Egypt Museum

Ancient Egypt art culture and history bit.ly/egypt-museum

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Model of a food preparation

First Intermediate Period, 8th Dynasty, ca. 2125-2080 BC.

From Sedment, Beni Suef.

Now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. AN.1921.1416

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Sarcophagus for a Cat

▫️This wooden coffin once housed the mummified remains of a young cat around five months old. Revered as sacred animals associated with the goddess Bastet, millions of cats were bred, sacrificed, mummified and dedicated as votive offerings at temples across #Egypt. Vast deposits of cat mummies have been discovered at major cult centres, including Bubastis and Saqqara. This one is from Bubastis.

The seated coffin retains inlaid eyes, traces of gilding and a green-painted head, while the mummy preserves fragments of its original linen wrappings.

Late Period–Ptolemaic Period, c. 664–30 B.C.

British Museum. EA22752

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Stele of Ipuy shown below with wife and child, Above Hathor, Osiris, Re-Harakhty and King.

New Kingdom 19th Dynasty, ca. 1292-1190 BC.

From Deir el-Medina, Thebes.

Now in the Egyptian Museum of Turin. Cat 7357

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A remarkable pair of wooden statuettes depicting a Middle Kingdom king, most likely Senusret I of the 12th Dynasty. Together, they embody the ancient Egyptian concept of dual kingship and the sovereign's rule over the "Two Lands" of Egypt.

The figure on the left wears the White Crown (Hedjet) of Upper Egypt (Egyptian Museum, Cairo, JE 44951), while the figure on the right wears the Red Crown (Deshret) of Lower Egypt (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 14.3.17). Though separated today between two collections, the statues were originally conceived as a pair, symbolising the unity of the Egyptian state under a single ruler.

Carved from wood and discovered at el-Lisht, these rare sculptures date to the Middle Kingdom, 12th Dynasty, ca. 1919–1885 BC.

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Deep Tripod Bowl

Predynastic Period, Naqada I, ca. 3800-3500 BC.

Now in the Brooklyn Museum. 07.447.399

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Thutmose III is making an offering to Amun-Re

From the Shrine of Hathor, Deir el-Bahari, Thebes.

Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 38575

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Corridor from the tomb of Queen Isis (also known as Iset Ta-Hemdjert) (QV51), wife of Ramesses III. ​​Schiaparelli excavations.

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Freud's copy of Geschichte Ägyptens, the 1936 German translation of J.H. Breasted's A History of Egypt.

Photo: John Riddy

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Mace-head of Scorpion king

The mace-head was uncovered in the "Main Deposit" of the Temple of Horus at Hierakonpolis, one of the most important religious and political centers of early Egypt.

The same cache also contained the famous Narmer Palette, linking the artifact directly to the formative period of Egyptian statehood.

The Scorpion mace-head measures around 25 centimeters and was discovered during excavations conducted by James Quibell and Frederick Green at Hierakonpolis in 1897–1898.

Now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. AN1896-1908.E.3632

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Small Bull's Head

Late Period, ca. 664-332 BC.

Now in the Brooklyn Museum. 37.1562E

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Sennedjem and his wife Iyneferti worshipping some thirteen gods, with Osiris and Ra-Horakhty leading each row.

New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, ca. 1290 BC.

Tomb of Sennedjem (TT1), Deir el-Medina, Thebes.

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The Mummy Portraits of Faiyum

Hauntingly lifelike masterpieces from Ancient Egypt, preserving the faces of men, women, and children who lived nearly 2,000 years ago.

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King Pepi II and his mother Ankhesenmeryre II

This statuette made from Egyptian alabaster depicts King Pepi II of the 6th Dynasty, sat upon his mother Ankhesenmeryre II’s lap. This iconography of a mother nursing her child symbolises the goddess Isis (𓊨𓏏𓆇𓁐) nursing her son Horus (ḥr.w).

What some may find peculiar about these Ancient Egyptian depictions of mother and child, is that often the child is not depicted as a baby, but instead a full-grown adult in miniature form.

Pepi II is depicted here, not with a side-lock plait (Ancient Egyptian hairstyle representing youth), but a nemes headdress with uraeus (royal insignia), telling us this statuette was created when the king was upon the throne and made to depict the king for eternity in such a way.

Old Kingdom, 6th Dynasty, ca. 2288-2224 or 2194 BC. Now in the Brooklyn Museum. 37.61E

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Gold Inlaid Bracelet of King Psusennes I

Third Intermediate Period, 21st Dynasty, reign of Psusennes I, c. 1047-1001 BC. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 85160

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Woman with Hair Cascading Over her Face in Mourning New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, ca. 1479-1425 BC. From the Tomb of Minnakht, Thebes

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Canopic Jar Lid Depicting Duamutef

Ramesside Period, c. 1295–1069 B.C.

Acquired by the Louvre in 1899 through Georges-Aaron Bénédite and the dealer Panayotis Kyticas. Now on long-term loan to the Musée de Picardie, Amiens. E 10837

▫ This finely modelled Canopic jar lid represents the jackal-headed deity Duamutef, one of the Four Sons of Horus charged with protecting the internal organs of the deceased during mummification.

Duamutef, associated with the stomach, was under the protection of the goddess Neith. His distinctive canine features (elongated snout and alert ears) are rendered here in vibrant faience, whose lustrous glaze ranges across tones of deep blue, green, violet, and red. Such colours were not merely decorative but evoked regeneration, divine protection, and the eternal qualities of the afterlife.

Originally fitted atop a Canopic jar, the lid sealed and safeguarded the organ it protected, forming part of a complete set placed within the tomb. The craftsmanship reflects the enduring funerary traditions of the Ramesside age, when belief in bodily preservation and divine guardianship remained central to Egyptian conceptions of the afterlife.

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Cartonnage Funerary Assemblage

In the Ptolemaic Period, separate cartonnage pieces replaced the full-body cartonnage covering such as the one used with the Mummy of the Priest, Hor nearby. Yet the same series of symbols were used, such as the scarab beetle (a symbol of rebirth), the Four Sons of Horus, Anubis, sun disks, and gold leaf (a reference to the gods, who were believed to have gold skin).

The lower part of the inscription shows a number of dots marking the place where the owner’s name would be filled in, indicating that such objects were mass-produced for the market. The use of gold in prefabricated funeral equipment suggests a large, wealthy population in Ptolemaic Egypt eager for such products.

Ptolemaic Period, ca. 305-30 BC.

Now in the Brooklyn Museum. 12.911.2a-f