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Egyptian Artifacts

Usurped Statues of Amenhotep III (Part 1)

I must admit – I am very guilty of walking past these statuesย ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ชย at the MET a lot because usually I want to go straight for the Temple of Dendur!! These pictures ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ are from May, but when I went to the MET earlier this month I got some close up photosย ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆย of these gorgeous ๐“„ค statuesย ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช, so Iโ€™m going to do a bit of a series on them! Todayย ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณย we will learn the history, and then we will read the hieroglyphsย ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ชย tomorrowย ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“‡ณ!ย 

These two ๐“ป statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช originally belonged to the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Amenhotep III ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Šต๐“‹พ๐“‹†. While these two ๐“ป statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช now adorn the entrance to the museum exhibit of the Temple of Dendur, they originally were located at Amenhotep IIIโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Šต๐“‹พ๐“‹† temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ dedicated to Amun-Ra ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“บ at Thebes ๐“Œ€๐“๐“Š– (modern day Luxor). Amenhotep III ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Šต๐“‹พ๐“‹† ruled ๐“‹พ Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– during the 18th Dynasty. 

Then in the 19th Dynasty, along came the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Merenptah ๐“‡ณ๐“ƒ’๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน! Merenptah ๐“‡ณ๐“ƒ’๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน was the son ๐“…ญ of Rameses II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“, and like father ๐“‡‹๐“๐“€€ like son ๐“…ญ, Merenptah ๐“‡ณ๐“ƒ’๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน usurped the statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช of other pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ and put his name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– on them! 

Usurping can be thought of as ancient plagiarism, and was very common during this time period. While I equate usurpation to plagiarism to put it in a modern context, the purpose wasnโ€™t to defame the previous pharaohsย ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆย of Egyptย ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–. The purpose was for the common pharaoh to promote his own rule ๐“‹พ, and what better way to do that than to use statuesย ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช, templesย ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰๐“ฆ, etc. that already are made!?

It is always funny to see a statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ that has the facial features of one pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, but has the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of another pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป on it! Rameses II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ did this all the time – that manโ€™s name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– is everywhere! 

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Egyptian Artifacts

The Temple of Dendur

The Temple of Dendur is gorgeous ๐“„ค – the room that it is located in makes it actually feel like you are along the Nile River ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ in Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–!

This room is one of my absolute favorite places – sometimes I like to sit on one of the benches and just enjoy the atmosphere of it! Visiting the temple only makes me want to go to Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– more!


The temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ was actually commissioned by Augustus and building was complete by 10 B.C. Dendur is located in Nubia, and is just south of Aswan. Even though the temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ was built by Augustus, it definitely follows Egyptian style and not Roman style. The emperor is actually presented as a pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป worshipping Egyptian gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน on the walls of the temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰. The temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ was primarily used to worship the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Ostraca of Senemut


Ostraca are basically the ancient Egyptian version of a sketch pad or scrap paper! They were used by scribes ๐“Ÿ๐“€€๐“ช or artists to practice their craft! The ostraca were usually chips of limestone or broken pottery.


These ostraca at the MET are very awesome because they depict Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ!! Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ was Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“ most trusted advisor (and in my opinion, they were definitely much closer than that ๐Ÿ˜œ). Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ was not only the tutor for Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“ daughter ๐“…ญ๐“ Neferure ๐“‡ณ๐“„ค ๐“„ค ๐“„ค, the royal architect in charge of Deir el-Bahri, but he was also the Steward to Amun ๐“†“๐“‰๐“บ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ– at Karnak.

The sketch of Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ on these ostraca are very similar to the sketches of Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ that are seen in his tomb!

These were always some of my favorite pieces to see as a kid! Not only because it was Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ, but also I loved seeing how the Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช used to do things!! Seeing the grids and seeing their โ€œsketch padsโ€ allowed me a glimpse into just how some of this incredible art was created!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Bronze Statue of Isis, Osiris and Horus


This bronze statue at the MET is from the Ptolemaic Period (664 – 31 B.C.E.) represents Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ, Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ and Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ- the main triad of the Egyptian pantheon.

Here, Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ is represented in his Greek form Harpokrates, with his trademarked “finger to lips” pose. This pose represents the โ€œbe quietโ€ gesture because to the Greeks Harpokrates was the god ๐“Šน of silence. What is interesting about this piece is that there are suspension loops on the back of Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ and Harpokrates – this piece is probably too big to be worn as a necklace, so the loops may have some type of unknown symbolic significance.

Many gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน in the Egyptian pantheon appeared in groups of threes ๐“ผ, which were known as Triads. They were groups of gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน that usually have some type of familial significance to each other. For example, one of the Memphis triads during this period was Ptah ๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฑ, Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“, and Nefertem ๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“๐“ƒ๐“€ฏ. Nefertem ๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“๐“ƒ๐“€ฏ is the son of Ptah ๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฑ and Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“, just like Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ is the son of Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ and Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ!!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut

This is one of the grand, large kneeling statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช of Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช that were found during excavations of her temple at Deir el-Bahri. The excavations were a joint operation between the MET and the Egyptian government.

In this statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ, Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช is depicted wearing the nemes headcloth, a false beard on her chin, and is kneeling with a nemset jar ๐“Œ in each hand ๐“‚ง๐“๐“บ. These were meant to be offerings to the god ๐“Šน Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–- an inscription on the statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ states that Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช is offering “maat” to Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–- while Maat ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ฆ was the goddess of truth, “maat” was also a concept held dearly by Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช. Her reign was guided by order, truth, and justice – all the principles of maat.

Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช is seen kneeling, which is not too common for a Pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป since they were considered to be gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน on Earth. However, since Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช was making an offering to the god ๐“Šน Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–, she did this in a kneeling position. A pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป kneeled for no one – except for another god ๐“Šน.

From this angle, the statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ looks even more grand! I also love pink granite, which many of Hatshepsut’s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช are made out of. Granite is an extremely dense and durable rock (hence why it is used for countertops today), and these statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช of Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช were definitely built to last.

The image above is of the cartouches of Hatshepsutโ€™s throne name, Maatkare ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Small Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut

This is a small, kneeling statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ of Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช made out of black/pink granite! The black and pink granite is traditionally found in Aswan (Upper Egypt). In the USA, black and pink granite is commonly found in Nevada and other western states! This piece is in the MET.

While not as grand as some of her other statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช that adorned her temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ at Deir el-Bahri, this one makes quite an impression. There are at least eight of these statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช, and many of them are in the MET. They were most likely used to line the upper court at her temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰, and are thought to be intended for her Heb Sed festival (a festival used to celebrate 30 ๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž† years of rule, and then celebrated every three ๐“ผ years after the initial 30 ๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†). Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช, ever the Pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป to break from tradition, instead celebrated hers in the 16th ๐“Ž†๐“ฟ year of her rule!

In this statue, Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช is kneeling and is seen holding the nemset jar ๐“Œ. The jar ๐“Œ has the djed pillar ๐“Šฝ adorning the front. The djed pillar ๐“Šฝ is thought to be the spine of Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ, and it represents stability and endurance – both are attributes a Pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป needed in order to be a successful ruler!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Sarcophagus of Wereshnefer – The Earth is Round?

The sarcophagus of Wereshnefer is a really interesting piece in the MET. Wereshnefer was a priest of the goddesses ๐“Šน๐“๐“ช Mut ๐“๐“„ฟ๐“€ญ, Nephytys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡, Satis ๐“‹ด๐“„๐“๐“๐“€ญ and Neith ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“‹Œ๐“€ญ and he lived during the 30th Dynasty to the early Ptolemaic Period. Despite being a priest ๐“Šน๐“› in Upper Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–, his sarcophagus was found at Saqqara.

One of the interesting things about his very large coffin is that the funerary/religious texts that are engraved into the stone are from writings that predate Wereshnefer by about one thousand years! The lid (which is pictured) shows images and texts related to the sun’s journey through the sky ๐“Šช๐“๐“‡ฏ during the day ๐“‰”๐“‚‹๐“บ๐“‡ณ, which in Egyptian religion, acts as a metaphor for the journey from death ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ to life ๐“‹น that one would take while accompanying the sun ๐“‡ณ๐“บ.

What is so interesting about Wereshnefer’s sarcophagus is that it shows the Earth ๐“‡พ๐“‡พ as being round. This is the first evidence that scientists and historians have of the Earth ๐“‡พ๐“‡พ being depicted as a round object (as we know, most people thought that the Earth ๐“‡พ๐“‡พ was flat). Nut ๐“Œ๐“๐“‡ฏ๐“€ญ, the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ of the sky ๐“Šช๐“๐“‡ฏ, is seen arched over the rounded Earth ๐“‡พ๐“‡พ and is supported by Shu ๐“‡‹๐“…ฑ๐“€ญ, the god ๐“Šน of the atmosphere. At Nut’s ๐“Œ๐“๐“‡ฏ๐“€ญ feet is Geb ๐“…ญ๐“ƒ€๐“€ญ, the god ๐“Šน of the Earth ๐“‡พ๐“‡พ. It is fascinating to me that the Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช would depict the Earth as being round!

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Egyptian Artifacts

The Book of the Dead of Imhotep, Priest of Horus

This copy of the Book of the Dead (known to the Egyptians as the Book of Coming Forth By Day) belonged to a priest ๐“Šน๐“› of Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ named Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช! Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช, Priest ๐“Šน๐“› of Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ, lived during the early Ptolemaic Period (between 332-200 B.C.E.) Fun fact: the word priest ๐“Šน๐“› actually translates to โ€œgodโ€™s servantโ€!!!

Now, this is definitely not that Imhotep from “The Mummy” (1999), however, this is still a funny coincidence! I always get a laugh when I see this in the museum! The Book of the Dead was created for Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช so he could have a successful journey into the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰. The spells on the papyrus ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“› were also meant to ensure his safety and well-being in the duat ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰(realm of the dead).

The Book of the Dead is interesting because it doesn’t follow a particular story. The spells do seem to be grouped by theme, and sometimes pictures ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ can be representative of the spells as well. The scene shown here is the Weighing of the Heart, in which the deceasedโ€™s heart ๐“‡‹๐“ƒ€๐“„ฃ was weighed against Maatโ€™s ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ฆ feather. More details on that scene later in the post!

Imhotep’s version of the Book of the Dead is complete, and is over 70 feet long!

This page illustrates spell 110, which gives Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช the ability to enjoy various earthly activities. This takes place in the Field of Reeds, which is also known as The Field of Offerings. Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช is actually seen doing work in the field ๐“‡๐“๐“ˆ‡ – he can be seen using a scythe to harvest grain, plowing the field, and doing other various activities. In the top left, there are hieroglyphs โ€œ๐“ƒน๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ–๐“†‘๐“„ฟ๐“‡๐“›๐“๐“ญ๐“โ€ that translate to “it is he in the Field of Offerings.โ€ The Field of Reeds could also be written as ๐“‡๐“๐“ˆ…๐“‡‹๐“„ฟ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“†ฐ๐“Š–

I have provided some close up images of some of the aspects of the image that I mentioned in the caption above!

Let’s take a look at some other portions of the Book of the Dead!

I only have the drawings in this photograph, but to the left of the images would be the Hieratic script which would spell out the Sun Hymns. The Sun Hymns would allow Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช to be turned into a spirit and join the Khepri ๐“†ฃ๐“‚‹๐“‡‹๐“› in the daily cycle of death and rebirth (rising and setting of the sun). During the night ๐“Žผ๐“‚‹๐“Ž›๐“„›, Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช would travel through the Duat ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰ underworld/netherworld) and be born again the next morning in the form of ba ๐“…ก๐“บ (individual’s soul that was depicted as a human headed bird).

The top image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ shows the goddesses ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“ Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ and Nephytys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ attending to the sun god Khepri ๐“†ฃ๐“‚‹๐“‡‹๐“›, who is in the form of a scarab ๐“†ฃ. The middle image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ shows the sun ๐“‡ณ๐“บ in human form and is attended by two ๐“ป ba ๐“…ก๐“บ and baboons. The bottom image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ shows Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช and his wife* receiving offerings.

*Since Imhotepโ€™s ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช mother ๐“…๐“๐“ is mentioned a lot throughout his Book of the Dead, many people think that the woman who always accompanies Imhotep in the images ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ is his mother ๐“…๐“๐“ and not his wife!

Fun fact! The words for โ€œnight ๐“Žผ๐“‚‹๐“Ž›๐“„›โ€œ and โ€œend ๐“Žผ๐“‚‹๐“Ž›๐“‚๐“›โ€œ were very similar in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช!!!

Now on to my favorite scene from the Book of the Dead (in more detail)!

While I have already posted a pic of the Weighing of the Heart, I wanted to post some alternative angles because this series of images is my absolute favorite – no matter whos Book of the Dead it is from!

Here, Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ข weighs the heart ๐“‡‹๐“ƒ€๐“„ฃ
of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ against Maatโ€™s ๐“Œด๐“™๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ฆ feather. If Anubis determines thereโ€™s balance between the two, then the deceased would be presented to Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ ๐“€ญ by Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ. Thoth ๐“…ค๐“€ญ records the findings. Ammit waits to eat the heart if itโ€™s unworthy!

Here we can see that Imhotepโ€™s ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช heart ๐“‡‹๐“ƒ€๐“„ฃ is balanced against the feather! There are some really cool images in this particular scene – instead of just being a feather on the scale, it is the hieroglyph determinative for Maat (๐“ง). Also, in the last picture, Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช is accompanied by a feather with a human body! This is probably a representation of Maat ๐“Œด๐“™๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ฆ, though she is usually depicted as a woman with a feather on her head and rarely as just a human body with a feather.

This is the last picture I have from Imhotep’s ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช Book of the Dead. Due to the way that the papyri ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“›๐“ฆ are displayed at the MET, it can be very difficult to get clear pictures ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฅ. I’m happy that I went back through my pictures ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฅ because I had taken some better ones than I initially thought!

In this image, you can see some of the hieratic script that the Book of the Dead is written in – don’t ask me to translate, because I can’t read hieratic! I can only read hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! I would love to learn hieratic though! Some of the hieratic is in black ink while some of it is in red. The red ink seems to symbolize either the beginning or the end ๐“Žผ๐“‚‹๐“Ž›๐“‚๐“› of a spell, or it could highlight a word for a noun that was considered “bad” in Egyptian culture. However, sometimes even “offering table” could have been written/drawn in red and offering tables were not bad at all! So, some of the red ink seems kinda random.

Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช is seen here with Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ, who is seated on top of a shrine. As you all know, Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ is my favorite Egyptian god (he is the god of mummification and cemeteries) so I was very excited to see I got an image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ with Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ! I like this image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ because it reminds me of the Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ shrine that was found in Tutankhamun’s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ tomb – that is one of my absolute favorite pieces of all time! The drawing is also like the hieroglyph determinative โ€œ๐“ƒฃโ€ for Anubis!

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Rosetta Stone Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to the deciphering of Egyptian Hieroglyphsย ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! Seeing the Rosetta Stone in person was a dream come true for me!ย 

Jean-Franรงois Champollion was just a teenager in September 1822 when he discovered how to read hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช based off of the Rosetta Stone! The Rosetta Stone is actually a decree issued by priests ๐“Šน๐“›๐“ช in 196 B.C.E. that affirmed the cult of Ptolemy V ๐“Šช๐“๐“ฏ๐“ƒญ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“‹ด. Identical decrees were supposed to be placed in every temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ in Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–!

During the Christian period in Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–, the use of hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช began to wane and finally disappeared at the beginning of the 4th Century. The Rosetta Stone contains three ๐“ผ languages ๐“‚‹๐“ฆ: Hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช, Greek and Demotic. Since Greek was a known language ๐“‚‹๐“บ, scholars began to try to use the Greek section of the Rosetta Stone to translate the portion in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช. 

Thomas Young was the first person to show that the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– in the cartouche (๐“Šช๐“๐“ฏ๐“ƒญ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“‹ด) actually spelled out โ€œPtolemy,โ€ however, Champollion gets the credit for deciphering hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช because he showed that the phonetic symbols were also used for Egyptian ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“ names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ and not just foreign names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ. With his extensive knowledge of Coptic, Champollion was able to begin reading the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช fully! 

I am thankful for the early works of scholars like Champollion because I would not be reading hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช without it! 

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

The Shabti Spell

We are going to be taking a (virtual) trip to the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ! As many of you know, I love ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ figures, so letโ€™s take a closer look at this one! 

The textย ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅย on the ushabtiย ๐“†ท๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พย is a version of the โ€œShabti Spellโ€ from Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead. This spellย ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“›ย gives the ushabtiย ๐“†ท๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พย the power to complete tasks (farming, manual labor, etc) for the deceasedย ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑย in the Field of Reedsย ๐“‡๐“๐“ˆ…๐“‡‹๐“„ฟ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“†ฐ๐“Š–. Many people (if they could afford it) were buried with at least 365 ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“พ ushabtiย ๐“†ท๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พย figures – one for each day of the year! Some were buried with even more!ย 

The โ€œShabti Spellโ€ usually starts off with the following phrase: 

๐“‹ด๐“Œ‰๐“†“๐“‡ถ – The Illuminated One

๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ – The Osiris

(Look at the first line of text on the ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ and start reading from the right!)

However, my favorite part of this ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ figure is that the word โ€œ๐“†ท๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ shabtiโ€ appears very clearly on the piece! It is part of the spell ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“› that says: โ€œO these shabtis, if you are counted, to do all the works to be done there in the realm of the dead.โ€ 

Can you find โ€œ๐“†ท๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พโ€ on the piece in the picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“? 

There are a bunch of different ways to write โ€œushabtiโ€ in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! Just like in other languages, we can use the words โ€œshabtiโ€ and โ€œushabtiโ€ to denote the same figures!

๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ

๐“†ท๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ (shortened version)

๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ