Akhenaten's body was probably removed after the court returned to Thebes, and reburied somewhere in the Valley of the Kings, possibly in KV 55. His sarcophagus was destroyed but has since been reconstructed from fragments and displayed outside the Cairo Museum.

Amarna Period

Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Ra-Horakhty represented a doctrinal union between the heavenly kingship represented by the god Ra and the earthly kingship represented by the god Horus as an expression of the authority of the sun god when he dominated the two horizons and was manifested on the earth.

Granodiorite

New Kingdom, 19th dynasty

San al Hagar

NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo

The story of General Sinuhe is one of the masterpieces of the literary works of Ancient Egypt dating back to the reign of King Senusret I of the Middle Kingdom. Several copies of the story were discovered until the end of the New Kingdom as the students used to copy it in schools. It relates to a true story of the escape of the military commander, Sinuhe, to the Levant for fear for his life after the assassination of King Amenemhat I, and the events of the exciting life that he spent there despite his attachment to Egypt until King Senusret I authorized him to return after thirty years away from the homeland.

This ostracon records the prologue only and is considered the largest piece of ostraca from ancient Egypt.

Limestone

From Deir el-Medina

New Kingdom, 19th dynasty

NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo

La torre del campanile, costruito su di un'antica torre di origine longobarda, in stile romanico; è diviso in tre ordini di loggette e provvisto di cella campanaria con tanto di cuspide che a causa di terremoti che flagellarono la città in epoca tardo-medievale venne rifatta più volte. Costruito nel XII secolo, l'aspetto attuale risale al 1576; raggiunge un'altezza totale di 67 metri ed è uno dei più bei campanili d'Italia.

(fonte: Wikipedia)

The bell tower, built on an ancient tower of Lombard origin, in Romanesque style, is divided into three orders of loggias and fitted complete with a belfry spire that due to earthquakes that afflict the city in late-medieval was rebuilt several times. Built in the twelfth century, the present appearance dates back to 1576, reaching a total height of 67 meters and is one of the most beautiful bell towers of Italy.

(source: Wikipedia)

Bread was an essential part of the diet of the ancient Egyptians. It was usually made from emmer wheat, though barley could also be used. This statue depicts a woman protecting her face with her hand from the oven's heat while baking bread.

Limestone

Old Kingdom, late 4th dynasty

Provenance Giza

NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Cairo

French coins always have cool designs and this is a good example. These coins, however, are not made out of silver. They are copper-nickel. Many of these coins have a B mint mark for the Beaumont mint. If you can find a coin dated 1958 without a B mint mark, as this one is, it is rare.

Obverse : Laureate Bust of Marianne, facing right with flaming torch on right hand; "REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE".

Reverse : 100 FRANCS in two lines at left (date) with cornucopia at left and wing at right, ears and olive branches below right, R.COCHET; "LIBERTE-EGALITE-FRATERNITE".

Marianne has been the national personification of the French Republic since the French Revolution, as a personification of liberty, equality, fraternity and reason, and a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty.

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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

Sasanian floor mosaic from the Iwan of the palace of Shapur I, Bishapur, Iran, c. 260 AD. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

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

This painted wooden door is decorated on both sides. It sealed the innermost chamber of Sennedjem's tomb.

On the external face on a yellow background is a scene in two registers, with a hieroglyph representing the sky at the top.

In the upper register, Sennedjem, his wife Iyneferty and his daughter Irunefer are standing before Osiris and the goddess of justice Maat, to whom they are paying respectful homage.

In the lower register, the sons of Sennedjem are portrayed in the same pose before Ptah-Sokar-Osiris and Isis. Sennedjem and his eldest son have their hands raised in an act of adoration. The two women hold a vase with a long neck while the other six sons each hold a lotus flower with a long stem.

New Kingdom, 19th dynasty

Tomb of Sennedjem TT1, Deir el-Medina

NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo

Princess Ashayt holding lotus in her left hand and Ankh sign in the right. Princess Ashayt was one of the wives of king Montuhotep II, the founder of the 11th dynasty. She held many titles such as the king's beloved wife and priestess of Hathor.

Painted limestone

Middle Kingdom, 11th dynasty

Deir El-Bahri, Temple of Montuhotep-Nebhepetre

TR 11/11/20/17

Egyptian Museum, Cairo

The wooden anthropoid coffin of a man called "Aba son of Ankh Hor", ruler and governor of Upper Egypt and the Head of the treasury.

The goddess Isis with wide-spread wings is portrayed on the feet of the Aba's anthropoid coffin to offer protection to the deceased.

Organic material, sycamore wood

Late Period, 26th Dynasty, Saite Period

Provenance Upper Egypt, Luxor (Thebes), West Bank, Qurna

BAAM 829

Antiquities Museum of Bibliotheca Alexandrina

In this colossal statue, king Akhenaten is depicted in the typical style of the Amarna Period, with narrow slanting eyes, a long thin face, and thick lips.

A group of colossal statues of King Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) are found in the Temple of the Aten at Karnak. These statues may represent the first time that Akhenaten’s new religious thoughts were translated into ancient Egyptian art and architecture.

NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo

The "Nine Bows" came to be represented under the feet of the pharaoh of Egypt. They were often portrayed upon his sandals, or on statuary, under his feet, as having dominion, not only over "Ancient Egypt", but also, "all the people of the foreign tribes".

Black granite statue of Thutmose III

New Kingdom, 18th dynasty

Karnak

NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo

- Amulet in the form of a winged scarab

From the 25th dynasty onwards scarab-with-wings amulets were very common. These were almost exclusively made of bright-blue-glazed compositions and were moulded with a flat underside. They were pierced with holes around the edge so that they would be stitched over the chest on the mummy wrappings or incorporated with the bead nest which enveloped contemporary mummies.

A scarab-shaped amulet offered the dead hope for new life and resurrection. These magical properties could be enhanced even further by the inscriptions, motifs or pictorial presentations, sometimes added to the flat underside.

Faience

Late Period

BAAM 434

- Amulet in the form of the eye of Horus (Udjat)

(in the shape of a right udjat)

The udjat amulet first appeared in the later Old Kingdom and continued to be produced until the Roman Period. It is the best known of all protective amulets and was found in greater numbers on mummies than any other amulets. It could also be worn in life. The udjat ( the sound one) refers to the eye of Horus the Elder, the celestial falcon and great creator god whose right eye was the sun and left eye the moon.

At its most basic shape, the udjat is a human eye with an eyebrow, but beneath the eye, it has a drop and a curl to imitate the markings on the head of the lanner falcon.

Faience

Late Period

BAAM 1071

- Heart-shaped amulet

An amulet in the shape of a heart surmounted by a suspension loop. For the Egyptians, the heart was the most essential of organs, not because it pumped blood around the body (it is unclear whether they understood this function), but because they believed it was the seat of intelligence, the originator of all feelings and actions, the storehouse of memory and consequently the source of an individual's identity. This is why it was the heart that was weighed in the balance of the underworld to determine if its owner was worthy to enter the Egyptian paradise or not.

Heart amulets of a New Kingdom date are still relatively rare. Two of the earliest securely dated non-royal examples come from the burial of Akenaten's vizier Aper-el at Saqqara.

The heart amulet became one of the most important of all amulets and was set on every mummy until the end of the Pharaonic Period, often in numbers and usually on the upper torso. They appear in a wide variety of materials, the most common of which are carnelian, basalt, hematite, and glazed compositions. The heart depicted as an amulet is usually identified as the bull's heart rather than the human type.

Faience

Greco-Roman Period

BAAM 218

Antiquities Museum of Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Limestone

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

In the upper part of the coffin of Ankhefenamun is the sun-god Ra-Horakhte (Ra-Her-akhutij) in the shape of a falcon with his wings extended to protect the head of the mummy. On this side there is Isis and on the other side Nephthys.

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 face of the anthropoid coffin is finely modelled wearing a headdress and framed by large ears and a wig with long lines to indicate hair.

Parts of the lid were discovered shattered into pieces at the time of excavation, probably the result of prior illegal digging. The damage has been partially restored by conservators but some parts are lost. Aside from the missing parts on the central area of the lid, the face, the right shoulder, and right foot end have suffered severe damage.

Sarcophagus of Ahmose

Limestone

Provenance: Tuna el-Gebel

26th Dynasty

JE 51945, SR 5 12059

Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Los pintores de vasijas del Clásico maya eran muy hábiles, pues a sus conocimientos de la cocción de la cerámica se aunaban los de la cosmogonía y la historia del pueblo maya. En las vasijas de cerámica de tipo códice se relatan muy distintos hechos y en varias se pintaron fechas del sistema calendárico maya. En el llamado Vaso de los Siete Dioses, el pintor dibujó a los dioses que están relacionados con la creación del mundo, en la fecha 4 ajaw 8 kumk’u (8 de septiembre de 3114 a.C.).

Wooden statue of a woman found from the same mastaba as the famous wooden statue of Kaaper, commonly known as Sheikh el-Beled, who was an ancient Egyptian scribe and priest, lived between the late 4th Dynasty and the early 5th Dynasty.

This statue is of commonly considered as Kaaper's wife.

From Mastaba C8 at Saqqara

Old Kingdom, 5th dynasty

CG 33

Egyptian Museum, Cairo

On Ibi's feet, the sky-goddess Nut spreads her wings, holding an ankh-symbol in her hands, that Ibi may be reborn every morning like the sun on the horizon.

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 gilded face of Yuya has eyebrows and eyes inlaid with blue glass, marble and obsidian.

18th dynasty

From the Valley of the Kings, KV46

Tomb of Yuya and Tuya

CG51008 - JE 95316-SR93

Upper floor, gallery 43

Egyptian Museum, Cairo

El personaje con tocado sostiene una vasija con ofrendas.

Clásico tardío 600 - 800 d.C.

A row of Roman heads from the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum).

This piece of the mosaic was discovered in the al-Shatby quarter in 1892 and was used as a floor in the banqueting room (Triclinium) of a rich man's house in ancient Alexandria. This floor was decorated with floral motifs made of large pieces of coloured marble. It is one of the oldest known mosaic pieces in Egypt.

Marble

Ptolemaic Period

2nd century BC

Alexandria

NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo

The term shabti derives from the ancient Egyptian meaning 'answerer', and refer to the moment when the deceased is called upon to perform hard labour in the fields of the underworld. The statuettes were considered to be substitutes for the deceased.

Tutankhamun's tomb contained 413 shabti figures, only relatively few of which were inscribed. Of the total number, 236 were found in the Annexe, 176 in the Treasury and just one in the Antechamber. They had originally been kept in wooden caskets with inlays of beaten gold or bronze. The shabtis were made from a variety of materials, including wood that was gessoed and painted, and stone.

The larger shabti figures varied in form, size and attributes. They were differentiated above all by their headdresses (the Red Crown of the North, the White Crown of the South, the nemes, the afnet headcloth and a type of cylindrical helmet) and inscriptions. The statuettes portray a figure with youthful features.

Valley of the Kings, Tutankhamun's tomb KV62

18th dynasty

Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Ghosts of Halloween Past 2

This headrest is similar in shape to a folding stool.

The pillow holder of the headrest is made of strands of ivory beads stained dark green, red-brown, and black.

The two sides are decorated with the face of the god, Bes of Joy, on their outer surface and a lotus flower on the inner surface. The legs end in ducks' heads.

JE 62023

Egyptian Museum, Cairo

This shabti shows the king wearing a blue and gold striped nemes, with two flaps at the front and a uraeus. Tutankhamun holds a heqa sceptre and a flail. His thin face has slightly raised black eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes painted black and white, a small nose and a wide mouth with full lips. A usekh collar hangs around his neck. Six columns of hieroglyphs with Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead cover the lower part of the statuette.

The term shabti derives from the ancient Egyptian meaning 'answerer', and refer to the moment when the deceased is called upon to perform hard labour in the fields of the underworld. The statuettes were considered to be substitutes for the deceased.

Tutankhamun's tomb contained 413 shabti figures, only relatively few of which were inscribed. Of the total number, 236 were found in the Annexe, 176 in the Treasury and just one in the Antechamber. They had originally been kept in wooden caskets with inlays of beaten gold or bronze. The shabtis were made from a variety of materials, including wood that was gessoed and painted, and stone.

The larger shabti figures varied in form, size and attributes. They were differentiated above all by their headdresses (the Red Crown of the North, the White Crown of the South, the nemes, the afnet headcloth and a type of cylindrical helmet) and inscriptions. The statuettes portray a figure with youthful features.

Wood, gold, bronze, height 48 cm

Valley of the Kings, Tutankhamun's tomb KV62

18th dynasty

JE 60828

Egyptian Museum, Cairo

The ba is an aspect of a person's non-physical being. After death, the ba was able to travel out from the tomb, but it had to periodically return to the tomb and be reunited with the mummy. The ba was usually represented as a bird with a human head, and sometimes with human arms.

Faience

Late Period

Provenance unknown

BAAM 1123

Antiquities Museum of Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Funerary papyrus, Book of Dead of Maiherpri

New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, reign of Thutmose III

From Maiherpri's tomb KV36, Valley of the Kings, Thebes

CG 24095b - JE 33844

Egyptian Museum, Cairo

The hypocephalus, or headrest was most commonly used during the Greek Period. A round disc that symbolizes the solar disc or the iris of the nedjat eye was placed under the head of the mummy to bring protection in the afterlife. The headrest symbolizes the universe: the upside-down parts on the lower half depict the land of the dead, and the upper half is the world on earth and the heavens. The lowest region referring to the most secret parts of the underworld contains passages from spell number 162 in the Book of the Dead, that makes flames appear from under the head of a blissful akh soul.

Linen, stucco

Greek Period

Provenance unknown

Cat. 2323 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

Another of my favorites.

Tutankhamun's tomb contained 413 shabti figures, only relatively few of which were inscribed. Of the total number, 236 were found in the Annexe, 176 in the Treasury and just one in the Antechamber. They had originally been kept in wooden caskets with inlays of beaten gold or bronze. The shabtis were made from a variety of materials, including wood that was gessoed and painted, and stone.

The larger shabti figures varied in form, size and attributes. They were differentiated above all by their headdresses (the Red Crown of the North, the White Crown of the South, the nemes, the afnet headcloth and a type of cylindrical helmet) and inscriptions. The statuettes portray a figure with youthful features.

Valley of the Kings, Tutankhamun's tomb KV62

18th dynasty

Egyptian Museum, 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

Neferkare Shabaka or Shabako was the third Kushite pharaoh of the 25th Dynasty of Egypt, who reigned from 705 to 690 BC. The Nubians living in the south were under Egypt for a long time, but during the 25th dynasty, they conquered almost all of Egypt. The Nubians embraced the worship of Ammon and described themselves in the traditional style as pharaohs.

Steatite

25th dynasty

Egypt of Glory exhibition, Amos Rex Art Museum, Helsinki

From the collection of Museo Egizio, Turin, Italy

9.10.2020-21.3.2021

Tepemankh bore the titles of "Vizier" and "Chief Justice". He was contemporaneous with either King Unas or Pepi II. At that time, the vizier was appointed by the Pharaoh as the head of Egypt's mighty administrative system. Egypt had effectively been run by a class of educated civil servants, who reported to the vizier. The depiction of the elite as a scribe was one of the finest art poses and prestigious occupations in ancient Egypt.

Pink granite

Old Kingdom, 5th or 6th dynasty

Provenance Saqqara, Tomb D10, north of the Step Pyramid

BAAM 1322

Antiquities Museum of Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Granodiorite

New Kindom, 18th dynasty, reign of Amenhotep III

Thebes

The exhibition 'Nefertari and the Valley of the Queens' from the Museo Egizio, Turin' in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, 2017

The text of this ostracon is written in demotic letters. It is a form developed from hieroglyphics and hieratic, which differs so much from the previous ones that few Egyptologists can read. Ostracon refers to a piece of stone or pot that has been used as a writing pad.

Clay

Greco-Roman Period

From Gebelein

Cat. 14348 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

This tent was made between 1046-1037 BC for the funerary purification of Isetemkheb II who was the daughter of the army general and High priest of Amun Masaherta and the chantress of Amun Tayuheret and the granddaughter of the king Pinudjem I of the 21st dynasty.

Noteworthy, Isetemkheb II held the title of "the superior of the Harem of Min, Horus and Isis at Ipu (Akhmim)" and was one of several princesses who bore this name in the family.

Although the coffin of Isetemkheb II has not been discovered yet, the coffin of her cousin Princess Isetemkheb IV the superior of the chantresses of Amun and wife of king Pinudjem II was discovered in the Deir el-Bahri cache and displayed in the baldachin now.

Painted red, green and yellow leather

Deir el-Bahri Cache (TT 320)

21st dynasty

Reign of Pinudjem I

(JE 26276)

NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo

The protective goddesses Wadjet, one of the first Egyptian deities and Nekhbet, the vulture goddess.

Statues of the protective goddesses were found in the tomb of King Amenhotep II. They were responsible for protecting the body of the king in his afterlife journey.

Wood

18th dynasty, New Kingdom

Tomb of Amenhotep II, Valley of the Kings

NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo

Bovine-legged beds dating from the Predynastic Period onward have been found in the funerary context all over Egypt. In the Middle Kingdom coffins appear that seem to combine the rectangular coffins of that time with the lion bier. It is merely a logical development to add feline heads to the already lion-legged beds. In the Greco-Roman Period, they are no longer simple coffins or beds but combine features of both. (Ancient Egyptian Coffins, Strudwick & Dawson)

Mummy bed of Nedjemib, called Tutu

Late Ptolemaic Period

from Akhim

SR/ 11359/4

Upper floor, gallery 21

Egyptian Museum, Cairo

On either side of the symbol of joining sign is a row of kneeling Asiatic prisoners.

From the body of a chariot recovered from the tomb of Thutmose IV (KV43)

NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo

Funerary equipment of Sennedjem

New Kingdom, 19th dynasty

Tomb of Sennedjem TT1, Deir el-Medina

NMEC National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Fustat Cairo

AncientArt Falconry at DZP

The pleated kilt is fastened on the hips with a belt inscribed at the rear and on the buckle with the coronation name of the king, Nebkheperure. The projecting triangular frontal panel of the kilt of the statue with the khat headcloth carries the vertical inscription. 'The perfect god, rich in glory, a king to be proud of, the royal ka of Horakhty, the Osiris, and Lord of the Two Lands, Nebkheperure, made just'.

This is one of two statues that stood guarding the entrance of the burial chamber.

The king is wearing the khat headdress and is shown with black skin, the colour of Nile mud that flooded and gave it fertility every year. Black signified resurrection and the continuity of life.

18th dynasty, from the tomb of Tutankhamun - KV62

JE 60708 = SR 1/2 = Carter 029

Upper floor, gallery 45

Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Block statue of a priest called Djed Khonsu Iou.ef Ankh seated in a squatting position and holding in his hands symbols of power and wealth. Six lines in relief cover the statue with the names and titles of the owner and his ancestors and prayers to the gods, and the back of the statue is also covered with hieroglyphic inscriptions. The priest wears a wig and appears serene. The base of the statue is covered with inscription offerings to the god Amun-Ra. The statue was discovered in the Karnak Cache.

Siltstone

Provenance Karnak Temple, Thebes

26th dynasty, reign of Psamtek I

BAAM 597

Antiquities Museum of Bibliotheka Alexandrina

Yuya and Tuya were the parents of Tiy, the Great Royal Wife of Amenhotep III and had the honour of being buried in the Valley of Kings. Their tomb (KV46) was opened by James E. Quibell in 1905 and found with filled sarcophaguses and grave goods up to the ceiling. The tomb was not pristine and it thought that it had been entered on at least two occasions, perhaps three. All small objects of value, such as jewels, metal objects, perfumes and cosmetics, were missing. The thieves, who had also stripped the jewelry from the mummies, had disturbed the eternal sleep of the tomb's owners but their bodies had not been destroyed and their internal organs were found still in the canopic vases.

The Valley of the Kings was the royal Theban necropolis of the New Kingdom (18th-20th dynasties) and it does not only contain royal remains but also those of members of the royal family and important functionaries. These are characterized by the simplicity of the architecture: they are modest in size and without decoration, in design being nothing more than shaft tombs or with one or two descending corridors with steps that lead directly to the burial chamber.

CG51008 - JE95316-SR93 and CG51009 - JE95254

18th dynasty

Egyptian Museum, Cairo