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Egyptian Artifacts

Small Stela of the Vizier Paser

This tiny ๐“ˆ–๐“†“๐“‹ด๐“…ฉ and unassuming stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ at the Louvre is really important to me and my Nonno because it depicts Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™๐“€ฝ, who was my Nonnoโ€™s favorite non-royal Egyptian! Nonno and I would always make it a point to try and find something related to Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™๐“€ฝ in every museum we went to! 

Though he wasnโ€™t a royal, Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™๐“€ฝ was one of the most prominent men of his time and he was vizier ๐“…ท๐“๐“บ๐“€€ under two ๐“ป pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป – Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  and then Rameses II ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“ง๐“‡ณ๐“‰๐“ˆ–.  Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™๐“€ฝ served many different roles over twenty-five ๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“พ years! Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™๐“€ฝ was also an architect and one of his most famous works is the tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ of Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  in the Valley of the Kings! 

A vizier ๐“…ท๐“๐“บ๐“€€ was the highest ranking official ๐“‹ด๐“‚‹๐“€€ and was the most powerful position in the government, besides the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป. Not only was the vizier ๐“…ท๐“๐“บ๐“€€ the most trusted advisor to the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, but he also saw to the day-to-day operations of the government. The vizier ๐“…ท๐“๐“บ๐“€€ was in charge of architecture, taxation, agriculture, military, the judiciary, finances, and many other things. Honestly that sounds exhausting, however, his hard work got Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™๐“€ฝ a nice tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ for himself, so thatโ€™s how we know so much about him! I guess wanting to preserve his name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– for eternity ๐“Ž›๐“‡ณ๐“Ž› was a success! 

Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™๐“€ฝ had many different titles, including โ€œHigh Preist of Amun ๐“Šน๐“›๐“Œ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ ,โ€ โ€œsuperintendent of every work of the king,โ€ โ€œprophet of Maat,โ€ โ€œmouth of Nekhenโ€ and โ€œchief of secrets of the hieroglyphs.โ€ This last title is probably why he is depicted with the god Thoth ๐“…๐“๐“ญ๐“€ญ on this small ๐“ˆ–๐“†“๐“‹ด๐“…ฉ stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ! 

I wish I could see the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช more clearly, but I can see Paserโ€™s ๐“…ฎ๐“€™๐“€ฝ name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– on the bottom part of the stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ! 

Sorry the first picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ is a bit blurry – I wanted to get as close as I could! The second picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ shows how small ๐“ˆ–๐“†“๐“‹ด๐“…ฉ the stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ is in relation to other objects!

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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Alexander the Great in Hieroglyphs

In 332 BCE, Alexander the Great ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒญ๐“Žก๐“Šƒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“Šƒ conquered Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– and became pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป! This was the beginning of the Hellenistic Period of Egyptian history. 

So why was Alexander ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒญ๐“Žก๐“Šƒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“Šƒ recognized as a pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป? The Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช saw him as the person who liberated them from the Persians! Alexander ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒญ๐“Žก๐“Šƒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“Šƒ also restored many of the Egyptian temples ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰๐“ช and even built new monuments ๐“ ๐“ dedicated to the Egyptian gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน! Some of these monuments ๐“ ๐“ show him worshipping Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–, who basically wouldโ€™ve been the Egyptian version of Zeus. After Alexanderโ€™s ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒญ๐“Žก๐“Šƒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“Šƒ death ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ in Babylon, Ptolemy I ๐“Šช๐“๐“ฏ๐“ƒญ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“‹ด became pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป and founded the Ptolemaic Dynasty.

Since Alexander ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒญ๐“Žก๐“Šƒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“Šƒ was Macedonian and not native Egyptian, his cartouche is very phonetic – all of the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช used are uniliteral signs, which means that they correspond to a single sound, just like a letter in the alphabet. Letโ€™s take a closer look! 

๐“„ฟ – The โ€œEgyptian Vulture ๐“„ฟโ€ represents the sound โ€œ3โ€ which would be pronounced like โ€œah.โ€ 

๐“ƒญ – the โ€œrecumbent lion ๐“ƒญโ€ was traditionally a biliteral phonogram for the sound โ€œrw,โ€ however, during the Hellenistic Period it adopted the sound of โ€œL.โ€ 

๐“Žก – The โ€œBasket with a Handle ๐“Žกโ€ symbol has the sound of โ€œk.โ€

๐“Šƒ – The โ€œdoorbolt ๐“Šƒโ€ symbol represents the sound โ€œzโ€ or โ€œs.โ€ Itโ€™s also the ideogram for the word โ€œdoorbolt.โ€ 

๐“‡‹ – The โ€œreed ๐“‡‹โ€ represents the sound of โ€œฤฑอ—,โ€ however it can also function as an ideogram for the word โ€œreed ๐“‡‹๐“บ.โ€ 

๐“ˆ– – The โ€œripple of water ๐“ˆ–โ€ is associated with the sound of โ€œn!โ€ 

๐“‚ง – The โ€œhand ๐“‚งโ€ represents the sound โ€œdโ€ and is also the ideogram for the word โ€œhand.โ€ 

๐“‚‹ – The โ€œmouth ๐“‚‹โ€ symbol is used to represent the sound โ€œr.โ€ It can also be used as an ideogram for the word โ€œmouth ๐“‚‹๐“บ.โ€ 

๐“Šƒ – see above! 

The hieroglyphs of โ€œ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒญ๐“Žก๐“Šƒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“Šƒโ€ basically spell out โ€œAlksindrs.โ€ Itโ€™s pretty cool to see the versatility of the hieroglyphic ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช symbols with examples of foreign names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Tutankhamun and Amun

This diorite ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“๐“ŠŒ statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ portrays Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ and the god ๐“Šน Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–. Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ is credited with restoring the Cult of Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–, after it was eradicated by his father Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– in order to solely worship the sun ๐“‡ณ๐“บ god ๐“Šน Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ.ย 

This statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ is very interesting because it displays Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ– very large, while Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ is very small ๐“ˆ–๐“†“๐“‹ด๐“…ฉ. Since the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป was considered a god ๐“Šน on Earth ๐“‡พ๐“‡พ, they were usually depicted as large, intimidating, and regal figures. However, the pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ช were second to the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน themselves – especially Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ– who was the king ๐“‡“ of the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน. So in the presence of Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–, the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป is very small ๐“ˆ–๐“†“๐“‹ด๐“…ฉ. 

The statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ has sustained damage, most notable is the fact that Tutankhamunโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ head is missing. This is because this era of the 18th Dynasty was supposed to be โ€˜forgottenโ€™ by history. The pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ช that came after Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ tried to erase all evidence of the Amarna era. Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ fell victim to this as well, even though he restored the traditional Egyptian pantheon. It was due to his familial relation to Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– that he was also subjected to having his images ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ destroyed.ย 

A lot of Tutankhamunโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ images ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ and statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ฆ were usurped by the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Horemheb ๐“‡ณ๐“‚ฆ๐“†ฃ๐“ผ๐“‡ณ๐“‰๐“ˆ–, who was not only Tutankhamunโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ general ๐“€Ž๐“ฆ, but was the last pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป of the 18th Dynasty. 

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Reading Hieroglyphs

“Rameses II Adoring the Sphinx at Giza”

This limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ relief is called โ€œRameses II adoring the Sphinx at Gizaโ€ and it is such a beautiful ๐“„ค piece! Letโ€™s take a closer look!

By the time Rameses II ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ was pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, the Sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ค at Giza was already ancient (~1200 years old) – which is almost mind blowing to think about!!! During the 18th Dynasty (the dynasty before Rameses II ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“) the cult of the Sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ค began to reach its peak in terms of religious importance. 

During the first ๐“ƒ year of their reign ๐“ˆŽ๐“๐“‹พ, the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป would take a trip to the Sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ค as almost a right of passage. They would then build monuments ๐“ ๐“ to document the occasion. This relief is representative of that trip that Rameses II ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ took! 

The New Kingdom pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“† knew the Sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ค as Hor-em-Akhet ๐“…ƒ๐“๐“ˆŒ which translates to โ€œHorus in the Horizon.โ€ The name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– most likely came from the fact that the Sphinxโ€™s ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ค head is seen in between Khufu ๐“๐“†‘๐“…ฑ and Khafreโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“†‘ pyramids ๐“‹๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‰ด๐“ช, and can appear like the sun disc ๐“‡ณ when approached from a certain direction. Itโ€™s definitely a creative name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–! 

Letโ€™s read some simple hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! Hereโ€™s a breakdown of the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– Horus in the Horizon ๐“…ƒ๐“๐“ˆŒ! Can you spot this on the relief?

๐“…ƒ – Horus

๐“ – em = in the

๐“ˆŒ – akhet = horizon

There are actually two ๐“ป different versions of this relief! If you look at the pictures above versus the pictures ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ below, the reliefs are facing two ๐“ป different directions!

For a closer hieroglyphic study, we are going to be looking at the relief facing the left because I was able to get better pictures ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ of the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช on this one! Both reliefs are pretty much identical except for the direction that they face!

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! We are going to look at the picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ posted below. Some of the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช are missing, but I was able to infer what was being written:

๐“™ – Given

๐“‹น – Life

๐“ŽŸ๐“ˆ๐“ฅ – Lord of Appearances 

๐“‡ณ๐“ฉ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‹ด๐“Œธ – Rameses II (Birth Name Variant) (this cartouche is too damaged for me to know which variant, so I made my best guess)

๐“ŽŸ๐“‡ฟ๐“‡ฟ – Lord of the Two Lands

๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“ง๐“‡ณ๐“‰๐“ˆ– – Usermaatre (Rameses II throne name)

๐“Šน๐“„ค – Perfect God 

๐“Žธ๐“…“(๐“ฒ๐“…†)(๐“€ญ) – Khnum (these hieroglyphs are cut off, but my best guess is this is the start of the name of the god Khnum)

Hereโ€™s the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช translation for the picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ posted below:

๐“…ƒ – Horus

๐“ – in the

๐“ˆŒ  – Horizon

๐“™ – Given

๐“‹น – Life

๐“†‘ – His

๐“ŽŸ – All

๐“Šฝ – Stability

๐“Œ€ – Strength

๐“‹ด๐“ˆ–๐“ƒ€๐“œ – Health

๐“„ซ๐“„ฃ๐“ – Joy

๐“ŽŸ – All

๐“‡ณ๐“‡ – Like Ra

๐“‡ณ๐“ŽŸ – Every day

This beautiful ๐“„ค and unique relief is located at the Louvre in France!

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Egyptian Artifacts

The Board Game “Senet”

If an object has Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– on it, I am going to get excited about it – no matter what the artifact is!

This piece is a type of ancient Egyptian board game called Senet ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ ! Senet ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“  is the worldโ€™s oldest board game – thereโ€™s evidence of its existence all the way back to the First Dynasty (though this particular board is dated c. 1390-1353 B.C.E.). 

During the New Kingdom, the game represented the journey of the Ka ๐“‚“ (soul) to the afterlife/Duat ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰. The word โ€œSenetโ€ ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“  actually means passage or gateway (though there are other ways to write these words as well)! If you look really closely, you can see details of the โ€œAnkh ๐“‹น,โ€ which is the symbol that means โ€œLifeโ€ along with the โ€œDjed Pillar ๐“Šฝโ€ which means โ€œStabilityโ€ painted on the side of the game! On both the left and right sides, you can also see the word ๐“‹ด๐“ˆ–๐“ƒ€ which means โ€œHealth!โ€ Such lovely messages on the side of a board game!

Senet ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“  is still a game that can be played today, though some of the rules are debatable! I find it so interesting that board games have been around for so long in history! Some things an about humanity have not changed!ย 

The version of Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– that appears on the side of the Senet ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“  board is her throne name, which is the name she took when she became pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป! Her throne name is โ€œMaatkare ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“โ€ which translates to โ€œTruth is the Soul of Re.โ€ 

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Egyptian Artifacts

Magical Stelae – “Cippus”

These pieces are known as Magical Stelae, or a Cippus.

The Cippus depicts Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ (or technically Harpokrates ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ๐“…ฎ๐“„ฟ๐“„ก๐“‚‹๐“‚ง๐“€”๐“€ญ, the Greek version of Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ) standing on two ๐“ป crocodiles ๐“…“๐“‹ด๐“Ž›๐“†Œ๐“ฅ and holding other dangerous animals such as snakes ๐“‡‹๐“‚๐“‚‹๐“๐“†˜๐“ช and scorpions ๐“‹ด๐“‚‹๐“ˆŽ๐“๐“†ซ๐“ช in each hand. The god ๐“Šน Bes ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“„œ also appears above Horusโ€™ ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ head ๐“ถ๐“บ. Bes ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“„œ was known to ward off evil ๐“ƒ€๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…จ and bad luck.ย 

Normally, stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ were used to commemorate the dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ so a Cippus is almost like a protective amulet ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…† in the form of a stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ. This Cippus was used by the living ๐“†ฃ๐“‚‹๐“€€๐“ช for protection ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ. Since the Old Kingdom, Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ was called upon as a defender against snake ๐“‡‹๐“‚๐“‚‹๐“๐“†˜ or scorpion ๐“‹ด๐“‚‹๐“ˆŽ๐“๐“†ซ bites. Placing the Cippus on a wound would evoke its magical ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“„ฟ๐“œ and healing powers. Cippus stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ like this were usually kept in homes ๐“‰๐“ฆ due to their protective nature.

Cippus pieces have also been found in tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ช, so we can assume that the Egyptians thought it not only would help protect ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ the living ๐“†ฃ๐“‚‹๐“€€๐“ช , but the dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ too. 

One thing I love about this display at the Louvre is now all of the Cippus pieces are together ๐“ˆ–๐“Š— in one single case! I also think the one in the middle, the statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ of the man ๐“Šƒ๐“€€๐“ค holding a Cippus is very unique; this was the first time I saw a statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ like that! 

Categories
Reading Hieroglyphs

Relief of Seti I and Hathor

This is such a beautiful ๐“„ค relief and it is actually from the tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ of Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ ! The tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ of Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  is the largest in the Valley of the Kings and it is also my Nonnoโ€™s favorite of all the tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ช! This relief is now located at the Louvre in France.

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 ๐“ŽŸ๐“๐“‹€๐“๐“๐“ˆŠ (the underworld ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰). The West ๐“‹€๐“๐“๐“ˆŠ 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 ๐“‹€๐“๐“๐“ˆŠ! This is why all of the Egyptian tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ช are located on the western ๐“‹€๐“๐“๐“ˆŠ side of the Nile!

Here, Hathor ๐“‰ก is seen welcoming Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  into her domain, while offering him a menat necklace ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“๐“‹ง, which was a symbol of protection ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ. They are even holding hands ๐“‚ง๐“๐“บ!

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

๐“‰ก – Hathor
๐“ถ๐“ท๐“๐“๐“Š–๐“‹† – Chief one of Thebes
๐“ŽŸ๐“‡ฟ๐“‡ฟ – Lord of the Two Lands
(๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ ) – Menmaatra (throne name – โ€œEternal is the Truth of Raโ€)
๐“ŽŸ๐“ˆ๐“ฅ – Lord of Appearances
(๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ต๐“‡Œ๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ–) – Seti, Beloved of Ptah (birth name – this is an uncommon variant that uses the Osiris ๐“ต symbol instead of the Seth ๐“ฃ symbol)
๐“™๐“‹น๐“‡ณ๐“‡๐“บ๐“†– – Given Eternal Life, Like Ra

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Ushabti of Pharaoh Seti I

Pharaoh Seti I ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Œป๐“‡Œ๐“ฃ๐“ˆ– had over 700 ushabtis ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช! 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. 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 (this fact still haunts me – it was also one of my Nonnoโ€™s favorite stories to tell).

Besides the wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ ushabtis, Seti I ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Œป๐“‡Œ๐“ฃ๐“ˆ– had many faience ushabtis ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช. His faience ushabtis are such a beautiful blue color and are inscribed with hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช. Seti Iโ€™s throne name, Maatmenra ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ , is clearly seen on the first line of hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช!

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Bust of Akhenaten at the Louvre

Letโ€™s take another look at an Amarna Period piece! This is a limestoneย ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ย bust of Akhenatenย ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–ย that is currently in the Louvre! While you all know Hatshepsutย ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ชย is my favorite pharaohย ๐“‰๐“‰ป, Akhenatenย ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–ย is my second favorite! I always refer to Akhenatenย ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–ย as โ€œmy favorite disasterโ€ because I think that is quite the succinct way to describe his 17 ๐“Ž†๐“€ year rule ๐“‹พ of Egyptย ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–!ย 

While it canโ€™t be seen in my pictures ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ, some of the paintย ๐“‡จ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ญ๐“ธ๐“ฆย is still preserved on the bust! One of the places that still has traces of paint is the Blue Crown (Khepresh)ย ๐“†ฃ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™๐“‹™ย that Akhenatenย ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–ย is wearing. Also, the ears and back of the neck still have traces of paint.ย 

The Uraeus ๐“‡‹๐“‚๐“‚‹๐“๐“†— is missing from the front of the Blue Crown ๐“†ฃ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™๐“‹™, and it was probably lost in antiquity. The Uraeus ๐“‡‹๐“‚๐“‚‹๐“๐“†— symbolizes divine authority, royalty, supremacy, and also acted as protection ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ for the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป. Fun Fact: no example of the Blue Crown (Khepresh) ๐“†ฃ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™๐“‹™ has been found by archaeologists! 

The artistic style during Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– rule ๐“‹พ was very different than the traditional Egyptian art styles, which makes pieces like this bust so weird and wonderful in their own way! I will never get tired of studying Amarna art!ย 

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Museum Display at the Louvre

I love the randomness of some museum displays – thereโ€™s always so much to look at! By โ€œrandomness,โ€ Iโ€™m referring to the varying objects that can be grouped together, however they are from the same time period so the conglomeration of different objects can give you a sense of the varying objects common during that period! It also gives you a look into the art styles that were popular!

Starting from the left, you can see a figure of the god Bes ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“„œ. Bes ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“„œ didnโ€™t become commonly worshipped until the beginning of the New Kingdom. He was the god of childbirth, protector of the household ๐“‰๐“บ, and defender of all that is good! He was considered to be a โ€œdemonic fighter,โ€ and was also a war god.

There are two ๐“ป ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ figures with beautiful hieroglyphic ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช inscriptions. These little guys were buried with the deceased and were meant to be their servants in the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰. Mostย ushabtisย ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช are inscribed with a spell that tells you what their function was. When Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ ๐“€ญ called upon the deceased for labor, the deceased would say the spell on theย ushabtiย ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ and it would come to life and perform the labor in place of the deceased!

Next are the sistrums ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ™๐“๐“ฃ๐“ช! A sistrum ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ™๐“๐“ฃ was almost like an ancient tambourine or rattle – while the part that makes the music is often not found intact, the handle with Hathorโ€™s ๐“‰ก face usually is. Sistrums ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ™๐“๐“ฃ๐“ช can be found dating back to the Old Kingdom, but most that are found are usually from the Late – Graeco/Roman periods.

And lastly, a statue of the goddess Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“! Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“ was one of my Nonnoโ€™s favorite mythological figures. Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“ was a war goddess and was associated with the destructive aspects of the sun ๐“‡ณ๐“บ (like the unrelenting heat of the desert).