Tag: Ancient Egypt
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Symbolism in the art of Queen Nefertari’s Tomb, Valley of the Queens
Tomb QV66 located in the Valley of the Queens is one of the largest and most lavishly decorated in Egypt’s history. It was built as the final resting place for the favourite queen of Ramesses II, Nefertari Meritenmut (“Beautiful Companion, Beloved of the Goddess Mut”), who lived around 1279-1213 BC. She held the title of…
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Atum Repelling Apep, Serpent of Chaos
My reproduction of a scene from the ancient Egyptian Book of Gates features the creation god Atum repelling the serpent of chaos, Apep (Apophis). It is based on a wall painting from the tomb of Ramesses I in the Valley of the Kings (KV16). The Book of Gates is a funerary text dating from the…
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Naqada Pottery of Predynastic Egypt; a 5,400-year-old Representation of a River Festival
This unprovenanced jar in the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection dates to between c. 3450 to 3330 BCE. It is a particularly fine example of late Neqada II decorated ware, pottery made of fine marl clay and embellished with recurring motifs representing the Egyptian desert and Nilotic environment. It depicts three boats travelling in procession…
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The Painted Tomb-Chapel of Nebamun, 1350 BC
My reproduction is based on a wall painting from an 18th Dynasty tomb chapel located in the Theban Necropolis on the west bank of the Nile in Egypt. It belonged to Nebamun, a wealthy, middle-ranking official scribe and grain counter at the temple complex in Thebes. The tomb’s plastered walls were richly and skilfully decorated…
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What did the Ancient Egyptians Call Memphis? Mapping Ancient Egyptian Town Names
Read anything about Ancient Egypt and you’ll soon come across an obvious etymological curiosity; most places are known by their Greek, Roman, Arabic or even English names, rather than their Ancient Egyptian names. This reflects the enormous breadth of time many of these settlements have been occupied, but it doesn’t help if you’re reading a…
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The Goddess Hathor and Seti I
This beautiful relief was part of the decoration of the tomb well-preserved tomb of King Seti I (KV17) in the Valley of the Kings. It depicts Seti walking towards the still figure of the goddess Hathor, who played an important role in welcoming the dead to the underworld and accompanying them into the afterlife. Hathor,…
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Paintings from the Tomb-chapel of Nebamun, British Museum
These wall paintings are from an 18th Dynasty tomb chapel located in the Theban Necropolis located on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes. The tomb chapel belonged to Nebamun, a middle-ranking official scribe and grain counter at the temple complex in Thebes. The tomb’s plastered walls were richly and skilfully decorated with lively…
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The Young Memnon, British Museum
The Younger Memnon is one of a pair of colossal granite heads from the ancient Egyptian Ramesseum mortuary temple in Thebes. It depicts the 19th Dynasty Pharaoh Ramesses II wearing the Nemes head-dress and a circlet of uraei. The back pillar is inscribed with vertical registers of hieroglyphs giving the name and titles of the…
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Sarcophagus of Sasobek, British Museum
The finely carved lid of the sarcophagus of Sasobek, northern vizier of Egypt during the reign of Psamtek I (664-610 BCE), which depicts the winged sky goddess Nut. Nut was the personification of the sky and the heavens and is often featured inside of coffin lids watching over the deceased soul in the afterlife. In…
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Statue of Amun and King Taharqa, British Museum
At least three Ancient Egyptian statues of Amun in the form of a ram protecting King Taharqa were displayed at the Temple of Amun at Kawa in Nubia. Construction of the stone temple was started in 683 BC by Taharqa, who was pharaoh of the 25th Dynasty of Egypt and qore (king) of the Kingdom…