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“Wonderful Things”

โ€œWonderful Things.โ€ย 

That quote is from Howard Carter when he first peered into the tombย ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ย of Tutankhamunย ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“. Honestly, every time I walk through a museum all I can think is โ€œWonderful Thingsโ€ – I feel like that sums up my feelings pretty well!ย 

While I have posted this picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ before, it is one of my absolute favorites and one of the many wonderful things that I have seen! This is my Nonno and I with Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ at the British Museum! I am posting this again because today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ is the 100 ๐“ฒ year anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamunโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰! 

As a child (and even now) I love the story about howย Tutankhamunโ€™sย ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ย tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ย was discovered! The funerary mask, Anubisย ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃย shrine, cartouche box, and so many of the other artifacts in the tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ completely fascinated me and definitely played a part in me becoming so interested in ancient Egyptย ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–ย as a child. I have my Nonno to thank for telling me about Tutankhamunย ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ย and for encouraging my love and fascination with Egyptian history!ย 

In this particular statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ, Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ is wearing the nemes head cloth ๐“ˆ–๐“…“๐“‹ด, false beard, and broad collar ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹. These are all very common things for pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ to wear to represent themselves as pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, which Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ felt he needed to do in order to legitimize his rule ๐“‹พ. The bottom part of the statue is ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ decorated with lotus flowers ๐“†ธ๐“ช and papyrus reeds ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Ž›๐“†ฐ. 

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Memories at the MET

This picture is one of my absolute favorites. It kinda looks like we are in Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–! It was from one of my birthday trips to the MET – I believe this is my 16th birthday (I am 30 now).

I have such amazing memories here – there was a time when there was no glass covering the walls inside the mastaba (fun fact: mastaba means bench in Arabic)- I will never forget being inside this tomb seeing it without glass – as it was meant to be seen. Nonno was so happy ๐“„ซ๐“…ฑ๐“› that I would be able to experience that!! The inside of the tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ is beautifully decorated with hieroglyphics ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช and paintings!

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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

Wooden Boat Models

I absolutely love the wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ models. I could literally spend hours just looking at them!

Wooden Boat Models at the Louvre (featuring Nonno’s reflection)

Wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ models were very popular in the Middle Kingdom and were usually put in tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰. The boats ๐“‚ง๐“Šช๐“๐“Šž๐“ฆ were symbolic, and were meant to help the deceased on their journey in the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰. When a person died, their body was carried in a boat ๐“‚ง๐“Šช๐“๐“Šž across the Nile ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ in a symbolic representation of the journey of the soul ๐“‚“- from the land of the living to the land of the dead ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰. This directly mirrors Raโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“› daily journey across the sky ๐“Šช๐“๐“‡ฏ.

Tombs usually contained two ๐“ป boats ๐“‚ง๐“Šช๐“๐“Šž๐“ฆ: one sailing in a northward direction, and one sailing in a southward direction.

So many wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ model boats ๐“‚ง๐“Šช๐“๐“Šž๐“ฆ have been found because boats ๐“‚ง๐“Šช๐“๐“Šž๐“ฆ were essential to daily Egyptian life along the Nile River ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ. Boats ๐“‚ง๐“Šช๐“๐“Šž๐“ฆ were not only essential for transporting people, goods and construction materials, but also for the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน and their journeys as well.

This particular boat ๐“‚ง๐“Šช๐“๐“Šž is so beautiful ๐“„ค because so many of the oarsmen are there! I also love this picture because my Nonno took it – you can even see his reflection in the glass ๐Ÿ’™.

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Wooden Ushabtis of Seti I

My Nonno took this picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ and I love the fact that you can see his reflection in the glass. I know that technically makes this โ€œnot a good pictureโ€ in photography terms, but that is what makes the picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ so special to me. I love being able to see him and his point of view while going through old pictures ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ because I miss him so much.

Wooden Ushabtis of Seti I at the Vatican Museum

These are the wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ of Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ . While only about 700 of these wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ remain, it is estimated that Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  had over 1000 of them. What happened to the ones that are missing? They were used for firewood ๐Ÿคฆ๐Ÿฝโ€โ™€๏ธ My Nonno frequently told me about this – he was not happy that artifacts were destroyed! Anytime Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  came up in conversation (which was often because he was one of my Nonnoโ€™s favorite pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ) my Nonno would say โ€œcan you believe some idiots used his ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ as torches??!!โ€

Seti Iโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  remaining ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ are in museums throughout the world and I have always been on the lookout for them whenever I go to a museum! Originally, my Nonno and I would always point them out to each other. Now whenever I see them, they are a reminder of my Nonno.

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Keeping a Person’s Name Alive

๐“ˆ–๐“ฏ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ–๐“ฏ – Nonno โค๏ธ

This was my Christmas gift to myself this year – it is a bracelet ๐“‚๐“ ๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“๐“‡› that says Nonno ๐“ˆ–๐“ฏ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ–๐“ฏ in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช. I can now carry his name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– with me every day. I love this bracelet ๐“‚๐“ ๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“๐“‡› and Iโ€™m so happy I was able to have it made for myself and for my sister ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“ too.

Talking about my Nonno ๐“ˆ–๐“ฏ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ–๐“ฏ and saying his name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– is so important to me. Wearing his name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– has been so important to me – Nonno would not have been happy with me getting a tattoo (๐Ÿ˜‚) so this bracelet ๐“‚๐“ ๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“๐“‡› is perfect. My students know all about Nonno ๐“ˆ–๐“ฏ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ–๐“ฏ too and I will talk about him any chance I get to anyone who will listen! I want everyone to know who he was and what an absolutely incredible person he was.

I have likened this account to a Stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ in the past, but I also truly believe in the Egyptian cultural aspect of the importance of a personโ€™s name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–, and it being essential to them living on. Me wearing his name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–, speaking his name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–, and writing about him is how I help my Nonno to live on even if he isnโ€™t here with me presently (which really really hurts – the grief has been unimaginable).

In ancient Egyptian culture, a name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– was considered the most essential part of the person because the other four ๐“ฝ elements could not exist without the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–. If a person wanted to survive after death ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ, not only was mummification essential, but even more so was preserving the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–. If a name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– was removed from a monument or forgotten, it meant that the person was deprived of their entire existence.

I donโ€™t want my Nonnoโ€™s name to ever be forgotten. Thank you all for listening to me and helping me to have Nonnoโ€™s name live on!

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Welcome to Ancient Egypt Blog!

Nonno and Nicole at the Vatican Museum

My name is Nicole and I have a passion for history, most notably ancient Egypt. My Nonno has the same love for history, and he taught me basically everything I know. Together, we read books all about Egypt, ever since I was a little girl. He brought me my first book on hieroglyphs when I was six years old, and from there I taught myself how to read them. By the time I was twelve years old, I was able to go to museums and read the hieroglyphs off of the artifacts. Nonno was so proud of me and as my sister said โ€œhe had been waiting his whole life for someone to care about this stuff like he did.โ€ We loved going to museums and studying history together.

Unfortunately, my Nonno passed away in February 2020. He was my person and I am completely devastated. I started my Instagram account @ancientegyptblog and this website so I could share our love of history, share all of the amazing things he taught me, all the books he gave me, and all places he took me to.