Tag: seti i

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Egyptian Artifacts

Blue Faience Ushabti of Seti I

This beautiful ๐“„ค blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ ย ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ belongs to the pharaohย ๐“‰๐“‰ปย Seti I ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Œป๐“‡Œ๐“ฃ๐“ˆ–! I have seen ones like this in other museums too! I love seeing the โ€œsameโ€ pieces in museums around the world!ย 

Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  had many faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ figures. His faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ figures are such a beautiful ๐“„ค blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ color and are inscribed with hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช from Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead. 

Chapter 6 is also known as the โ€œShabti Text,โ€ and it is a spell ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“› that allows for the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ to take the place of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ if the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ is asked to do any type of work in the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰.  This is why the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is holding a pick (๐“Œธ) in each hand – he needs to be ready to work when called upon! 

Pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Seti I ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Œป๐“‡Œ๐“ฃ๐“ˆ– had over 700 ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ figures! The typical number was around four hundred – 365 worker ushabtis ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช, and the rest were overseer ushabtis ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช. Most of Seti Iโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Œป๐“‡Œ๐“ฃ๐“ˆ– ushabtis ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช were wood ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ – when Giovanni Belzoni discovered Seti Iโ€™s tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ in the Valley of the Kings in 1917, he used a lot of the wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ ushabtis ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช as torches, so many of them were destroyed. 

Not going to lie; fact still haunts me!! This was also one of my Nonnoโ€™s favorite stories to tell. I can still hear him in my head saying โ€œCan you believe that idiot used ushabtis as firewood?!?!โ€ 

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

“Model of a Temple Gateway”

This is definitely a unique piece! I had never seen one like it in another museum which is why I was so interested in it!

The Brooklyn Museum has it listed as a โ€œModel of a Temple Gateway.โ€ The actual function of the model is unclear because it is not a model that was used by an architect! It is listed as being โ€œceremonialโ€ – which is archaeology speak for โ€œwe have no idea what this is for”!

The sunken reliefs around the base of the model show Pharaoh Seti I ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Œป๐“‡Œ๐“ฃ๐“ˆ– in a kneeling position making offerings to several forms of the sun-god. Khepri ๐“†ฃ๐“‚‹๐“‡‹๐“› (the rising sun), Ra-Horkathy ๐“…Š๐“”๐“”๐“ค (sun at the highest point in the sky – known as the zenith), and Atum ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚Ÿ๐“€ญ (the setting sun and one of the creation gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน) can all be seen.

The cartouche shown is one of the variations of Seti Iโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  throne name. Usually itโ€™s just written as ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  (Eternal is the Truth of Ra) but here itโ€™s shown as ๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“ง๐“‚‡๐“‡ณ (Eternal is the Truth of Ra, the image of Ra).

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Reading Hieroglyphs

Seti I and the Goddess Hathor

The relief shows Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  and the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ Hathor ๐“‰ก. Hathor ๐“‰ก was known as the Lady of the West (the underworld ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰). The West and the Underworld ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰ were equated by the ancient Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช because the sun ๐“‡ณ๐“บ set in the west! Here, she is seen welcoming Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  into her domain, while offering him her menat necklace ๐“‹ง, a symbol of protection. They are even holding hands ๐“‚ง๐“๐“บ! This relief was originally from Seti Iโ€™s ๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฃ๐“‡Œ๐“Œธ๐“ˆ– tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰, which is actually the biggest tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ in the Valley of the Kings!

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช!

๐“‰ก๐“ถ๐“ท๐“๐“๐“Š–๐“‹† – โ€œHathor, Chief one of Thebesโ€

๐“ŽŸ๐“‡ฟ๐“‡ฟ(๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ ) – โ€œLord of the Two Lands, Maatmenraโ€ (Maatmenra is the throne name)

๐“ŽŸ๐“ˆ๐“ฅ(๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฃ๐“‡Œ๐“Œธ๐“ˆ–) – โ€œLord of the Two Lands Seti, Beloved of Ptahโ€ (Seti is the birth name)

๐“™๐“‹น ๐“‡ณ๐“‡๐“บ๐“†– – โ€œGiven Eternal Life, Like Raโ€

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Cartouche of Seti I

Hereโ€™s another piece from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology! This is a really simple piece but I really like it! It probably caught my eye because it has the cartouche of Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  on it, and Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  was one of my Nonnoโ€™s favorite pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ! The afternoon that Nonno and I spent exploring the Petrie Museum was one of the best days of my life!

This piece is a fragment from a larger statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ. On the top part of the piece you can even see the bottom part of a broad collar ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹. It is made of black ๐“†Ž๐“…“ basalt, which is an igneous rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™. Basalt forms when lava solidifies on the Earthโ€™s surface or under the ocean. The entire ocean floor is made of basalt which means that it is is the most abundant rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ on Earth (and Mars too)!

The hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช on this piece are very simple and easy to read!

๐“‡“๐“ King of Upperโ€ฆ

๐“‹”๐“โ€ฆand Lower Egypt

(๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ ) – Maatmenra (Seti I – Maatmenra was his throne name)

Usually the title of โ€œKing of Upper and Lower Egyptโ€ is written as โ€œ๐“†ฅโ€ so it is interesting to see it written as โ€œ๐“‡“๐“๐“‹”๐“.โ€ In the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช for this piece, the crown of Lower Egypt ๐“‹” was used instead of the bee ๐“†ค.

King of Upper and Lower Egypt ๐“†ฅ can literally be translated to โ€œHe of the Sedge and the Bee,โ€ which is the title that usually preceded the prenomen, which was also known as the throne name or the royal name. The sedge ๐“‡“ was the symbol for Upper Egypt while the bee ๐“†ค was the symbol of Lower Egypt. This title was symbolic that the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป was ruling over a united Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–. The first pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป to have this title was the Pharaoh Den ๐“‚ง๐“ˆ– during the First Dynasty!

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

The Cartouche of Seti I

A wooden Ushabti and Scarabs that contain the cartouche of Seti I (The MET)

These are pieces that contain the cartouche of Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ ! There is a wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ and a bunch of scarabs ๐“๐“Šช๐“‚‹๐“‚‹๐“†ฃ๐“ช – some of my favorite types of artifacts!

One of my favorite things to see in museums are the wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ figures of Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ . While only about 700 ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ of these wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ figures remain, it is estimated that Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  had over 1000 ๐“†ผ of them. What happened to the ones that are missing? They were used for firewood when Belzoni was excavating the tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰!

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 ๐“‡พ๐“‡พ 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.