Tag: nephthys

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Reading Hieroglyphs

The Four Sons of Horus on a Sarcophagus

This beautiful ๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹ sarcophagus ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ at the Brooklyn Museum shows the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ Nephthys ๐“ŽŸ๐“๐“‰—๐“๐“†‡ with the Four Sons of Horus! The Four Sons of Horus were an integral part of ancient Egyptian religion – usually in a funerary aspect so it makes sense that they would appear on a sarcophagus ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ! 

The Four Sons of Horus usually appeared as the lids of canopic jars, which were the jars used to store the organs ๐“‡‹๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“„น๐“ฆ of a deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ person during the mummification ๐“‹ด๐“‚ง๐“๐“…ฑ๐“Ž process. When they appears as amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช or on sarcophagi ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ๐“ฅ, the Four Sons of Horus served as protectors ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ of the dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ.ย 

The Four Sons of Horus on a Sarcophagus

The Four Sons of Horus are easy to recognize because they usually appear together in funerary art! Another way to recognize them is by reading their names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ! 

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! Something interesting about this sarcophagus ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ is the way the names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ of the Four Sons of Horus are spelled! The spellings of the names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ here are some interesting variants that arenโ€™t seen too often! We will start reading from the left! 

Hapi ๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œ(can also be spelled ๐“Ž›๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œ๐“€ญ) had the head of a baboon and he protected the lungs ๐“Šƒ๐“Œด๐“„ฅ๐“…ฑ๐“„บ. 

Imseti ๐“๐“Šƒ๐“ฟ (can also be spelled ๐“‡‹๐“…“๐“Šƒ๐“ฟ๐“€ญ/๐“‡‹๐“๐“‹ด๐“˜๐“‡‹ ) had the head of a human and he protected the liver ๐“…“๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„น๐“ธ๐“ธ๐“ธ. 

Duamutef ๐“‡ผ๐“‚Ÿ๐“…๐“๐“ˆ–๐“†‘(can also be spelled ๐“‡ผ๐“…๐“๐“†‘๐“€ญ/๐“‡ผ๐“‚Ÿ๐“๐“†‘) had the head of a jackal and he protected the stomach ๐“‚‹๐“„ฃ๐“ป. 

Qebehsenuef ๐“๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ–๐“Œข๐“๐“ฅ๐“†‘(can also be spelled ๐“๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘๐“€ญ) had the head of a Falcon and he protected the intestines ๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฎ๐“„ฟ๐“ฒ๐“ผ. 

Can you spot all of the names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ in the inscription ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž–? 

This is my personal photograph and original text. DO NOT repost. 

@ancientegyptblog on Instagram and TikTok

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Reading Hieroglyphs

Nephthys in Hieroglyphs

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! Today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ we are going to be looking at the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ Nephthys ๐“‰ ! Luckily, this sarcophagus at the Brooklyn Museum has her name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– written in two ways!ย 

Nephthys in Hieroglyphs
Nephthys in Hieroglyphs on a sarcophagus at the Brooklyn Museum

Most commonly, the type of symbol that is used in Nephthysโ€™ ๐“‰  name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– is called a Composite Hieroglyph. A Composite Hieroglyphic symbol is a symbol that is the combination of multiple phonographic symbols into a single glyph. 

The three ๐“ผ symbols โ€œ๐“ŽŸ๐“๐“‰—โ€ can be combined to make the โ€œ๐“‰ โ€ symbol! In statuary and funerary art, the crown on her head ๐“ถ๐“บ is the composite hieroglyph ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ that is used to write her name (๐“‰ ), which makes Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ very easy to identify in tomb art/funerary art. Since the goddess depicted on this sarcophagus is wearing the โ€œ๐“‰ โ€ on her head, we know itโ€™s Nephthys! 

But what if she wasnโ€™t wearing the crown? How would we know it was Nephthys ๐“‰  that is depicted? Luckily, most ancient Egyptian funerary art came with โ€œcaptionsโ€ – usually the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of the deity was written next to them! In this case, we can see Nephthysโ€™ full name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– written out as โ€œ๐“ŽŸ๐“๐“‰—๐“๐“†‡โ€ right next to her face! 

Here are the two ways we see Nephthysโ€™ name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช on the sarcophagus:ย 

๐“‰ 

๐“ŽŸ๐“๐“‰—๐“๐“†‡

Some other variants of Nephthysโ€™ name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– are: 

๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡

๐“‰ ๐“

๐“ŽŸ๐“๐“‰—๐“๐“‰๐“

๐“ŽŸ๐“๐“‰—๐“๐“’๐“ฏ๐“†— 

This is my personal photograph and original text. DO NOT repost. 

@ancientegyptblogย 

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Egyptian Artifacts

Late Period Mummy Mask

I love mummy masks ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ๐“ช! Funerary Masks (also called Burial Masks or Mummy Masks) were an important part of a personโ€™s burial equipment ๐“ˆŽ๐“‚‹๐“‹ด๐“๐“๐“Šญ because the mask ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ could either serve as protection ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ for the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ, or take the place of the body if the head was destroyed or lost. In the Egyptian religion, the body of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ needed to stay intact in order for the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ to be transported to the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰. This was the purpose of mummification ๐“‹ด๐“‚ง๐“๐“…ฑ๐“Ž – the mask ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ just served as extra protection ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ!ย 

Late Period Mummy Mask
Me at the Brooklyn Museum with a Late Period Mummy Mask

This mask ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ of a woman ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“‚‘๐“๐“ is dated to the Late Period (1st Century B.C.E). This mask ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ is made of cartonnage, which was a very popular type of material to use because it was easy to work with and the mask ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ could be made relatively quickly. The colors on this mask ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ are so bright and well preserved – especially on the broad collar ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹. I love how the Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช used red ๐“‚ง๐“ˆ™๐“‚‹๐“…Ÿ and the blue/green ๐“‡…๐“†“๐“› color together ๐“ˆ–๐“Š— a lot.

Late Period Mummy Mask
A beautiful example of a Late Period Mummy Mask at the Brooklyn Museum. The goddess Isis is on the left and her sister Nephthys is on the right.

The art on the wig shows the goddesses ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“ Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ (left) and Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡(right). Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ and Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ were sisters and were both prominent funerary goddesses ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“ who appeared a lot together ๐“ˆ–๐“Š— on funerary objects such as masks and sarcophagi. 

You can easily tell Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ and Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ apart from each other in Egyptian art based off of the crowns that they are wearing. The crowns correspond to the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช that make up their names: Isis (๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ) wears โ€œ๐“Šจโ€ as a crown while Nephthys (๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡) wears โ€œ๐“‰ โ€ as a crown! 

This is my personal photograph and original text. DO NOT repost without permission.

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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Shrine or Pylon Stela

While this piece doesnโ€™t look like a regular stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ (stone, rounded top), it is still considered to be one! This stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ has taken the shape of a shrine ๐“๐“Šƒ๐“…“๐“‚œ๐“‰ or pylon ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ˆ–๐“๐“‰ and thatโ€™s what makes this wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ piece very unique! I also love this stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ because it shows the two ๐“ป sisters ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“๐“๐“ช Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ and Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ!

On the left, we see an image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ of the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡, and on the right we see an image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ of the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“†‡. Part of a spell ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“› recited by the two ๐“ป sisters ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“๐“๐“ช are located in the middle of the stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ. I love how symmetrical ancient Egyptian art is!

The crowns on their heads is one of the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช that is used in their names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ (๐“‰ and ๐“Šจ), which makes both Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“†‡ and Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ very easy to identify in Egyptian art.

You can also identity Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“†‡ and Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ by reading the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! 

Starting on the left:

๐“†“๐“Œƒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ– – Words Spoken By

๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ – Nephthys

Now on the right:

๐“†“๐“Œƒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ– – Words Spoken By

๐“Šจ๐“๐“†‡ – Isis

๐“…จ๐“‚‹๐“ – Great One

The Middle:

๐“†“๐“Œƒ๐“๐“ฅ๐“ˆ– – Words Spoken By

๐“…’ – The Two Ladies (Nekhbet and Wadjet)

๐“‡…๐“๐“ญ๐“‡…๐“๐“ – The Two Crowns (๐“‡…๐“‡…๐“๐“ญ๐“๐“ and ๐“‡…๐“‡…๐“๐“ญ๐“†˜๐“†˜ is another way to write this)

๐“ŽŸ๐“ฒ๐“ฆ – Lords/Master

๐“‰๐“บ – House

๐“†– – Eternity

This piece is dated to the Ramesside Period (19th-20th Dynasties, c. 1295โ€“1070 B.C.E.).

Categories
Reading Hieroglyphs

Offering Table Dedicated to the God Seth

This piece is a large offering table ๐“‚๐“ƒ€๐“…ก๐“„ฟ๐“‹ƒ that was dedicated to the god ๐“Šน Seth ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„ก๐“ฃ by the 19th Dynasty pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ .

There is a lot going on with this piece! On the reliefs, Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  can be seen worshipping thegod Seth ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„ก๐“ฃ, whose likeness has been erased. During the Ramesside time period, many pharaohs had โ€œSethโ€ as part of their name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– because Sethโ€™s ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„ก๐“ฃ status was elevated at the time due to him being both a powerful aggressor and being associated with foreign lands. Once Seth ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„ก๐“ฃ fell out of favor, his name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–/images ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ were no longer used. Seth’s image is even removed, except for when he is mentioned in Seti I’s ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–! The image of the goddess ๐“Šน๐“Nephthys ๐“ŽŸ๐“๐“‰—๐“๐“‰๐“ has not been erased, because even though she is the consort of Seth ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„ก๐“ฃ, she was considered a favorable figure in Egyptian mythology.

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

In the picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ above, we see Seti Iโ€™s Horus Name: ๐“…ƒ๐“ƒ’๐“‚ก๐“…“๐“ˆ๐“‹†๐“‹ด๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ™ โ€œThe Strong bull who appeared in Thebes and sustains the Two Lands.โ€ 

In the picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ above, we see Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  making an offering ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช๐“๐“”๐“ฆ to the goddess ๐“Šน๐“Nephthys ๐“ŽŸ๐“๐“‰—๐“๐“‰๐“ (her name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– is written above her), who is the consort of Seth ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„ก๐“ฃ. We can also see Seti Iโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  titles and cartouches: 

๐“†ฅ – King of Upper and Lower Egypt 

๐“ŽŸ๐“‡ฟ๐“‡ฟ – Lord of the Two Lands

(๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ ) – Menmaatra (throne name)

(๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฃ๐“‡Œ๐“Œธ๐“ˆ–) – Seti, Beloved of Ptah (birth name)

๐“™ – Given

๐“†– – Eternity

In the next picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ (above) we see the cartouches again, and Seti worshipping Seth. The hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช translate to:

๐“™ – Given

๐“‹น – Life

๐“†‘ – His

๐“Šฝ – Stability

๐“Œ€ – Strength

So all together, the inscription reads: “๐“™๐“‹น๐“†‘๐“Šฝ๐“Œ€ Given Life, His Stability and Strength.”

The last picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ (above) is another variant of the Horus name! 

I always find pieces such as these so fascinating, because upon first look, it looks like just a large slab of rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™. But in reality, there is so much to analyze and unpack when it comes to the images ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ and the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช, and how they relate to the time period, and even the time periods that came long after this piece was made. While it was made during the 19th Dynasty (reign of Seti I ๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฃ๐“‡Œ๐“Œธ๐“ˆ–), it was definitely altered afterwards.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Sarcophagus with Nephthys

This is the side of a beautifully ๐“„ค painted sarcophagus at the Brooklyn Museum!

The goddess ๐“Šน๐“ Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ is portrayed where the head of the deceased would be laid because she is regarded as a protector ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ of the dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. This tradition began during the New Kingdom. Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ was Sethโ€™s ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„ก๐“ฃ wife, the sister ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“ of Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ, and during later parts of mythology the mother ๐“…๐“๐“ of Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ through a union with Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ ๐“€ญ.

Even though Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ is associated with Seth ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„ก๐“ฃ, she is regarded as a positive figure in the later evolutions of Egyptian mythology, and she even helped Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ find Osirisโ€™ ๐“น๐“Šจ scattered body pieces and put him back together after Seth ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„ก๐“ฃ cut him up!

One of her titles is โ€œMistress of the House.โ€ She is often associated with vultures, hence why she is frequently depicted with wings. The headdress that she wears are the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช for her name! Something super interesting is that even though Seth ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„ก๐“ฃ and Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ are husband and wife they are rarely shown together. Instead, Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ is usually depicted with Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ and Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ ๐“€ญ.

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

British Museum Funerary Display

Thereโ€™s a lot going on in this picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“, but I really like this display at the British Museum! This display contains statuesย ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ชย that all have to do with funerary practices.ย 

On the bottom left, there are multiple figures of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. Ptah-Sokar-Osiris figures connect three gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน that are connected to rebirth/resurrection into a single statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ. These statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช became popular during the Late Period and they seemed to have evolved from the figures of Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ that became popular in tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ฆ during the 19th Dynasty (New Kingdom). These figures are always a mummiform figure on a wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ base. 

On the bottom right is a corn mummy in a falcon ๐“ƒ€๐“‡‹๐“Žก๐“…„ sarcophagus ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ. While millions of animal mummies have been found at sites all over Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–, mummies made of grains like wheat and barley have also been found. Corn Mummies are meant to be a representation of the god ๐“Šน Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ and Egyptologists came to this conclusion because the โ€œcoffinsโ€ that contain the corn mummies almost always contain Osirisโ€™ ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– and his titles/epithets.

The middle-right shows wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ funerary figures of Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ and Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ which were also popular figures to find in tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ฆ from the Late Period and onward. Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ and Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ were sisters ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“๐“๐“ช and both funerary goddesses ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“. Similar statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช can be seen in museums around the world!

The top left shows various figures and representations of the god ๐“Šน Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ, who was the main funerary god ๐“Šน in the Egyptian pantheon. 

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Egyptian Artifacts

Mummy Mask (Late Period)

Mummy Mask (Late Period) at the Brooklyn Museum

Another mummy mask?! Why not!! This mask of a woman is dated to the Late Period (1st Century B.C.E). It is also a cartonnage mask, which was a very popular type of material to use because it was easy to work with and the mask could be made relatively quickly. The colors on this mask are so bright and well preserved – especially the broad collar ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹. I love how the Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช used red ๐“‚ง๐“ˆ™๐“‚‹๐“…Ÿ and the blue/green ๐“‡…๐“†“๐“› color together ๐“ˆ–๐“Š— a lot. I love that color combination!

I have also provided a close-up of the art on the wig that shows the goddesses Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ (left) and Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡(right). Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ and Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ were sisters (which means their brothers are Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ and Seth ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„ก๐“ฃ). While Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ and Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ were also married, so were Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ and Seth ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„ก๐“ฃ. Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ and Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ are shown together quite frequently, Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ and Seth ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„ก๐“ฃ are rarely shown together in art because Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ was considered to be a positive figure instead of negative. She is usually depicted with either just Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ, or with Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ and Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ.

You can easily tell Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ and Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ apart from each other in Egyptian art based off of the crowns that they are wearing. The crowns correspond to the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช that make up their names!

Isis (๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ) wears โ€œ๐“Šจโ€ as a crown!
Nephthys (๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡) wears โ€œ๐“‰ โ€ as a crown!

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Wooden Statues of Isis and Nephthys

This post will be about two statues from different museums that are very similar!

This is a wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ of the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ dated from the Late Period – Ptolemaic Period. I am always amazed when wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ statues are in such great condition – even though the paint is chipping in some places, the statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ still retained much of its original color!

Wooden Statue of Nephthys at the Brooklyn Museum

Along with her sister ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“ Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ, Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ was a protector ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ of the dead and this statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ was most likely used for funerary purposes. The crown on her head is one of the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช that is used in her name (๐“‰ ), which makes Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ very easy to identify in tomb art/funerary art. Her hand/arm ๐“‚๐“บ is raised in what is thought to me a mourning position, and this statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ was most likely placed in a tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰.

Nephthysโ€™ ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ title was โ€œMistress of the House ๐“ŽŸ๐“๐“‰๐“บ.โ€ Her name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– could also be written as ๐“ŽŸ๐“๐“‰—๐“๐“’๐“ฏ๐“†—. The three ๐“ผ symbols โ€œ๐“ŽŸ๐“๐“‰—โ€ can be combined to make the โ€œ๐“‰ โ€ symbol, which is not only the crown, but a space saver when writing out hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช!

Nephthysโ€™ ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ hair is blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ because it was supposed to be the same color as lapis lazuli ๐“๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“‚ง๐“ง! Lapis lazuli ๐“๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“‚ง๐“ง is a stone (usually found in modern day Afghanistan) and was considered to be worth more than gold ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ by the ancient Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช because it had to be traded for! Many of the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน and goddesses ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“ were thought to have blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ lapis lazuli ๐“๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“‚ง๐“ง hair!

This is a wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ of the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ is dated from the Late Period – Ptolemaic Period. Once again, this wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ statue is in such great condition! When I saw the statue of Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ in the Brooklyn Museum, it immediately reminded me of this statue of Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ at the Louvre!

Wooden Statue of Isis at the Louvre

Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ was a protector ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ of the dead and the wife to Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ. This statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ was most likely used for funerary purposes. Her hands/arms ๐“‚๐“ฆ are raised in what is thought to be a mourning position, and this statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ was most likely placed in a tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰.

The crown on her head is one of the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช that is used in her name (๐“Šจ), which makes Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ very easy to identify in tomb art/funerary art. Isis can also be written as ๐“Šจ๐“๐“†— or ๐“„ฟ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ, but no matter what, the โ€œ๐“Šจโ€ always appears in her name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–!

Much like the statue of Nephthysโ€™ ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ from the Brooklyn Museum, Isisโ€™ ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ hair is blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ because it was supposed to be the same color as lapis lazuli ๐“๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“‚ง๐“ง! Many of the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน and goddesses ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“ were thought to have blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ lapis lazuli ๐“๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“‚ง๐“ง hair!

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

The Triad Amulet

I love amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช because I love tiny ๐“ˆ–๐“†“๐“‹ด๐“…ฉ things!!!

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 had some type of familial ๐“…•๐“‰”๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ฆ relationship/significance to each other. One of the Memphis ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“‰ด๐“Š– triads during the Late 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“. The amulet ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…† on the left is a representation of this Triad!

The Ossirian Triad (the three ๐“ผ amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช to the right) is a representation of Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ (โ€œMistress of the Houseโ€ and associated with vultures), Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ (god ๐“Šน of the sky ๐“Šช๐“๐“‡ฏ and the protector of the ruler ๐“‹พ of Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–), and Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ (goddess ๐“Šน๐“ of healing and magic ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“„ฟ๐“œ).

Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ is the mother ๐“…๐“๐“ of Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ, the sister ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“ of Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡, and the wife ๐“ˆŸ๐“ of Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ. The amulet ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…† is representative of Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ and Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ protecting Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ and that protective power extends to the wearer.

This type amulet ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…† became very popular during the 26th Dynasty, and was usually used by mummies ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ๐“ช for protection ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ on their journey into the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰. The amulet ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…† was either placed on the chest, stomach ๐“‚‹๐“„ฃ๐“ป, or the thighs of the mummy ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ.