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Egyptian Artifacts

Bronze Statues of Deities

There’s a lot that I love about this picture 𓏏𓅱𓏏 – 1) obviously I love the bronze π“ˆ”π“€π“ˆ’π“¦ statues π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύπ“ͺ, 2) it’s in the Petrie Museum, and 3) which I think is the best part – you can see me and Nonno’s reflections in the mirror! We are squished together both trying to take pictures 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓏦 of all the artifacts! We spent a big part of that day like that and I wish I could go back and re-live that day 𓉔𓂋𓏺𓇳 again. So while this is not the best picture 𓏏𓅱𓏏 artistically speaking, it really means a lot to me. While I am certainly no artist, I can fluently read hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ (and have been for 23 years) so it’s all good πŸ˜‚ – can’t be good at everything!

From the left, the bronze π“ˆ”π“€π“ˆ’π“¦ statues π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ represent Horus π“…ƒπ“€­(or Harpokrates, the Greek version of Horus π“…ƒπ“€­), two 𓏻 statues π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ of Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ (a non-royal man who became deified – responsible for the construction of Djoser’s 𓂦 Step Pyramid amongst many other things), the fertility god π“ŠΉ Min π“‹Šπ“ŠΎπ“€, and Khnum π“ŽΈπ“π“€­ (one of the oldest deities, god π“ŠΉ of the source of the Nile π“‡‹π“π“‚‹π“…±π“ˆ—π“ˆ˜π“ˆ‡π“Ί, fertility and was thought to have made humans out of clay from his potters wheel).

The Bronze Age started due to the rise in the Sumerian civilization in Mesopotamia. Due to war and trade, bronze π“ˆ”π“€π“ˆ’π“¦ was able to come to Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š– around 700 B.C.E. and replace the traditional stone π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‚‹π“Šͺ and clay statues π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύπ“ͺ. The bronze π“ˆ”π“€π“ˆ’π“¦ pieces are great antiquities because they can preserve small details over long periods of time. Bronze π“ˆ”π“€π“ˆ’π“¦ statuary π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ became very popular starting around the Third Intermediate Period (26th Dynasty), and became very abundant in the Ptolemaic Period, which resulted in mass production and a loss of craftsmanship and quality.