View allAll Photos Tagged ancientart
Cat statue
Bronze
Late Period
Egypt of Glory exhibition, Amos Rex Art Museum, Helsinki
From the collection of Museo Egizio, Turin, Italy
9.10.2020-21.3.2021
The upper part of the coffin is decorated with a funerary mask. The chest area is adorned with a seven-row pectoral composed of floral and geometrical motifs. Beneath it, is a figure of the goddess Mut spreading her wings. Five vertical lines of hieroglyphic inscriptions terminate with two figures of Anubis as a jackal. On both sides of the coffin, there is a representation of Agathodaimon, the benevolent and good-hearted spirit, who takes the shape of a snake and whose head is surmounted by the Double Crown of Upper and Lower Egypt.
Wooden coffin from the Ptolemaic Period
Provenance Minya, Sharuna (El-Kom El-Ahmar)
BAAM 608
Antiquities Museum of Bibliotheca Alexandrina
The tomb of Prince Khaemwaset, son of Ramses III, who ruled during the 20th dynasty, was discovered in 1903 when Museo Egizio's archaeological expedition was excavating in the Valley of Queens. Grave robbers had been using the tomb as storage. The floor was strewn with mummies and coffins, including this coffin of Nesimendjem.
The coffin has been decorated in the typical Late Period style where the space is divided into horizontal scenes and vertical text columns.
Late Period
Valley of the Queens, tomb of Prince Khaemwaset QV 44
Egypt of Glory exhibition, Amos Rex Art Museum, Helsinki
From the collection of Museo Egizio, Turin, Italy
9.10.2020-21.3.2021
The ancient Egyptians sanctified the Ibis bird and associated it with the moon, possibly because of the similarity of its curved beak with the lunar crescent. The exquisite abilities of Ibis in locating earthworms had gained it a reputation for knowing hidden secrets. It was thus appropriately seen as a symbol of Thoth, the Lord of wisdom and knowledge, the god of time and the moon. He was also the patron of scribes and the creator of letters and words.
Organic material, wood, bronze
Greco-Roman Period
Tuna el-Gebel
NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo
Organic material. linen
Late Period
Egypt of Glory exhibition, Amos Rex Art Museum, Helsinki
From the collection of Museo Egizio, Turin, Italy
9.10.2020-21.3.2021
Late Period, 25th-26th dynasties
Thebes, Valley of the Queens, tombs of Khaemwaset, QV 44
or Setherkhepeshef, QV 43
The exhibition 'Nefertari and the Valley of the Queens' from the Museo Egizio, Turin' in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, 2017
The bow takes the shape of the head of a strange creature.
Among the most important categories were model boats, as they were believed to provide transport along the River Nile, Egypt's main transportation route. They were found in tombs primarily in the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom, although examples are known both earlier and later.
Wood
11th dynasty
BAAM 620
Antiquities Museum of Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Maat was the daughter of the sun god Atum whom he created to set order in the universe, therefore ancient Egyptians believed that Maat is the symbol of justice and the cosmic order that controls all creatures as a symbol of absolute perfection.
When the king presents the statuette of Maat as an offering to the gods, it means that he is the one who establishes justice and the divine order to preserve the universe's stability.
New Kingdom, 20th dynasty
Reign of Ramesses III
NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo
Selket with a scorpion on her head watches over the intestines with Qebehsenuf. Selket is also known as Serket, Serqet, Selqet, or Selcis)
Four goddesses with open arms watch over the organs of the sovereign. They are identified by the hieroglyphs on their heads and on the low reliefs of the sanctuary walls. Each goddess faces and is associated with one of the four children of Horus whose duty was to preserve the king's organs: the goddess Isis watches over the liver with Imset, Nephthys the lungs with Hapi, Neith the stomach with Duamutef and Selket the intestines with Qebehsenuf.
Characteristics typical of the art of Amarna can be seen in the slight rotation of the statues' heads (compared to the frontal tradition of Egyptian statuary), the long neck stretching forwards and the naturalistic modelling of the bodies.
Detail of Canopic Shrine of Tutankhamon
Wood lined with stucco and gilded, glass paste
Tomb of Tutankhamon, KV 62
Valley of the Kings
JE 60686
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
The arched harp (shoulder harp) was a common musical instrument in ancient Egypt and was often decorated with colourful motifs on its outer surface. Here you can distinguish the figures of the animals despite the bad picture.
Harps, together with percussion instruments, were very popular and were used in both sacred and secular contexts.
Wood
New Kingdom, 19th dynasty
Provenance Luxor
NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo
This mummified body covered with a fine funeral net of faience beads characteristic of the Late Period has clearly gone through a highly sophisticated mummification process.
The visceral organs have been removed and the body has been anointed with perfumed oils before being wrapped in bandages and shrouds, the latter of which has been well preserved. On the chest where the heart is located lies a scarab amulet which is a reference to rebirth as is the turquoise colour of the faience net. The yellow colour represents the sun and also furthers the deceased's reawakening in the afterlife.
Organic material, linen, faience
3rd Intermediate Period
Egypt of Glory exhibition, Amos Rex Art Museum, Helsinki
From the collection of Museo Egizio, Turin, Italy
9.10.2020-21.3.2021
Inside the wooden, beautifully shaped coffin is a mummified fish wrapped in linen. The text of the coffin tells that the fish (Mehyt in Egyptian language) was given as a gift to the lion goddess Mehyt, which is an ancient pun. The fish species was also sacred because one of its representatives was believed to have eaten the penis of Osiris, the god of Afterworld.
Wood, organic material, linen
Greek Period
Provenance Thebes (?)
Cat. 2396/1,2 Museo Egizio
Egypt of Glory exhibition, Amos Rex Art Museum, Helsinki
From the collection of Museo Egizio, Turin, Italy
9.10.2020-21.3.2021
The gold-covered footboard of bed no 466 of Tutankhamun with its string-mesh mattress. The central panel is decorated in relief with papyrus clumps, plant designs and sema-tawy (binding of the Two Lands) motif.
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
Amun, the god of the air, was one of the eight primordial Egyptian deities. Amun's role evolved over the centuries; during the Middle Kingdom he became the King of the deities and in the New Kingdom he became a nationally worshipped god. He eventually merged with Ra, the ancient sun god, to become Amun-Ra.
The Karnak Temple was the main center of his worship.
Diorite statue
New Kingdom, 18th dynasty
Karnak
NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo
Statue of Administrator of Amun temple, Hapi, reading from a papyrus roll.
Sandstone
New Kingdom, 19th dynasty, reigns of Seti I and Ramses II
Karnak temple
NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo
The ancient Egyptian noble Ibi (sometimes transliterated as Aba or Abe) was chief steward of the God's Wife of Amun, Nitocris I, during the reign of the 26th Dynasty pharaoh Psamtik I. He was buried in a large tomb, TT36, located in the El-Assasif district of the Theban Necropolis
Greywacke
26th dynasty
From TT36, Cemetery of El-Assasif, Thebes
Cat. 2202/1 Museo Egizio
Egypt of Glory exhibition, Amos Rex Art Museum, Helsinki
From the collection of Museo Egizio, Turin, Italy
9.10.2020-21.3.2021
The deities pictured between the mummy bandages incised on the body assist Ibi in his journey in the Beyond.
Greywacke
26th dynasty
From TT36, Cemetery of El-Assasif, Thebes
Cat. 2202/1 Museo Egizio
Egypt of Glory exhibition, Amos Rex Art Museum, Helsinki
From the collection of Museo Egizio, Turin, Italy
9.10.2020-21.3.2021
The coffin of Nedjemankh is a gilded ancient Egyptian coffin from the late Ptolemaic Period. It once encased the mummy of Nedjemankh, a priest of the ram god Heryshaf.
The anthropoid coffin represents the deceased with plaited divine beard and broad collar with solar raptor terminals wearing the White crown of Upper Egypt decorated with two feathers.
NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo
Ibi's tranquil characteristically Saitean smile has been skillfully engraved in black greywacke sandstone.
Three holes are bored under the beard and another in the scepter. Their purpose must have been to make it easier to move the object, which weighs more than a ton.
Greywacke
26th dynasty
From TT36, Cemetery of El-Assasif, Thebes
Cat. 2202/1 Museo Egizio
Egypt of Glory exhibition, Amos Rex Art Museum, Helsinki
From the collection of Museo Egizio, Turin, Italy
9.10.2020-21.3.2021
On the outer surface at the sides is a rare portrayal is the deceased's funeral some 2900 years ago. It must be seen from the left to the right. First, comes the catafalque being drawn to the grave. Next come the weeper-women preceded by the bearers of the grave goods.
New Kingdom, 21st dynasty
Egypt of Glory exhibition, Amos Rex Art Museum, Helsinki
9.10.2020-21.3.2021
From the collection of the National Museum of Finland,
14460:660 Cat 173
The subjects of the side and end panels pertain to the chase, their compositions being friezes of animals, and the king and queen fowling and fishing. As to the contents of the casket, when deposited in the tomb, we can only make a conjecture.
Valley of the Kings, Tutankhamun's tomb KV62
18th dynasty
JE 62059 - SR 1/82 - 580
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
Organic material, linen
Greek Period
Egypt of Glory exhibition, Amos Rex Art Museum, Helsinki
From the collection of Museo Egizio, Turin, Italy
9.10.2020-21.3.2021
A mummy of a woman wrapped in linen bandages and covered with five pieces of cartonnage.
One of the pieces covers the feet. Its top is painted with a drawing of the feet, and its bottom with the soles of sandals in colour.
Mummy
Cartonnage and linen bandages
From Roman Period
Provenance Deir el-Bersha, Minya
BAAM 615
Antiquities Museum of Bibliotheca Alexandrina
property of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York
for educational purpose only
please do not use without permission
Five vertical lines of hieroglyphic inscriptions terminate with two figures of the god Anubis as a jackal.
Wooden coffin from the Ptolemaic Period
Provenance Minya, Sharuna (El-Kom El-Ahmar)
BAAM 608
Antiquities Museum of Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Block from the tomb of the 'Great Head of the Army' called Iwrkhy of Syrian origin. He began his military career under King Sethi I and succeeded to reach a high position in the time of King Ramses II and was responsible for the administrations of all the estates of the king: the Ramesseum.
The block was found buried in the sand beside the northeast wall of the room named 'Statue Room' because it contained on both sides of its western wall on each side of the door a base of statues.
Description of the block
It shows a scene in two registers. The upper one shows two chariots driven each by two men with two horses leading each of them. The chariots are separated by a waterway filled with crocodiles.
In the lowes registers, an army formed of five men of different nationalities according to their features and hair dress. The three first one to the left might represent the mDAyw police force formed of Nubians. They are carrying weapons (swords and sticks with shield). Following them a group of donkeys: two at the front with a child on the back of one of them and two at the back with a boy crouching on the back of one of them.
A man holding a long stick is leading the donkeys who seem to be crossing the waterway on a flat area beneath the water with crocodiles.
This block is an important discovery since it depicts for the second time the waterway with crocodiles which appeared for the first time on the relief of the northern outer wall of the hypostyle court at Karnak where Sethi I is depicted coming back victorious from a campaign against the SAsw Bedouins in Sinai.
The waterway in this relief is clearly filled with crocodiles and represents - like the one in Karnak - the fortress of Tharou, as clearly mentioned in the relief on the left side.
From the tomb of the 'Great Head of the Army' called Iwrkhy of Syrian origin
Saqqara, south of Unas Causeway
Season 2017/2018
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
A gilded, wooden statuette of King Tutankhamun stands on a wooden boat that is painted to represent a papyrus boat.
Its details are picked out in gold leaf.
JE 60710
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
The group represents King Ramesses the Third, the god Horus and the god Seth.
Ramesses III is wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt with the royal cobra on the front, a wide collar of many rows, and the royal pleated kilt, the shendyt, with a long belt hanging down to the bottom of it. He is holding the ankh sign of life in his right hand and the roll of power in his left hand. His left leg is forward.
The statues of the gods, Horus and Seth, are in the same posture with the left leg forward; they are each holding the ankh, and wearing the Egyptian pectoral and the shendyt kilt. Each god has placed one hand on the crown of the king, performing the Coronation of Ramesses III.
20th dynasty
Pink granite
From Medinet Habu
JE 31628
Ground floor, room 14
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
The ancient Egyptians believed that the other world contained a celestial river equivalent to the Nile, where the gods travelled over it in their boats and spirit crossed it on their way to resurrection. Therefore models of boats were placed within the funerary furniture to depict the deceased's journey to the cemetery and its equivalent to the other world.
NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo
Collection of writing tools from the Pharaonic period. Pens and pen cases, each with two cavities for pens.
Wood
Provenance Saqqara, Al-Bersha
Antiquities Museum of Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Because of their love for makeup, mirrors were very popular in ancient Egypt. The Egyptian mirrors were made by beating a lump of bronze until it was as thin as a sheet of cardboard. Then it was polished to make it shiny enough to reflect the light from your face. Sometimes these mirrors had handles made out of bone or ivory.
The woman's face with cow's ears represents the goddess Bat and is also an emblem of the goddess Hathor.
Besides being functional, mirrors developed religious and funerary uses. Their circular shape, brightness, and reflective quality suggested to the Egyptians the face of the sun and its life-giving powers and thus the mirror became a symbol of regeneration and vitality.
NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo
This statue is one of three statues of king Merenptah which were recently found south of Mit Rahina the site of the ancient city of Memphis. The statue depicts the king standing in the company of Mut, the goddess of Thebes, the patron of kingship and the consort of the god Amun-Ra, the king of the gods.
Red granite
New Kingdom, 19th dynasty
Mit Rahina
NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo
Delicadamente grabada en la pata de un banco de piedra, esta cabeza sobrenatural, representada de perfil, deletrea el nombre de un lugar mítico. Si bien su lectura completa es incierta, el topónimo corresponde a un abrevadero pedregoso. Las referencias al agua incluyen aletas, plantas acuáticas y algunos de los atributos del dios de la lluvia Chahk. Una marca dentada en forma de V en la coronilla de la cabeza indica que este lugar mítico se abrió, probablemente para dar origen a deidades.
The exhibition 'Nefertari and the Valley of the Queens' from the Museo Egizio, Turin' in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, 2017
Fragment of a stela on which are represented two scenes. The first, to the right, shows King Amenhotep I seated on his throne, wearing a blue crown and holding the symbols of power and life. Behind him, his wife is seated on her throne, holding the symbol of life in her right hand, and placing her left on her husband's shoulder. In front of her, is an offering table with representations of papyrus and lotus plants. Moreover, someone is offering her Maat, the symbol of justice.
The second scene, to the left, shows Amon the god of Thebes seated on his throne and holding the "Wass" sceptre in his right hand and the sign of life in his left. Behind him is his wife Mut, mistress of the sky, wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. She is placing her hand on her husband's shoulder. In front of her is an offering table with representations of papyrus and lotus plants. The god and goddess are receiving offerings from King Amenhotep I.
Limestone
18th dynasty, reign of Amenhotep I
BAAM 832
Antiquities Museum of Bibliotheca Alexandrina
In each scene, the person conducting the rituals is portrayed as Pharaoh Sety I.
Red and black granite
19th dynasty
Provenance Heliopolis
S. 2676 Museo Egizio
Egypt of Glory exhibition, Amos Rex Art Museum, Helsinki
From the collection of Museo Egizio, Turin, Italy
9.10.2020-21.3.2021
The winged woman portrayed on the chest represent the sky goddess Nut.
This coffin lid, counted among the finest examples of coffins from the Late Period, was made for Taditratawy, "the mistress of the house".
25th dynasty
From the Valley of the Queens QV 43 or QV 44
S. 5243 Museo Egizio
Egypt of Glory exhibition, Amos Rex Art Museum, Helsinki
From the collection of Museo Egizio, Turin, Italy
9.10.2020-21.3.2021
Selket with a scorpion on her head watches over the intestines with Qebehsenuf. Selket is also known as Serket, Serqet, Selqet, or Selcis.
Four goddesses with open arms watch over the organs of the sovereign. They are identified by the hieroglyphs on their heads and on the low reliefs of the sanctuary walls. Each goddess faces and is associated with one of the four children of Horus whose duty was to preserve the king's organs: the goddess Isis watches over the liver with Imset, Nephthys the lungs with Hapi, Neith the stomach with Duamutef and Selket the intestines with Qebehsenuf.
Characteristics typical of the art of Amarna can be seen in the slight rotation of the statues' heads (compared to the frontal tradition of Egyptian statuary), the long neck stretching forwards and the naturalistic modelling of the bodies.
Detail of Canopic Shrine of Tutankhamon
Wood lined with stucco and gilded, glass paste
Tomb of Tutankhamon, KV 62
Valley of the Kings
JE 60686
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
In the 1960s many Nubian temples were in danger of being submerged under the rising waters of the Assuan Dam that was under construction and completed in the 70s. Museo Egizio took part in an international rescue operation led by Unesco. Temples to be rescued and relocated included the temples of Derr and Gherf Hussein.
Both temples were built by Ramesses II during the 19th dynasty. The temple located in Gherf Hussein was built by the Setau, Viceroy of Nubia and was partially cut into the rock so only the freestanding parts could be relocated during the Unesco project. The temple was dedicated to Ptah, Ptah-Tenen, Hathor and above all to Pharaoh Ramses II who had elevated himself to godhood.
An avenue of ram-headed sphinxes led from the Nile to the first pylon, which like the courtyard beyond is also free-standing. The courtyard is surrounded by six columns and eight statue pillars. The entrance to a peristyle court is decorated with colossal Osiris statues. The rear portion of the building which is 43 m in depth was carved out of rock and follows the structure of Abu Simbel with a pillared hall featuring two rows of three statue pillars and, curiously, four statue recesses, each with divine triads along the sides. Beyond the hall lay the hall of the offering table and the barque chamber with four cult statues of Ptah, Ramesses, Ptah-Tatenen and Hathor carved out of the rock.
The origin of the temple models is unclear but they are believed to have been made by Jean-Jacques Rifaud, a friend of the General Consul of France in Egypt, Bernardino Drovetti. The collections of Museo Egizio are based on Drovetti's collection, which he sold to the Italian Kingdom of Savoy in 1823. The collection was brought to Turin in the same year.
Wood, plaster
19th century
Egypt of Glory exhibition, Amos Rex Art Museum, Helsinki
From the collection of Museo Egizio, Turin, Italy
9.10.2020-21.3.2021
The seat and the backrest of the armchair Armchair of Queen Hetepheres I are made of natural wood. They are surrounded by a simple wooden frame covered with gold leaf with high arms in gilded wood. The backrest of the chair is reinforced at the rear by a central support.
The space between the arms, the seat, and the backrest is decorated with an elegant floral design, the dominant decorative element of the armchair. The floral design is composed of three papyrus flowers whose stems are tied with a band.
The front legs are shaped like lions’ paws, based on the ancient concept of protection given by lions. The front pair is taller than the rear pair so that the seat inclines slightly toward the rear.
Old Kingdom, 4th dynasty, reign of King Khufu
From the tomb of queen Hetepheres I, G 7000X Giza Plateau
(JE 53263)
NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo
Gilded bed from Tutankhamun's tomb. The central panel of the footboard is decorated in relief with papyrus clumps, plant designs and sema-tawy (binding of the Two Lands) motif.
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
This wood coffin belonging to King Seti I was among the cachette of mummies at Deir el-Bahri. It shows the king in the Osirian position, his arms placed over his chest. A hole in the forehead suggests the former presence of another cobra, probably made of gold. The hole in the chin also indicates that a false beard had most likely been attached, also, likely to have been gold. Several lines of the cursive hieratic script on the lid reveals that the tomb of Seti I was restored during the sixth year of the reign of King Herihor, in the 21st dynasty. In the 16th regnal year of the same king, the mummy of Seti I was first moved to the tomb of a princess, before being transported by king Panedem I to the tomb of Amenhotep II. Finally, it became part of the cachette of Deir el-Bahri.
Wood, Western Thebes
19th dynasty, reign of Seti I
Upper floor, gallery 46
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
In wall reliefs, pharaohs were often depicted fighting bravely on the battlefield and skillfully handling the bow and arrow. Indeed the arrow as an object saw immense development during Dynastic Egypt both in terms of materials and shape. These arrowheads were of the types most commonly used during the Late Period. They were made of bronze and had a shape resembling a willow leaf.
The last dynasties of ancient Egypt were very warlike. These arrows are from the 26th dynasty when Psamtek I conquered Egypt back to the Egyptians from the conquerors of the 25th dynasty who came from Nubia.
Bronze
26th dynasty
Provenance unknown
Cat. 6267/1-2 Museo Egizio
Egypt of Glory exhibition, Amos Rex Art Museum, Helsinki
From the collection of Museo Egizio, Turin, Italy
9.10.2020-21.3.2021