Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Head of a Princess or Queen

This head of a princess or queen π“‡“π“π“π“ˆž is one of the finer statues π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύπ“ͺ to survive from the Middle Kingdom (12th Dynasty 1876-1842 BCE). The remnants of a Uraeus 𓇋𓂝𓂋𓏏𓆗 on her forehead is an indication that this woman 𓀻𓋴𓏏𓁐 was royal. Also it is believed that this head was once part of a sphinx π“Ž›π“…±π“ƒ­π“€ because of the way the woman’s 𓀻𓋴𓏏𓁐 wig breaks off in the back!

Head of a Princess or Queen at the Brooklyn Museum

The eyes 𓁹𓏏𓏦 of this statue π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ once contained colored stones, however they were taken out of the statue π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ in antiquity. I can’t even imagine how beautiful π“„€ it would look with the inlaid eyes 𓁹𓏏𓏦!

This piece has made quite an interesting journey. It was not actually found in Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š–! Instead, this piece was found in Hadrian’s villa in Rome! Hadrian was a Roman Emperor, who built a villa near Tivoli as a way to escape everyday life! Hadrian was emperor from 117 to 138 AD, so this statue was almost as β€œancient” to him as it is to us! Hadrian had a lot of Egyptian π“†Žπ“π“€€π“ antiquities in his villa – I guess Hadrian loved Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š– just like we do!

Fun fact: the ancient Egyptians π“†Žπ“π“€€π“π“ͺ had no word for β€œQueen.” Instead, π“‡“π“π“π“ˆž was used which means β€œKing’s wife.”

There was also a way to distinguish a regular woman from a royal or noble woman:
𓀻𓋴𓏏𓁐 – Noble woman
𓂑𓏏𓁐 – woman/wife