Golden Flies of Valor of Queen Ahhotep
Second Intermediate Period, 17th Dynasty, ca. 1560-1530 BC. From Tomb of Ahhotep, Dra’ Abu el-Naga’, Thebes. Now in the Luxor Museum. JE 4694 - CG 52671
Eye of Horus (Wadjet) Finger Ring
New Kingdom, late 18th Dynasty, ca. 1325 BC. Egyptian faience. Now in the Art Institute of Chicago. X84
Seated figure of Men-techenu
Mentechenu, an official of the time of Amenhotep II, was "head of the guard at the gate of the royal palace" with the honorary rank of "fan bearer to the right of the king". As a sign of his rank, he holds an ostrich feather in his left hand.
New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, reign of Thutmose III, ca. 1479-1425 BC. From Karnak, Thebes. Now in the Neues Museum, Berlin. ÄM 19289 Photo: Sandra Steiß
Statuette of King Seti I offering Maat
New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, ca. 1290-1279 BC. Silver and gold. Now in the Louvre. E 27431
Portico of the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, Boulaq
Karl Wilhelm Gentz (German, 1822-1890)
Statue of Heqet
This statue of the frog goddess Heqet stands at the beginning of a great tradition of animal sculpture in Egyptian art. During the Predynastic period statues of animals are much more common than those of humans. The sculptor has shown great sensitivity to the natural banding of the stone, using it to enhance the roundness of the animal’s form.
Small frogs, mostly of faience, are among the most common votive offerings deposited at early temple sites. The frog’s exact religious significance in the Predynastic period is unknown, but in later times it was most often identified with Heqet, the goddess who assisted at childbirth.
Predynastic Period, ca. 5000-2950 BC. Travertine (Egyptian alabaster). Now in the Cleveland Museum of Art. 1976.5
Blue anhydrite bowl decorated on the underside and round the sides with four baboons, their intertwined tails forming the supporting ring-base.
The ancient Egyptians used stone jars to store perfumed oils, ointments, and cosmetics, items considered essential in life and the afterlife, at least for those who could afford them.
Second Intermediate Period, 17th Dynasty, ca. 1731-1545 BC. From Qurna, Thebes. National Museums Scotland. A.1909.527.33
Statuette of Wah
This statuette, intended to serve as a home for Wah's spirit, depicts a young man in the prime of life. Full of vigor, the little figure has the imposing presence of a much larger statue.
The linen wrap may imitate the type of long skirt worn by Middle Kingdom officials. Beneath this, the figure wears the more typical short kilt, carved into the wood and painted white.
Middle Kingdom, 12th Dynasty, reign of Amenemhat I, ca. 1981-1975 BC. From Tomb of Wah, Southern Asasif, Thebes. Now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 20.3.210
Inside the burial chamber in the Pyramid of Unas decorated with Pyramid Texts, mid-24th century BC, Saqqara.
The Pyramid Texts are the oldest religious writings known to exist. They were first recorded in the pyramid of Unas, last king of Egypt’s 5th Dynasty, and are called “Pyramid Texts” because they were carved in columns on the inner walls of the pyramid.
Pyramids before Unas’ appear to have been undecorated on the inside. As the name suggests, these texts were reserved for the royal dead, and do not seem to have been available to the administrative elite for use in their tombs.
Funerary Stele of Tembu
This round topped funerary stele of Tembu is carved in very low relief and brightly painted in red, yellow, blue, and black. The decoration comprises of two registers of offering scenes and a register of inscription on the bottom. The top depicts two Wadjet eyes flanking a shen-ring and water ripples with a bowl. Below this Tembu is seated with his wife on a typical 18th Dynasty double chair.
Under the chair and attached to it by a leash, is a pet monkey, holding a mirror and a cosmetic vase, which is a typical feature of New Kingdom stelae. The table in front of the couple holds loosely arranged offerings of bread, beef, vegetables and lotus buds and two jugs on stands below the table.
New Kingdom, early 18th Dynasty, ca. 1500-1470 BC. Now in the Walters Art Museum. 22.92
Animal shaped vase, with two lug handles, thought to be in the form of a hedgehog.
Predynastic Period, Naqada II, ca. 3500 BC. Now in the Fitzwilliam Museum. E.GA.4330.1943
Mery, Chief Scribe of the Royal Archives, depicted upon the false door from his tomb at Saqqara.
Old Kingdom, 4th Dynasty, ca. 2613-2498 BC. Now in the Louvre. N 153
Statuette of Goddess Isis
New Kingdom, Ramesside Period, ca. 1292-1070 BC. Now in the Dallas Museum of Art. 2009.25.2
Statuette of King Khufu
This ivory statuette was discovered in two pieces. First, the body was found and, then, three weeks later, the head was discovered. It was found in 1903 by Flinders Petrie during the excavation of Kom el-Sultan in Abydos.
Despite the discovery of a few other small fragments of the king’s statues and statuettes, this ivory statuette is considered to be the only existing complete sculpture of King Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid at Giza. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 36143
Stele of Dedia with Osiris Isis and Horus
In the panel below the gods Dedia, chief of draftsmen of Amun, and his wife bring them offerings. the inscription reads ".....so that they may grant them all kinds of good and pure things, wine, milk, the gentle breath of the north wind, to be blessed in heaven, rich on earth, acquitted in the world of the dead, to follow the procession of Sokaris with boots of onions on the dawn of the neck...". It continues "he said: o you all the priests and scribes of the temple of Osiris who will read this stele in honor of;eternity, recite the funeral prayers offering and pouring water on the ground, for the chief of draftsmen of Amun, Dedia, and for his wife."
New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, reign of Seti I, ca. 1290-1279 BC. From Abydos. Now in the Louvre. No. 204; C 50
"Garden of Egypt: Irrigation, Society, and the State in the Premodern Fayyūm is the first environmental history of Egypt’s Fayyūm depression. The volume studies human relationships with flowing water, from the third century BCE to the thirteenth century CE.
Until the arrival of modern perennial irrigation in the nineteenth century, the Fayyūm was the only region of premodern Egypt to be irrigated by a network of artificial canals. By linking large numbers of rural communities together in shared dependence on this public irrigation infrastructure, canalization introduced to Egypt a radically new way of interacting both with the water of the Nile and with fellow farmers.
Drawing upon ancient Greek papyri, medieval Arabic literature, and modern comparative evidence, this book explores the ways in which the Nile’s water, local farmers, and state power together continually reshaped this irrigated landscape over more than thirteen centuries. Following human/water relationships through both space and time further helps to erode disciplinary boundaries and bring multiple periods of Egyptian history into contact with one another.
— Garden of Egypt: Irrigation, Society, and the State in the Premodern Fayyum, by Brendan Haug
Carnelian Face Inlay of King Akhenaten
During the Amarna period, inlays of semi-precious stones, as well as those in glass and faience, were used to decorate pieces of jewelry, furniture, and even architectural elements.
New Kingdom, Amarna Period, ca. 1353-1336 BC. Now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2021.41.76