Images & Art

HEADREST

From the tomb of Tutankhamon Valley of the Kings Western Thebes Dynasty XVIII, C. 1350 B.C. Egyptian Museum, Cairo This headrest is made of turquoise blue glass. The engraved gold band covers the joint between the top and bottom pieces. Its height is seven and one-quarter inches....

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SMALL PERFUME JARS

Provenance unknown Dynasty XVIII British Museum, London Perfume jars made of colored glass less than four inches high....

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OPEN PAPYRUS FLOWER CAPITAL AT KARNAC

Dating from the Middle Kingdom (Prisse) Pictures and inscriptions are worked in between the painted flower stalks....

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TOMB OF RAMESSES I

Valley of the Kings, Western Thebes Dynasty XIX, 1320-1318 B.C. Ramesses I is surrounded by gods on the walls of his tomb....

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LIMESTONE STATUE OF KING ZOSER

Zoser Mortuary Complex Saqqara Dynasty IV, C. 2667-2648 B.C. Egyptian sculpture is closely tied to its architectural surroundings. This is the first known portrait statue. It was buried in the ground at the foot of the kings step pyramid. Two holes were cut into the wall at eye level, linking the king with the outside world. Zoser is portrayed in...

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PAINTED WALL

From the tomb of an unknown person Thebes Dynasty XVIII, C. 1500 B.C. Scenes from daily life are painted one on top of another and can be read like a comic book, although in Egyptian scenes, it is generally one "reads" it from the bottom up....

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THE DAUGHTERS OF AKHENATEN

From Tell el Amarna Dynasty XVIII, C. 1375-1358 B.C. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford The Amarna style developed briefly under the rule of King Akhenaten. One example of the style is this painting of orange-brown casual figures against a brightly decorated orange ground. While the heads seem unnatural in shape there is speculation that this is a realistic...

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SHRINE OF KING SESOSTRIS

Karnak Dynasty XII, c. 1940 B.C. This shrine or repository chapel is a resting place for the sacred barge which contains the figure of the god Amon as it moves along the processional journey in celebration of the king's jubilee. There are ramps at both ends of the shrine....

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Detail, SCULPTURED PILLAR

Deir el Bahari, Thebes Dynasty XVIII, c. 1480 B.C. The goddess Hathor, protectress of the city of the dead, is carved on this pillar from the Hathor shrine on the south side of the first terrace. She is portrayed as a beautiful woman with the ears of a cow....

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MERERUKA AND HIS WIFE SEATED ON A BED

From the Mastaba of Vizier Mereruka Saqqara Dynasty VI, C. 2325 B.C. An early bed with heavy lion-claw legs, a high board at one end and a foot-board and cushion at the other, and with a thick mattress. Underneath the bed are tables and vases....

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