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Egyptian Artifacts

Amulets at the Brooklyn Museum

Amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช are some of my favorite objects because I love tiny things! My Nonno always pointed out the Djed Pillar ๐“Šฝ amulets in museums!

The Djed Pillar ๐“Šฝ is representative of stability and is one of the oldest types of amulets, dating back to the Old Kingdom! It is thought to represent the spine of Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ! Since the Djed Pillars ๐“Šฝ are associated with Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ, they are usually used in funerary contexts. They were usually laid across the lower torso of the mummy ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ. Most of the time, Djed Pillar ๐“Šฝ amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช appears in a green/blue ๐“‡…๐“†“๐“› color, which is used to represent the regeneration. Blue and green ๐“‡…๐“†“๐“› are the colors of regeneration because they are associated with the Nile ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ.

The scarab is the personification is the god Khepri ๐“†ฃ๐“‚‹๐“‡‹๐“›, the creator. The scarab amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช were said to be the most powerful of amulets because the the ancient Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช believed that the dung beetle (which the scarab was fashioned after) was capable of eternal regeneration. Khepri ๐“†ฃ๐“‚‹๐“‡‹๐“› symbolizes a โ€œlife cycleโ€ – birth, death, and rebirth in the afterlife. This cycle was essential to Egyptian religious beliefs, as Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช spent their lives preparing for death and entering the underworld ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Ancient Egypt and Flowers

While we envision Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–, we usually think of an arid and desert ๐“ˆŠ๐“๐“บ environment. However, flowers were very popular in ancient Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–! If you look at lists of hieroglyphic symbols, there are tons of hieroglyphs that represent plants! The phonogram/ideogram for the Nile Valley/Upper Egypt is ๐“‡— – which represents a flowering plant!

Tutankhamunโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ mummy ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ was found with flowers, as were other royal mummies. Even commoners would adorn their dead with flower arrangements.

Here are some beautifully ๐“„ค colored plants! On the bottom left is a lotus flower ๐“†ธ, the top right is a palm tree, and the bottom right is a small plaque or tile of some kind with daisies/rosettes! I love how bright the green is!

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Egyptian Artifacts

The Wilbour Plaque

This is one of my absolute favorite pieces and I was so excited to see it again in person at the Brooklyn Museum after so long!

After Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช, Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– is my second favorite pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป because of just how different/bizarre his rule was compared to everything/everyone else. The Brooklyn Museum has an amazing collection of artifacts from Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– rule!

The top piece in the display is known as the Wilbour Plaque, after Charles Wilbour who acquired it in 1881. The plaque is interesting because it is complete as is it was never part of a larger scene and was most like used as a model for sculptors. While there arenโ€™t any inscriptions to confirm this, it is assumed that the people represented here are Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– and Nefertiti ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡๐“๐“ญ. However, some argue that the person accompanying Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– in the image could either be Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ or Smenkare ๐“‡ณ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ป๐“‚“๐“‚ฆ๐“†ฃ.

To me this piece is interesting because the Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ is no where in sight! Usually Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– is always accompanied by an image of the sun ๐“‡ณ๐“บ/Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ with sun rays shining on him. Itโ€™s almost kinda weird to see him like this!

The second piece in the display is another sculptorโ€™s model!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Ancient Egyptian “Rainbow Fish”

My sister ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“ said that this piece from the Brooklyn Museum reminds her of the childrenโ€™s book โ€œRainbow Fish,โ€ and now I canโ€™t unsee it!!

This beautifully ๐“„ค colored fish ๐“‚‹๐“…“๐“†› represents a tilapia! The Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช viewed the tilapia as a symbol of regeneration and rebirth. Both of these things were super important in the Egyptian religion, so they held tilapia in very high regard!

What is so cool about this piece is that it is actually a rattle! There are little clay pellets inside of it, which represents the eggs. This was most likely a ritual object; either played during childbirth or placed in a tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ to help the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ with their rebirth!

The blue ๐“‡…๐“†“๐“› coloring on the fish ๐“‚‹๐“…“๐“†› is purely decorative as tilapia are not this color in real life! This piece is estimated to be from the Amarna period and the rule of Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Statue of Sekhmet at the Brooklyn Museum

Every time I go to a museum, I need to get a picture with Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“!

Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“ was one of my Nonnoโ€™s absolute favorite Egyptian goddesses ๐“Šน๐“๐“ช. Whenever I see Sekhmet, ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“ she makes me think of my Nonno. He probably really liked her due to her strength and power!

In Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–, most of the feline ๐“…“๐“‡‹๐“…ฑ๐“ƒ  deities were female! This was most likely intentional – much like a lioness ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“๐“„› can be gentle and nurturing with her cubs, she can also be extremely fierce and aggressive when she needs to protect ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ them. This duality is quintessential to not only Sekhmetโ€™s ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“ role in the Egyptian pantheon, but to the other feline ๐“…“๐“‡‹๐“…ฑ๐“ƒ  goddesses ๐“Šน๐“๐“ช as well!

Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“ is always seen with a sun-disk on her head, which shows that she is the daughter of Ra ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“›. She was known as the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ of destruction/war, and her name means โ€œshe who is powerful.โ€ She could also represent the destructive aspects of the sun ๐“‡ณ๐“บ. There were many religious rituals designed to appease her. Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“ was feared for being a very powerful and very destructive goddess ๐“Šน๐“.

This particular statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ of Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“ was made during the rule of Amenhotep III ๐“‡ณ๐“ง๐“Ž  during the 18th Dynasty.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Statue of Pharaoh Pepy II and his Mother

Pharaoh Pepy II ๐“Šช๐“Šช๐“‡‹๐“‡‹ ruled during Egyptโ€™s ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– 6th Dynasty (Old Kingdom). He became pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป at only six years old, and his mother ๐“…๐“๐“ (Ankhnes-meryre II) served as his co-regent. His throne name, Neferkare ๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“‚“ means โ€œThe Soul of Re is beautiful.โ€

Pepy IIโ€™s ๐“Šช๐“Šช๐“‡‹๐“‡‹ reign actually marked the decline of the Old Kingdom – this was due to the fact that the power and influence of the governors (also called nomarchs) were growing, so the powers of the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป declined. Since there was no strong central power, chaos began to erupt amongst the nomarchs.

This alabaster piece at the Brooklyn Museum is one of the more famous representations of Pepy II ๐“Šช๐“Šช๐“‡‹๐“‡‹ and his mother ๐“…๐“๐“, mostly because the statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ has two โ€œfrontโ€ sides!! The statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ shows Pepy II ๐“Šช๐“Šช๐“‡‹๐“‡‹ seated in his motherโ€™s ๐“…๐“๐“ lap. By placing Pepy II ๐“Šช๐“Šช๐“‡‹๐“‡‹ and his mother ๐“…๐“๐“ in opposite directions, it creates a multi-view statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ! This is very different than other art from the Old Kingdom!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Vessels of Pepy II

Here are some vessels from the MET that are from the rule of Pepy II ๐“Šช๐“Šช๐“‡‹๐“‡‹. Made of alabaster, the purpose of these vessels was to keep cosmetic oils cool.

In the picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ above, on the middle vessel you can see Pepy IIโ€™s ๐“Šช๐“Šช๐“‡‹๐“‡‹ cartouche. On the vessel to the left, you can see his throne name, Neferkare ๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“‚“, which means โ€œthe soul of Re is beautiful.โ€

In the picture๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ above, the vessel on the right is a little more clear. You can see Pepy IIโ€™s ๐“Šช๐“Šช๐“‡‹๐“‡‹ cartouche, however the title ๐“…ญ๐“‡ณ, โ€œSon of Ra,โ€ is also embedded in the cartouche instead of on top of it. This was a stylistic thing that occurred during the Old Kingdom. However, the title ๐“†ฅ, โ€œKing of Upper and Lower Egyptโ€ is present before the cartouche in this instance. The placement of the hieroglyphs can be super interesting!

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Ushabti Friends!

Just hanging out with my ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ friends!

Me and the Ushabti display at the Brooklyn Museum!

I love ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ so much, and itโ€™s probably because my Nonno loved them. If you canโ€™t tell, Iโ€™m really happy in this picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ – even with the mask on you can tell Iโ€™m smiling big!

Nonno always pointed them out in museums and he would tell me stories about how the ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ were buried with the Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช so they could do chores in the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰ and I thought that was so cool! I also liked them because they reminded me of little dolls!

As the display shows, ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ come in all different sizes and colors. Depending on the time period they were also made of varying materials such as faience, clay, limestone or sometimes even bronze (which is much rarer).

The ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ(most of the time people were buried with 365 worker ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ -one for each day ๐“‰”๐“‚‹๐“บ๐“‡ณ of the year and then also a bunch of overseer ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ) often had spells inscribed on them which showed the task they were responsible for!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Sandstone Stela of Rameses II

This is a large sandstone stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ of Rameses II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“.

Sandstone Stela of Rameses II at the Brooklyn Museum

The hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช talk about how Rameses II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ founded the town of Meriamun, and how he established the cult of Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ– there. The stela was a way to commemorate Rameses II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ presenting statues to the temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ of Amun-Ra ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“บ๐“‡ณ.

The image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ shows (from left to right) Mut ๐“๐“„ฟ๐“€ญ, Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–, and Rameses II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“. Rameses II can be seen wearing the blue crown, also known as the khepresh ๐“†ฃ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™๐“‹™ crown which was very popular among New Kingdom pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป! Rameses II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ is receiving symbols of kingship (the crook ๐“‹พ) from the god ๐“Šน Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–. This is meant to represent that Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ– saw Rameses II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ as a legitimate ruler! The pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป believed that they were direct descendants of Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–(in the 18th – 19th Dynasties Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ– kind of replaces Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ in popularity as king of the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน) and that they were gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน on Earth.

This stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ is quite large (Iโ€™m 5โ€™5โ€)! It was also really cool that five ๐“พ of Rameses IIโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ names appear on this stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ! This was probably meant to show that while he was a divine figure, he also had very human qualities!

Sandstone Stela of Rameses II at the Brooklyn Museum (and me)!
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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Statue of Senwosret III

This is a black granite statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ of the 12th ๐“Ž†๐“ป Dynasty pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Senwosret III ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“. Senwosret III ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“ is thought to be the most powerful pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป of the 12th ๐“Ž†๐“ป Dynasty because his successful military campaigns gave rise to an era of peace ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช. Peace ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช led to economic prosperity, and this led to a newfound revival in artistry and craft works.

Statue of Senwosret III at the Brooklyn Museum

This newfound artistry during this time period then led to some new styles in how the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป was portrayed in statuary. The statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช of Senwosret III ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“ are so distinctive that they can be immediately recognized as his, even without reading the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช. Some parts of the statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ are realistic, like the protruding eye sockets and the lines on his face, while some features, like the young and strong torso, are most likely idealized. Egyptologists can only speculate on why he was portrayed this way – some argue that itโ€™s because Senwosret III ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“ wanted to be seen as human before divine.

This statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ in particular shows Senwosret III ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“ wearing the royal nemes ๐“ˆ–๐“…“๐“‹ด headcloth. Beneath his feet are nine bows – each meant to represent one of Egyptโ€™s ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– enemies. Since the enemies are beneath his feet, it shows successful defeat by the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป!

In the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช, you can see his Horus name๐“…ƒ๐“Š[๐“Šน ๐“†ฃ๐“…ฑ] which I think means โ€œHorus in divine form.โ€ Also, you can see his prenomen or โ€œthrone nameโ€ which is marked by the ๐“†ฅ (he of the sedge and the bee aka King of Upper and Lower Egypt) hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช before the cartouche. ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“ means โ€œthe Souls of Ra have returned.โ€

Statue of Senwosret III at the Brooklyn Museum