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Egyptian Artifacts

Papyrus Depicting a Building Foundation Ceremony

Sorry for the glare, but I quite like this piece! This papyrus 𓅓𓍑𓏏𓏛 is a very cool artifact – it is a papyrus 𓅓𓍑𓏏𓏛 depicting a building foundation ceremony from the 22nd Dynasty (c. 1069-664 B.C.E.).

On the top right side of the papyrus 𓅓𓍑𓏏𓏛, Sobek π“‹΄π“ƒ€π“Ž‘π“†‹ and Neith π“ˆ–π“π“‹Œπ“€­ are pictured. The names π“‚‹π“ˆ–π“¦ of Sobek π“‹΄π“ƒ€π“Ž‘ and Neith π“ˆ–π“­π“ appear above their heads 𓁢𓏦, and act almost like captions which I always think is such a cool feature of Egyptian art! The names π“‚‹π“ˆ–π“¦ do not include the determinative symbols, just the phonograms! Even without the captions, Sobek π“‹΄π“ƒ€π“Ž‘π“†‹ and Neith are easy deities to recognize because Sobek π“‹΄π“ƒ€π“Ž‘π“†‹ is usually represented as a man’s π“Šƒπ“€€π“€ body with a crocodile π“…“π“‹΄π“Ž›π“†Œ head, while Neith π“ˆ–π“π“‹Œπ“€­ is a slender woman π“Šƒπ“π“‚‘π“π“ wearing the Red Crown of Lower Egypt π“‚§π“ˆ™π“‚‹π“π“‹”.

The other people (drum and tambourine players) are dedicating the foundation of the building that is to be built to Neith π“ˆ–π“π“‹Œπ“€­ and Sobek π“‹΄π“ƒ€π“Ž‘π“†‹. There are also workers who are breaking ground, using various tools (on the bottom left you can see them using a hoe, which is also a popular hieroglyph π“ŒΊ).