or initials on the backs of rings or bracelets! Itโ€™s incredible to me how certain ideas and styles have persisted through time!

Translation time!

๐“…ญ๐“‡ณ(๐“…๐“„ค๐“„ ๐“†ฃ)๐“†– – โ€œSon of Ra, Thutmosis III*, For all Eternity (or Everlasting)โ€

๐“„ค๐“Šน(๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ)๐“™๐“‹น – โ€œThe Great God, Menkheperra, Given Lifeโ€

*this cartouche (๐“…๐“„ค๐“„ ๐“†ฃ) is a variant of Thutmosis IIIโ€™s birth name. The name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– is usually written as (๐“…๐“„ ๐“‹ด) but this particular variant was used after Year 21 ๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“บ of his reign. (๐“…๐“„ค๐“„ ๐“†ฃ) translates to โ€œThoth is born, beautiful of formโ€ while the regular birth name cartouche (๐“…๐“„ ๐“‹ด) translates to just โ€œThoth is born.โ€ His throne name (๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ) Menkheperra translates to โ€œLasting is the form of Ra.โ€

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Egyptian Artifacts

Another Cat Mummy!

While this may look like a statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ of Bastet ๐“Žฏ๐“๐“๐“, itโ€™s actually a cat ๐“…“๐“‡‹๐“…ฑ๐“ƒ  mummy!

There are many different ways that animal mummies have been found. Some are wrapped in linen ๐“ฑ while others are found in these elaborate statue-like coffins ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ. These types of mummy-wrappings were popular during the Late and Ptolemaic Periods.

Cats ๐“…“๐“‡‹๐“…ฑ๐“ƒ ๐“ช were sacred animals in Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– because they were thought to represent the soul ๐“‚“ of Bastet ๐“Žฏ๐“๐“๐“ or Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“. Much like today, cats ๐“…“๐“‡‹๐“…ฑ๐“ƒ ๐“ช were also pets in Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– and cat ๐“…“๐“‡‹๐“…ฑ๐“ƒ  mummies have been found in human tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ฆ as well. The thought is that the cat ๐“…“๐“‡‹๐“…ฑ๐“ƒ  and the owner would be able to stay together ๐“ˆ–๐“Š— in the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰ if they were buried together ๐“ˆ–๐“Š—.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Broad Collars

The ancient Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช loved jewelry! In Egyptian art, the wealthy and upper class people were always depicted wearing elaborate jewelry as a way to show their status. The gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน and goddesses ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“ are also often depicted wearing a lot of beautiful ๐“„ค jewelry.

One of the most popular types of jewelry amongst the elite – including the pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ and royal family is known as the broad collar ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹. In Middle Egyptian, the word for broad collar was ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹ (pronounced โ€œwesekh) or simply just the determinative hieroglyph ๐“‹ could be used for the whole word.

Broad Collars at the MET

The broad collar ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹ was the necklace of choice by both the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน and the pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ and it reached peak popularity during the 18th Dynasty. The broad collar ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹ was also given to people of high rank or officials ๐“‹ด๐“‚‹๐“€€๐“ช as a mark of honor. Broad collars ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹๐“ฆ could be made of many different types of materials, including gold ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰, but the ones shown in this picture are made of faience beads.

Many mummies ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ๐“ช have also been found buried wearing the broad collar ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹! You gotta look good in the afterlife too ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰!!

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Funerary Figures of the Four Sons of Horus

These are Funerary Figures of the Four Sons of Horus and are dated to the Late Period – Ptolemaic Period (c. 400-30 B.C.E.). The Sons of Horus were deities ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน who were charged with protecting ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ the internal organs ๐“‡‹๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“„น๐“ฆ of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ, and were usually represented as the lids of canopic jars.

Funerary Figures of the Four Sons of Horus at the MET

Whatโ€™s really cool about these statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช is that they are decorated so beautifully ๐“„ค! I love how they look like mummies ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ๐“ช (the proper term is โ€œmummiformโ€), and how a large broad collar ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹ is painted ๐“ž๐“œ on their chests. Also, each statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ has a heart ๐“‡‹๐“ƒ€๐“„ฃ amulet ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…† in the middle of the broad collar ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹! The details are exquisite!

While each Son of Horus was associated with an organ ๐“‡‹๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“„น, they were also each associated with a cardinal direction and were protected ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ by a funerary goddess๐“Šน๐“. Letโ€™s take a look at each deity (starting from the left):

Duamutef ๐“‡ผ๐“…๐“๐“†‘ had the head of a jackal ๐“Šƒ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒ€๐“ƒฅ, protected ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ the stomach ๐“‚‹๐“„ฃ๐“ป, was associated with the East ๐“‹๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ, and was protected by Neith ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“‹Œ๐“€ญ.

Qebehsenuef ๐“๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘ had the head of a falcon ๐“ƒ€๐“‡‹๐“Žก๐“…„, protected ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ the intestines ๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฎ๐“„ฟ๐“ฒ๐“ผ, was associated with the West ๐“‹€๐“๐“๐“ˆŠ, and was protected by Selket ๐“Šƒ๐“‚‹๐“ˆŽ๐“๐“.

Hapy ๐“Ž›๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œ had the head of a baboon, protected ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ the lungs ๐“Šƒ๐“Œด๐“„ฅ๐“…ฑ๐“„บ, was associated with the North ๐“Ž”๐“, and was protected by Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡.

Imsety ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‹ด๐“˜๐“‡‹ had the head of a human, protected ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ the liver ๐“…“๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„น๐“ธ๐“ธ๐“ธ, was associated with the South ๐“‡”๐“…ฑ๐“ and was protected by Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ.

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

The Book of the Dead of Hunefer

ย The Book of the Dead of Hunefer is one of my absolute favorite artifacts, and seeing it in the British Museum was a dream come true for me!

On the top panel, Hunefer (the deceased) stands before the 42 divine judges and pleads their lifetime of truth and moral doings. The Book of the Dead provided the deceased with the words to say so they would pass this trial!

On the bottom panel: This is the Weighing of the Heart ceremony! Letโ€™s start from the left! Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ is leading Hunefer (the deceased) to the scales (not gonna lie, Iโ€™m a little jealous they are holding hands ๐Ÿ˜‚). Here, Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ข weighs the heart ๐“‡‹๐“ƒ€๐“„ฃ of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ against Maatโ€™s ๐“Œด๐“™๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ฆ feather (Maat is sitting on top of the scales). If Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ determines thereโ€™s balance between the two ๐“ป, that means that the deceased lived a truthful ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“†„ and just ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“†„๐“œ life ๐“‹น.

Ammit ๐“‚๐“…“๐“…“๐“ (the Devourer of the Dead/Eater of Hearts) is there waiting to see if the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ didnโ€™t live a truthful ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“†„ life! If the deceasedโ€™s ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ heart ๐“‡‹๐“ƒ€๐“„ฃ weighs more than the feather, Ammit ๐“‚๐“…“๐“…“๐“ would eat the heart ๐“‡‹๐“ƒ€๐“„ฃ and the deceased would โ€œdie a second timeโ€ and not live in eternal paradise. Thoth ๐“…ค๐“€ญ records the findings of the ceremony.

If the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ passed the Weigning of the Heart, they would be presented to Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ ๐“€ญ by Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ and would then enter the Field of Reeds ๐“‡๐“๐“ˆ…๐“‡‹๐“„ฟ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“†ฐ๐“Š– and live in eternal paradise!