Tag: the met

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Egyptian Artifacts

False Door of Merykhufu

This is a False Door for the inspector and priest ๐“Šน๐“› named Merykhufu (๐“๐“…ฑ๐“†‘๐“…ฑ)๐“Œธ๐“‚‹.

False Doors were an important aspect of Egyptian funerary practices and served as ways for the living relatives to make offerings to the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. While this piece most likely dates to the 4th Dynasty, False Doors have been found throughout various periods of Egyptian history.

This piece strikes me as super interesting because at first glance, it looks like it belongs to the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Khufu ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“†‘๐“…ฑ, because his cartouche is present. However, this personโ€™s name is Merykhufu (๐“๐“…ฑ๐“†‘๐“…ฑ)๐“Œธ๐“‚‹ – he incorporated the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Khufuโ€™s ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“†‘๐“…ฑ name into his own. His name actually means โ€œBeloved of Khufu.โ€

Merykhufuโ€™s (๐“๐“…ฑ๐“†‘๐“…ฑ)๐“Œธ๐“‚‹ wife, son ๐“…ญ, and daughter ๐“…ญ๐“ are also present on the False Door. This is hard to date because Khufu ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“†‘๐“…ฑ was admired by a cult long after his death. However, the wig that Merykhufuโ€™s (๐“๐“…ฑ๐“†‘๐“…ฑ)๐“Œธ๐“‚‹ wife is wearing is an early dynastic style, which is why this piece most likely dates to the Old Kingdom (Dynasty 4).

The word โ€œbelovedโ€ can also be written like this โ€œ๐“Œป๐“‚‹๐“‡Œโ€œ and is actually the more phonetic way to write it. However, sometimes words were shortened to fit the piece/person – almost like an abbreviation!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Quail Chick Hieroglyph Relief

This beautiful ๐“„ค sculpture is a raised relief of a quail chick ๐“…ฑ hieroglyph ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ dates to the Ptolemaic Period in Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–. This relief shows the full hieroglyph ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ in beautiful ๐“„ค detail. This style of an object being โ€œunfinished but actually finishedโ€ was very popular during this time period. Limestone pieces such as these are often referred to as โ€œsculptors modelsโ€ by Egyptologists because they are very detailed and only show one part of the object.

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Egyptian Artifacts

4th Dynasty Lion Statue

This lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› statue is from the 4th Dynasty, which means it even pre-dates the Pyramids ๐“‹๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‰ด๐“ช at Giza!

This lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› most likely guarded the entrance to some type of sanctuary or temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰. Even early on in ancient Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–, lions ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„›๐“ช were seen as representative of royalty due to the fact that they were the most powerful predator in the vicinity of the Nile Valley ๐“‡—! This statue is actually the oldest preserved example of a full lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› that archaeologists have found!

When you enter the Egyptian Galleries at theย MET,ย this statue is actually one of the first things that you see!!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Chair from the Tomb of Senemut’s Parents

This is a chair that belonged to Senemutโ€™s ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ parents! Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ was Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช most trusted advisor, architect, and the tutor for her daughter Neferure ๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค. Senemutโ€™s ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ parents were buried in a tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ that was very close to his, and they were given burials that were fit for people of high status, due to Senemutโ€™s ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ position.

The chair is adorned with the Djed ๐“Šฝ and Tyet ๐“Žฌ symbols, and the god Bes ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“„œ is located in the center. I love how the legs of the chair look like lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› paws too!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Mummy Beads!

Letโ€™s talk about โ€œmummy beads!!!โ€ย 

In ancient times, a beaded shroud like the one in the picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“, would have been placed over the mummy ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ after it had been placed in its coffin ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ. In modern times, the small faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ beads that make up these shrouds have been nicknamed โ€œmummy beadsโ€ simply because they are beads found with mummies ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ๐“ช! 

The pattern of the beaded shroud was supposed to be representative of the cloak that Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ, god ๐“Šน of the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰, wears. Whatโ€™s so incredible about this beaded shroud is that it is mostly intact! 

These types of shrouds were mostly made with blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ beads because in ancient Egyptian culture, the color blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ was symbolic of rebirth and regeneration. Faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ was an extremely popular material to work with because it was both cheap and easy to use! Faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ is a quartz ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Œ๐“ˆ™ based material that can be molded and then heated to a very high temperature to keep its shape. Objects made of faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ were thought to hold magical ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“„ฟ๐“œ powers! 

Sewn into the beaded shroud is a winged scarab ๐“๐“Šช๐“‚‹๐“‚‹๐“†ฃ amulet ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†, and amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช of the four Sons of Horus. The wings ๐“‚ง๐“Œณ๐“๐“†ƒ๐“ฆ allowed the scarab ๐“๐“Šช๐“‚‹๐“‚‹๐“†ฃ to join the rising and setting of the sun ๐“‡ณ๐“บ each day – which to the ancient Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช represented the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. The cycle was central to the ancient Egyptian ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“ religion! While the four Sons of Horus were typically seen as the heads of the canopic jars, which held the organs ๐“‡‹๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“„น๐“ฆ of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ after they were mummified, they were also used as amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช! 

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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€ 

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Egyptian Artifacts

Bronze Imhotep Statue at the MET

I canโ€™t go too long without posting about Imhotepย ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช! My Nonno always made a point to make sure we saw Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช in every museum that we went to. It was part of the fun of going to the museum!! After seeing โ€œThe Mummyโ€ for the first time when I was about ten ๐“Ž† years old, I had already known about Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช for years from a historical perspective!!

Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช, meaning โ€œHe who comes in peace,โ€ was a non-royal man ๐“Šƒ๐“€€๐“ค who became deified (reached godly status).  This is a very rare occurrence, as it was thought by the Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช that the Pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป was the only god ๐“Šน on the Earth ๐“‡พ๐“‡พ.  Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช was not deified in his lifetime – it was about 2,000 ๐“†ผ๐“†ผ years after his death ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ that he began to be worshipped ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข as a god ๐“Šน.  

Not much is known about Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช from his lifetime – much information about Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช is from Demotic texts or stelae ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ๐“ช that were written thousands of years after his death ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. 

Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช is famous for being an incredible architect and is credited with designing Djoserโ€™s ๐“‚ฆ Step Pyramid (aka the first ever pyramid ๐“‹๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‰ด) at Memphis ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“‰ด๐“Š– (modern day Saqqara). He was also a physician! 

Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช is always depicted as a man ๐“Šƒ๐“€€๐“ค seated in a chair, usually with a piece of papyrus ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“› in his lap. Much like the god ๐“Šน Ptah ๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฑ(who he is said to be the son ๐“…ญ of), he wears a cap on his head. Once you are able to remember what Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช look like, you will be able to recognize them in any museum that you go to! 

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Reading Hieroglyphs

Royal Inscription of Amenemhat I

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! This inscriptionย ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž–ย has all words on it that I have taught already!! See if you can read it before looking at the translation!!ย Since the directional hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช are pointing to the right, we are going to start reading from the right! Also, hieroglyphsย ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ชย are always read starting at the top line of symbols!ย 

๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“…“๐“„‚๐“ – Amenemhat I (Birth Name)

๐“™๐“‹น – Given Life

๐“‡ณ๐“‡- Like Ra 

๐“†– – (For) Eternity

Now, this relief is only partial because some of the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช are cut off, but based on the symbols that remain, and the formulaic way that royal titulary was always written, I have a pretty good idea what the line above the cartouche says! Letโ€™s take a look: 

๐“…ญ๐“‡ณ – Son of Ra

๐“Šน๐“„ค – The Great God 

๐“ŽŸ๐“‡ฟ๐“‡ฟ – Lord of the Two Lands

Now, before people come at me (it happens every time) for the translation of โ€œ ๐“Šน๐“„ค – The Great God,โ€ yes, โ€œ๐“„คโ€ can be translated to โ€œgreat,โ€ โ€œbeautifulโ€ and โ€œperfect.โ€ Much like in English (and Iโ€™m sure all other languages) in Middle Egyptian, words can have multiple meanings/translations!!! Also, there can be two different words that mean the same thing – โ€œ๐“‰ป / ๐“‰ผโ€ can also be translated to โ€œgreatโ€ – just like in the word for โ€œpharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป,โ€ which literally translates to โ€œGreat House.โ€

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Egyptian Artifacts

Limestone Relief of Sobek

I enjoyed talking about my friend Sobekย ๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“Žก๐“†‹ so hereโ€™s another piece that depicts Sobekย ๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“Žก๐“†‹! This is a raised limestoneย ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ย relief of Sobekย ๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“Žก๐“†‹ย from the Ptolemaic Period and is at the MET.

Sobek ๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“Žก๐“†‹ is usually depicted as a crocodile ๐“…“๐“‹ด๐“Ž›๐“†Œ sitting on a shrine ๐“๐“Šƒ๐“…“๐“‚œ๐“‰ – just like this hieroglyph โ€œ๐“†‹,โ€ or as a human body with a crocodile ๐“…“๐“‹ด๐“Ž›๐“†Œ head ๐“ถ๐“บ. 

Sobek ๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“Žก๐“†‹ was worshipped ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข from the Old Kingdom through the Roman Periods, but his popularity seemed to have peaked during the Second Intermediate Period as many pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ of the 13th Dynasty had names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ that were associated with him. For example, the names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ of the pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ called โ€œSobekhotep ๐“†‹๐“Šต๐“๐“Šชโ€ translates to โ€œSobek is satisfied.โ€ There were also many commoners whose name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– was also Sobekhotep ๐“†‹๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช.

Fun fact! While โ€œSobekhotep ๐“†‹๐“Šต๐“๐“Šชโ€ can literally be written as โ€œSobek ๐“†‹โ€ and โ€œHotep ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šชโ€ with the ideogram for โ€œSobek ๐“†‹โ€ taking on the full meaning of the word, the name can also be written as โ€œ๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“Žก๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช,โ€ which also spells out Sobekhotep, but this time, only phonograms are used! I love seeing different variations of the same words in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! 

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Egyptian Artifacts

Ostracon of the Crocodile God Sobek

This is an ostracon, which is basically either a broken piece of limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ (in this case), pottery, a rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™, etc. that was used for drawing practice or even โ€œTo Doโ€ lists! A lot of the ostraca from ancient Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– were often used as โ€œpolitical cartoonsโ€ – where animals were depicted doing human things that were usually comments of society and the social hierarchy! Pieces of limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ were often used because papyrus ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“› was too expensive to practice on! 

This nice little ostracon pictured however, is just a lovely drawing of the crocodile ๐“…“๐“‹ด๐“Ž›๐“†Œ god ๐“Šน Sobek ๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“Žก๐“†‹! This piece is dated to the New Kingdom (Ramesside – c. 1295โ€“1070 B.C.E.) and was most likely found at Deir el-Medina! 

Sobek ๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“Žก๐“†‹ was one of the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน that was named in the Pyramid Texts, which makes him one of the oldest deities ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน in the Egyptian pantheon. He is often depicted as a human body with a crocodile ๐“…“๐“‹ด๐“Ž›๐“†Œ head ๐“ถ๐“บ. 

Some of the Egyptian legends state that Sobek ๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“Žก๐“†‹ rose out of the primordial waters and created the Nile River ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ. Since Sobek ๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“Žก๐“†‹ is associated with the Nile River ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ, this makes him also associated with fertility (much like Taweret, the crocodile ๐“…“๐“‹ด๐“Ž›๐“†Œ goddess ๐“Šน๐“ of fertility) since the ancient Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช associated the Nile ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ with fertility and rebirth. 

Sobek ๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“Žก๐“†‹ was both feared and revered due to him being a crocodile ๐“…“๐“‹ด๐“Ž›๐“†Œ! He was worshipped ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข in order to ensure the fertility of both people and crops, but also to protect against crocodile ๐“…“๐“‹ด๐“Ž›๐“†Œ attacks.