Tag: british museum

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Egyptian Artifacts

Stelae

Here are two 𓏻 beautifully π“„€ decorated stelae from the British Museum. Nonno always loved looking at the various stelae π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έπ“ͺ in the museums. They were among his favorite artifacts – and he of course passed that love on to me!

In ancient Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š– stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ were often used to commemorate the deceased 𓅓𓏏𓏱 and keep their memory alive. That is one of the things I am doing for my Nonno through this account – keeping his memory alive and sharing what an amazing person he was with the world 𓇾𓇾. In addition, I am also keeping his name π“‚‹π“ˆ– alive because in Egyptian culture the name π“‚‹π“ˆ– was one of the most important elements of a human. In order to exist, a person needed to have five 𓏾 essential elements: the body π“Ž›π“‚π“„Ό, the shadow 𓆄𓏏𓅱𓋼, the Ba 𓅑𓏀, the Ka (soul/life force) 𓂓𓏀, and the name π“‚‹π“ˆ–.

On the stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ on the left, there is a Ba 𓅑𓏀 statue attached to the top, which was a very popular style during the Ptolemaic Period (c. 332–30 B.C.E.), so I am going to assume that stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ is Ptolemaic. The Ba 𓅑𓏀 is the impression that an individual makes on others – everything except the physical body π“Ž›π“‚π“„Ό. The Ba 𓅑𓏀 can also be thought of as an individual’s personality. When a person died, the Ba 𓅑𓏀 was the only part of the person that would be able to travel out of the tomb π“‡‹π“«π“Šƒπ“‰, but it did have to return eventually to be reunited with the mummy 𓇋𓁹𓅱𓀾.

I like the combination of the Ba 𓅑𓏀 and the stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ because they are connected – the stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ was meant to commemorate the deceased, while the Ba 𓅑𓏀 was part of their soul. It makes sense for the Egyptians π“†Žπ“π“€€π“π“ͺ to attach the two 𓏻 together!

I wish I had closer pictures 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓏦 of both stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ, but it was probably difficult with the glass. On the stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ on the left, the deceased 𓅓𓏏𓏱 is making an offering π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ𓏏𓏔𓏦 to Osiris π“Ήπ“Š¨π“€­. On the stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ with the Ba 𓅑𓏀, there is so much happening! I would probably need to make three 𓏼 posts to interpret it all!

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Mummy Beads

β€œThe Mummy Room” (as I called it) at the British Museum was such an incredible place to be! It was a bunch of galleries that were filled with beautifully π“„€ painted sarcophagi π“ŽŸπ“‹Ήπ“ˆ–π“π“Š­π“¦ and mummies 𓇋𓁹𓅱𓀾π“ͺ! When I was a kid I was never afraid of mummies 𓇋𓁹𓅱𓀾π“ͺ(wrapped or unwrapped); I was just completely fascinated by them and I still am!

What is striking about this mummy 𓇋𓁹𓅱𓀾 is that the beautiful π“„€ beaded shroud that covers the mummy 𓇋𓁹𓅱𓀾 is still mostly intact! In ancient times, the beaded shroud would have been placed over the mummy 𓇋𓁹𓅱𓀾 after it had been placed in its coffin π“‹΄π“…±π“Ž›π“π“†±. The pattern of the beaded shroud was supposed to be representative of the cloak that Osiris π“Ήπ“Š¨π“€­, god π“ŠΉ of the afterlife 𓇼𓄿𓏏𓉐, wears.

These types of shrouds were mostly made with blue 𓇋𓁹𓏏𓄿𓏸π“₯ faience π“‹£π“ˆ–π“π“Έπ“Ό beads because in ancient Egyptian culture, the color blue 𓇋𓁹𓏏𓄿𓏸π“₯ was symbolic of rebirth and regeneration. Faience π“‹£π“ˆ–π“π“Έπ“Ό was an extremely popular material to work with because it was both cheap and easy to use! Faience π“‹£π“ˆ–π“π“Έπ“Ό is a quartz based material that can be molded and then heated to a very high temperature to keep its shape. Objects made of faience π“‹£π“ˆ–π“π“Έπ“Ό were thought to hold magical powers!

Beaded shrouds on mummies 𓇋𓁹𓅱𓀾π“ͺ were very popular during the Late Period and this one is estimated to be dated at c. 760-656 B.C.E., which is the 25th Dynasty. Beaded shrouds are very delicate and are usually found broken up, so this piece here is a beautiful π“„€ example of one.

Do you like mummies 𓇋𓁹𓅱𓀾π“ͺ?! Let me know!!!

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Reading Hieroglyphs

“He of the Sedge and the Bee”

π“†₯ is an extremely common title that is seen across many different types of monuments across Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š– and museums around the world. A title is a phrase that appears before a cartouche, which is the oval that encloses the name π“‚‹π“ˆ– of a pharaoh 𓉐𓉻.

This gorgeous π“„€ and colorful sunken relief of the phrase π“†₯ comes from the King List that is currently located in the British Museum. I love it when ancient works of art retain their color, because it allows us to see the art as the ancient Egyptians π“†Žπ“π“€€π“π“ͺ themselves saw it. The blue 𓇋𓁹𓏏𓄿𓏸π“₯ and yellow paint is so bright and beautiful π“„€!

π“†₯ can either be translated as β€œHe of the Sedge and the Bee” or more simply β€œKing of Upper and Lower Egypt.”

𓇓 (a sedge) is the symbol that is used to represent Upper Egypt, while the 𓆀 (bee) is the symbol that is used to represent Lower Egypt.

π“†₯ is such a common phrase and you can find it everywhere – if you know how to recognize it, you can really impress people (and most importantly, yourself) in museums! Since the titles appear so often in sculpture, they are a great way to practice reading hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ because you see them over and over again! I didn’t learn over night – it took years of practice for me to be able to read hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ with the ease I do now!

Categories
Reading Hieroglyphs

“Son of Ra”

“Son of Ra”

𓅭𓇳 – Let’s learn some hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ!

𓅭𓇳 simply means β€œSon of Ra.” Let’s break down the phrase:
π“…­ – Son
𓇳 – Ra

𓅭𓇳 is a very common title and you will see it in any museum you go to! A title is a phrase that is seen before 𓐍𓂋 the cartouche 𓍢 of a pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 and can be viewed as an β€œintroduction” so that way the reader knows that the name π“‚‹π“ˆ– of a pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 is about to show up!

Now, the name π“‚‹π“ˆ– of a pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 is no mystery because it always appears in a cartouche 𓍢 but the pharaohs 𓉐𓉻𓏦 wanted to make sure their names π“‚‹π“ˆ–π“¦ were known/preserved for all eternity π“Ž›π“‡³π“Ž›!

The phrase β€œSon of Ra π“…­π“‡³β€œ also implies that the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 is the child of a god π“ŠΉ, which would give them the divine right to rule. A pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 was considered to be a god π“ŠΉ on Earth 𓇾𓇾!

This beautiful π“„€ inscription π“Ÿπ“›π“₯ is from the King’s List Relief that is located in the British Museum!