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Egyptian Artifacts

Non-Royal Art from the Amarna Period

Both of these pieces may seem small, but they are quite interesting!

Both the head of a statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ (left) and the statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ of two men and a boy (right) are non-royal art pieces from the Amarna Period. The Amarna Period refers to the reign of the pharaoh Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–. Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– is referred to as the heretic pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, because he changed the entire Egyptian religion from the traditional polytheistic to the monotheistic worship ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข of the Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ.

Besides the dramatic religious shift, and the move of the Egyptian capital from Thebes ๐“Œ€๐“๐“Š– to his new capital (aptly named โ€œAkhenatenโ€), one thing that made the Amarna period quite different was the shift in the art style. Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– and the royal family were always depicted strangely compared to past Egyptian art styles. Many think this could be due to a genetic connective tissue disease than ran through the family. However, these two ๐“ป pieces show that even the non-royals were also depicted in what is now considered to be typical Amarna style art. Amarna art usually shows people with long limbs, strangely shaped heads, and prominent bellies.

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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

Gilded Sarcophagi


Here are some gilded sarcophagi ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ๐“ช at the British Museum!

Theย British Museumย has so many different sarcophagi ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ๐“ช in their collection that it was almost overwhelming trying to see everything!!! Sarcophagi ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ๐“ช such as these are usually made of wood ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ with a gold leaf overlay – it makes it look like the sarcophagus ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ is made of pure gold when it is not! These are decorated beautifully ๐“„ค with many of the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน and goddesses ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“ of the Egyptian pantheon! The sarcophagus ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ on the left contains a dedication to Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ, which runs down the center of the lid!

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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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Egyptian Artifacts

Bronze Statues of Hathor, Amun and Osiris

My Nonno always loved theย bronzeย ๐“ˆ”๐“ค๐“ˆ’๐“ฆย statuesย ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช of the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน and goddesses ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“! Bronze ๐“ˆ”๐“ค๐“ˆ’๐“ฆ statuary ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ became very popular starting around the Third Intermediate Period (26th Dynasty), and became very abundant in the Ptolemaic Period.

In this display at the Louvre, Hathorย ๐“‰ก, Amunย ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“€ญ, and Osirisย ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญย are shown!ย 

Hathor ๐“‰ก is one of the most prominent goddesses ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“ of the Egyptian pantheon. Along with Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ, she is regarded as the โ€œdivine motherโ€ of the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, but is also the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ of love, joy, music, and dance – basically the fun things in life! Hathor is also the wife of Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ, and the daughter of Ra ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“›. Hathor ๐“‰ก is usually associated with cows ๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“๐“ƒ’๐“ฆ and can take the form of a cow ๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“๐“ƒ’ in many forms of Egyptian art.

Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“€ญ is also considered to be one of the most important gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน in the Egyptian pantheon and was first mentioned in the Pyramid Texts. Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“€ญ had many different roles and was worshipped ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข as a creator god, solar god, fertility god, warrior god, and king of the gods. Amunโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“€ญ is also considered the โ€œuniversal godโ€ meaning that his power permeated the cosmos and all that the cosmos contained! 

Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ was one of the main figures of Egyptian religion.  This is because Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ was the god ๐“Šน of the dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ and the ruler of the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰, and Egyptians spent their entire time living preparing for their death ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ and meeting with Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ.  When the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป was alive, he was thought to be the living image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น of the God ๐“Šน Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ, but more importantly when the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป died, he was thought to then become an Osiris-like figure.