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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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Reading Hieroglyphs

Two Sides of the Same Coffin!

Dedication to Osiris on a coffin at the Brooklyn Museum

In the picture above, you can see a dedication to Osiris – ๐“‡“๐“๐“Šต๐“™ ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ ๐“ŽŸ๐“Šฝ๐“‚ง๐“…ฑ๐“Š– – โ€œAn offering the king gives Osiris, Lord of Djeduโ€

Djedu ๐“Šฝ๐“‚ง๐“…ฑ๐“Š– refers to the birthplace of Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ. The eyes ๐“น๐“๐“ฆ on this side of the sarcophagus would allow the mummy ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ to see outside of it!

Dedication to Anubis on a coffin at the Brooklyn Museum

In the picture above, you can see a dedication to Anubis – ๐“‡“๐“๐“Šต๐“™ ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ ๐“ถ๐“บ๐“ˆ‹ ๐“†‘ – โ€œAn offering the king gives Anubis, upon his hill…โ€

โ€œUpon his hillโ€ is in reference to Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ being the god ๐“Šน of cemeteries, and looking over cemeteries from the cliff or hill above it!

Why dedications to Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ and Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ?! They are the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน most commonly associated with death!

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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
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Egyptian Artifacts

Ancient Egyptian “Tom and Jerry”

I refer to this piece as the โ€œAncient Egyptian version of Tom and Jerryโ€!”

“Cat and Mouse” Ostraca at the Brooklyn Museum.

This is an ostracon (or ostraca), which is pretty much a sketch on a limestone fragment. Instead of using papyrus ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“›(which was expensive) to practice drawing, the ancient Egyptian ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“ artists or scribes ๐“Ÿ๐“€€ would use pieces of limestone. It is dated to the 19th-20th Dynasties, aka the Ramesside Period.

Whatโ€™s funny about this is it shows the mouse being served or attended to by the cat ๐“…“๐“‡‹๐“…ฑ๐“ƒ . The cat ๐“…“๐“‡‹๐“…ฑ๐“ƒ  is presenting the mouse with a goose as an offering ๐“๐“Šต while also fanning him. Itโ€™s almost like an opposite because the cat ๐“…“๐“‡‹๐“…ฑ๐“ƒ  is usually the predator while the mouse is the prey. This could have been some type of satire on the elite during the Ramesside period, or a visual representation of a fable that is now lost. Many ostraca from this time period show animals doing human activities!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Painting of Tjepu

This well preserved painting of a beautiful woman ๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“๐“ named Tjepu is from the 18th Dynasty (rule of Amenhotep III ๐“‡ณ๐“ง๐“Ž ) and was originally found in the tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ of her son ๐“…ญ. Tjepu is seen in lavish 18th Dynasty style clothing – including a wig, lots of jewelry and a linen ๐“ฑ dress.

Painting of Tjepu at the Brooklyn Museum

When creating tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ art, Egyptian ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“ artists did not โ€œrealisticallyโ€ depict how people actually looked. Instead, they showed people as being eternally youthful. Basically, the artists made people look their best so they could be at their best in the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰! While Tjepu would have been around 40 ๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž† years old at the time that this painting was completed, she was definitely not shown as being 40 ๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Limestone Relief for Montuhotep II

This is a raised relief carved in limestone for the 11th Dynasty pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Mentuhotep III ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช. His father ๐“‡‹๐“๐“€€ reunited Upper and Lower Egypt, so Mentuhotep III ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช inherited a mostly united Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–. He had a relatively short reign of 12 ๐“Ž†๐“ป years.

Limestone Relief for Montuhotep II at the Brooklyn Museum

What was most interesting when I was reading about Mentuhotep III ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช was some of the superficial similarities to Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช!! During the 12 ๐“Ž†๐“ป years of his reign, he actually sent an expedition to Punt! He also started building a mortuary temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ at Deir el-Bahri, but it was never completed.

This raised relief is beautifully carved, and Mentuhotep III ๐“‡ณ๐“‹ด๐“‹น๐“‚“ appears twice. On the left he is seen wearing the Red Crown of Lower Egypt ๐“‚ง๐“ˆ™๐“‚‹๐“๐“‹”, and on the right he is wearing the nemes headdress ๐“ˆ–๐“…“๐“‹ด. In the middle is the goddess Iunyt, who was a consort of Montu ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ, a war goddess๐“Šน๐“. Montu ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ was worshipped widely during the 11th Dynasty.

Many think that this depicts Mentuhotep IIIโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“‹ด๐“‹น๐“‚“ desire for a sed festival in the 30th ๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž† year of his reign, however he only ruled for 12 ๐“Ž†๐“ป years.

In the image below, I have highlighted one of my favorite ancient Egyptian phrases, ๐“™๐“‹น๐“Šฝ๐“Œ€๐“†– โ€œGiven eternal life, stability and strength.โ€

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Egyptian Artifacts

Limestone Mummiform Coffin Lid

This limestone mummiform coffin ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ lid is from the Ptolemaic Period! The New Kingdom is when stone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“Šช mummiform coffins ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ๐“ช first appeared, however the mummiform coffins ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ๐“ช from that period were usually made of wood ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ!

This sarcophagus ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ belonged to a scribe ๐“Ÿ๐“€€ named Pa-Di-Inpu. He is named after Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ (Anubis is the Greek name while Inpu is the Egyptian name) and served as a scribe ๐“Ÿ๐“€€ in the cult of Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ. Pa-Di-Inpu also served as a scribe ๐“Ÿ๐“€€ and priest ๐“Šน๐“› in the cult of Hathor ๐“‰ก!

Limestone Mummiform Coffin Lid at the Brooklyn Museum (and me)!
Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Block Statue of Ay

The block statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ (made of limestone) was first fashioned by artists during the 12th Dynasty, and the style was very popular at the time! This block statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ is from the 18th Dynasty though. Both Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ and Ay, Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– successors sought to restore not only the Egyptian pantheon, but also traditional art styles that had either been completely forgotten or had lost popularity.

Block Statue of Ay at the Brooklyn Museum

This particular block statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ is of a man named Ay, who served as a high priest ๐“Šน๐“› of Mut ๐“๐“„ฟ๐“€ญ during the rule of Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“. There is some blend of traditional Egyptian art styles and Amarna art styles in this statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ, and it almost serves as a transition piece between the two parts of the 18th Dynasty. The cartouches of the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Ay ๐“‡ณ๐“†ฃ๐“†ฃ๐“ช๐“น๐“™๐“ appear in the hieroglyphic ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช text ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ. The cartouches were added later, after the statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ was completed as a way to โ€œupdateโ€ the statueโ€™s ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ text ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ.

Block Statue of Ay at the Brooklyn Museum (and me)!
Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Statue of Amenhotep III

Fun fact: more statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช of Amenhotep III ๐“‡ณ๐“ง๐“Ž  have survived than any other 18th Dynasty pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, and this is a very interesting statuette of Amenhotep III ๐“‡ณ๐“ง๐“Ž ! Amenhotep the III ๐“‡ณ๐“ง๐“Ž  was the father ๐“‡‹๐“๐“€€ of Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–, who was originally named Amenhotep IV, until he changed his name to reflect the Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ.

Statue of Amenhotep III at the Brooklyn Museum

The first thing that struck me was the artistic style. It seems to be very grounded in realism, which is odd because most pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ wanted to be depicted as being in peak physical condition. It also illustrates some aspects of Amarna-style art, such as the previously mentioned realism and the sagging/exaggerated belly. This piece almost seems to be a precursor to the Amarna style. I find these transition-type pieces so interesting!

The statuette is made of ebony wood ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ and has glass inlaid eyes ๐“น๐“๐“ฆ and eyebrows. The hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช on the base are thought to refer to one of Amenhotep IIIโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“ง๐“Ž  sed festivals (he ruled for 38 years). The hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช on the base also contain errors, which means it is probably of non-royal production. The exact purpose of the statuette is unknown, but it is thought that it could have been used in a household shrine ๐“‰๐“บ to the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป. Household ๐“‰๐“บ statues/shrines actually became popular during the reign of Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–.

Statue of Amenhotep III at the Brooklyn Museum