Object Details Type: Tomb painting Date: Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep III, c. 1410-1370 BC Findspot: Tomb of Nakht (TT53), Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, Thebes Print Reference: DP62 Reproduction Note: The paintings in the tomb of Nakht have degraded significantly due to vandalism, so this reproduction was made with help from a copy made by Hugh R. Hopgood in 1908–1914, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. My reproduction of a detail from a tomb painting from the tomb of Nakht (TT53) in Thebes dating to Dynasty 18, c. 1410-1370 BC. Nakht was a scribe and Astronomer of Amun and lived during the reigns of Amenhotep II and Amenhotep III. He was wealthy enough to have a richly painted tomb that contained scenes of his achievements in life and desires for the afterlife. This trio of female musicians comes from a larger scene depicting the tomb owner Nakht taking part in the annual "Beautiful Festival of the Valley" celebration. This was when the cult statues of the gods Amun, Khonsu and Mut left Karnak Temple in a sacred barque and visited the shrines in the Theban necropolis. Music and dance played an important part in religious festivals and was seen as a way of praising the gods and encouraging jubilant worship. The women are playing a double flute, a lute, and a harp-like instrument with more than a dozen strings and an elaborate soundbox decorated with animal skin. Each has unique features that separate her from her companions, including different hairstyles, floral headbands, and broad collars. Two are dressed in long tight-fitting dresses whilst the one in the middle is naked except for a narrow, beaded belt around her waist. Similar Depictions The lost tomb of Nebamun, located somewhere in Dra' Abu el-Naga' 1350 BC (Dynasty 18) and my own reproduction TT38, the tomb of Djeserkareseneb (Djeserka) in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna and a facsimile in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Accession Number 30.4.9) Further Reading Osiris.net: In-depth guide to the tomb of Nakht World History Encyclopaedia: Music and dance in Ancient Egypt

Reproduction Details Type: Stela Date: Dynasty 18, reign of Akhenaten, c. 1352-1338 BC Findspot: Q47.16, Main City, Tell-el Amarna Materials: Limestone Size: H. 43.5cm; W. 39cm; D. 6.5cm Current location: Egyptian Museum, Cairo Object number: JE 44865 Print Reference: DP58A Description This stela was discovered by a team led by German Egyptology Ludwig Borchardt in the rubble behind the back wall of house Q47.16 in the Main City district of Amarna. Dating to the reign of the heretical king Akhenaten in Dynasty 18, this icon would have been kept in a private chapel of an Amarna house and used to worship the sun-god Aten, the king and his holy family. Akhenaten and his wife Queen Nefertiti are shown seated on cushioned stools bearing the sema-tawy symbol, denoting the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. Between them stands their eldest daughter, Meritaten, who is receiving a golden earring from her father, who has another earring and two golden collars on his lap. Sat on Nefertiti’s lap are the royal couple’s younger daughters, Meketaten and Ankhesenpaaten (Tutankhamun’s future wife). Above the royal family is the red disk of the sun god Aten, whose rays reach out towards the family and end in hands holding Ankhs, the symbol of life. Surrounding the scene are three bands of hieroglyphs that dedicate the stela to Aten, Akhenaten and Nefertiti. The entire composition forms the shape of the hieroglyph Akhet meanings ‘horizon’, comprised of a sun (Aten) rising between two mountains (Akhenaten and Nefertiti). The Akhet symbol can also be found in the centre of the scene, where Akhenaten is offering a golden earring with dangling beads symbolising the Aten to his daughter Meritaten. His hands mimic those of the Aten which offer life symbols, and his daughter’s upturned hands form the shape of the horizon. The family are portrayed with the characteristic features typical of Amarna period art, such as wide hips, sagging bellies, exaggerated heads and elongated, fluid limbs. Akhenaten is wearing the blue crown known as a Khopresh and a pleated kilt, whilst Nefertiti wears her characteristic high crown and a traditional robe held in place with a belt. Their daughters are portrayed naked with side-locks of hair to distinguish them as children. Translation Though the original stela is now damaged and worn by time, it is possible to reconstruct the outer bands of hieroglyphs using comparative sources such as a watercolour reproduction made by Alfred Bollacher in the 1920s and the Great Hymn to the Aten. If you spot any mistakes, please let me know! Horizontal column The horizontal column at the top contains a mirror image of a dedication of offerings to the god Aten and should be read from the centre outwards in either direction: Anx itn The living Aten, [Cartouche 1] “The living Re-Horakhty rejoicing in the Horizon” [Cartouche 2] "In his name as Shu, who is in the Aten" Htp Dt tA nHH Given life for ever and ever. Vertical Columns The vertical columns of hieroglyphs to the left and right of the scene are mirror images of each other and should be read from top to bottom. They contain dedications to the king and queen which can also be found in the Great Hymn to the Aten, the longest of the Dynasty 18 hymn-poems written to the sun-disk deity Aten: nsw bity anx mAat nb tAwy King of Upper and Lower Egypt. Living in righteousness, lord of the two lands. (nfr-xprw-ra-wa-n-ra) sA “The beautiful one of the manifestations of Ra, the unique one of Ra”, son of Re, anx mAat nb Axtw (itn Ax n) living in righteousness, lord of the crowns, “Living spirit of the Aten” aA m aHa.f Hmt mryt.f great of his lifetime. His beloved wife (nfr-nfrw-itn nfrt-iiti) “Beauty of beauties of Aten beauty has come”. anxt ti Dt tA nHH Live in health for ever and ever. Cartouches Aten The two cartouches of Aten in the top register give early forms of the names of the god Aten. We can use these to date the stela to the earlier part of Akhenaten’s reign, as the name of the Aten changed over time. In the beginning, Aten was one god amongst many and his name referenced other gods such as Re-Horakhty and Shu. However, as he promoted his worship of a single god, Akhenaten removed all traces of other gods from the Aten’s name in later art. “The living Re-Horakhty rejoicing in the Horizon” "In his name as Shu, who is in the Aten" Akhenaten Nefer-kheperu-ra “The beautiful one of the manifestations of Ra, the unique one of Ra” Akh-en-Aten “Living spirit of the Aten” Nefertiti Nefer-neferu-Aten “Beautiful are the beauties of Aten, the beautiful one has come” Similar Objects Ägyptisches Museum (ÄM 14145) - Stela depicting Akhenaten, Nefertiti and three princesses, thought to have originated from Tell-el Amarna. Musée du Louvre (E 11624) - Stela depicting the queen, and at least two princesses, seated on the king’s lap. British Museum (EA 24431) - Stela fragment depicting a royal figure, probably Akhenaten, seated beneath the Aten. Further Reading For royal names, titles and cartouches of royalty, see The Name of the Pharaohs. Allen, J. P. (1988). Two Altered Inscriptions of the Late Amarna Period. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, 25, 117–126 (page 120). Borchardt, L. (1923). Portràts der Kônigin Nofret-ete aus den Grabungen 1912/13 in Tell el-Amama, WVDOG, 44 (plate 1). Darnell, J. C. (2016). The Rituals of Love in Ancient Egypt: Festival Songs of the Eighteenth Dynasty and the Ramesside Love Poetry. Die Welt Des Orients, 46(1), 22–61 (page 35). Davis, W. (1978). Two Compositional Tendencies in Amarna Relief. American Journal of Archaeology, 82(3), 387–394 (page 389). Friedman, F. (1986). ȝḫ in the Amarna Period. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, 23, 99–106 (page 102). Gunn, B. (1923). Notes on the Aten and His Names. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 9(3/4), 168–176 (page 168).

Reproduction Details Type: Tomb painting (reconstructed) Date: Dynasty 5, reign of Nyuserre Ini, c. 2445-2421 BC Findspot: Mastaba of Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum, Saqqara Necropolis Print Reference: DP50A Iconography Located in the Saqqara Necropolis beneath the causeway to the Pyramid of Unas stands the shared mastaba tomb of Khnumhotep ("Khnum is satisfied") and Niankhkhnum ("life belongs to Khnum"). They lived during the reign of Dynasty 5 king Niussere Ini around 2500 BC and both served in his palace as royal confidants and servants dedicated to the purification of the king's body. They held many titles, among them overseers of manicurists and hairdressers and would have had close daily contact with the king. On the western wall of the outer hall of their tomb is a striking portrayal of the two men in close embrace, their noses touching in a pose that is the most intimate allowed in Egyptian art. This kind of embrace is extremely rare, even with representations of the deceased embracing their wife or mothers with their children. This has led many to speculate on the relationship of the two men; were they brothers? Twins? Lovers? If the latter was true, they would be the first same-sex couple recorded in history, but there is still considerable debate. Scholars opposing the theory point to the depictions of both men’s children and wives in scenes in the tomb and believe the symmetry of their portrayal and their shared titles are strong evidence they were twins. In this scene we see Niankhkhnum on the right standing slightly in front of Khnumhotep and grasping his arm, whilst Khnumhotep’s arm is wrapped around Niankhkhnum’s shoulders. Although identical at first glance, the two men have subtly different facial features; Khnumhotep’s nose is straighter and pointier than Niankhkhnum’s, whose eyes and eyebrows are larger. Both men are showing with their natural hair and are wearing formal kilts with gilded belts and broad necklaces. The inscription behind each gives their title as ‘Overseer of the palace hairdressers’ and their name, but Khnumhotep’s inscription also adds ‘as well as his children’. Beside each man are two registers depicting their children, with their names written above. Niankhnum's Family To the left of Niankhamun’s are his three sons (Hem-re, Qed-unas, and Khnumhezewef) and three daughters (Hemet-re, Khewiten-re and Nebet). They are all wearing formal clothes except Khnumhezewef, who is naked and has a sidelock of hair, indicating he is a young child. In other parts of the tomb, his wife Khentikawes is also shown. From left to right, top register to bottom: Khnumhotep's Family To the right of Khnumhotep we find his daughter Rewedzawes and five sons (Ptahshepses, Ptahneferkhu, Kaizebi, Khnumheswef and Niankhkhnum the younger). Whilst Ptahshepses, Ptahneferkhu and Rewedzawes are wearing the same formal clothing as Niankhamun’s children, the other three children are shown wearing simpler kilts. They are also accompanied by the hieroglyphs for a funerary offering, suggesting they were already awaiting their father in the afterlife. His wife Khenut isn’t shown, with Niankhkhnum taking her place. From left to right, top register to bottom: Further Reading A detailed description of the mastaba A virtual interactive model of tomb

Object Details The Stela of Kay was acquired in 1928 by Professor Borc Hardt for the Egyptian Department of the State Museums in Berlin from a dealer in Luxor. Its place of origin was given as Qamula, north of Thebes. It is now on display in the Neues Museum in Berlin and has been dated on stylistic and palaeographic grounds to early Dynasty 12 (c. 1976-1912 BC). Type: Limestone stela Date: Early Dynasty 12, c. 1976-1912 BC Findspot: Allegedly from Qamula, Thebes-North Size: 67 x 34 x 9 cm Identification number: ÄM 22820 Current location: Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection, Neues Museum, Berlin Iconography Picked out in raised relief is Kay, chief of the desert police, accompanied by an unnamed woman assumed to be his wife or mother Beshet, and two hunting dogs. Both wear wigs and clothes of white linen, as well as collars around their necks and bangles on their wrists. Up in the corner in front of the man is a row of four stone vessels for perfume or oil, including one in the shape of the htm vessel, and below their feet, three more dogs can be seen reclining. The inscription is designed to give offerings to Kay for his afterlife and recounts his service to the king by patrolling the western oases and tracking down fugitives. His titles are given as Head of the Desert Hunters and the Head of the Western Deserts and the report Kay gives does not suggest the hunt for a particular criminal, but rather a police patrol that is sent to the oases to establish order. Even if we were unable to read the inscription, we could tell Kay had a role in the military by the bow and bundle of arrows he holds in his hand and the pointed linen kilt he is wearing. West of Qamula, the alleged location of the stele, there is archaeological evidence of an ancient desert route from the Nile valley to the oases of Dakhla and Kharga known as the Alamat Tal Road. It is tempting to imagine Kay with his hounds at his feet and troops at his back, traversing these routes to maintain order and seek out fugitives on the king's behalf. The Dogs Kay has a pack of hunting dogs at his feet, which were known in Egyptian as tesem (ṯsm), are identified as sighthounds by their characteristic pointed ears and curled tails. Interestingly, the people depicted are not given their names, whilst the names of the hunting dogs are given. Though damaged, attempts have been made to reconstruct them include: Menedju (mnḏwj) - a pet form of a word meaning ‘many teats’ Nu 5 (5nw) - ‘The fifth’ something like ‘Quintus’ Henwejet (ḥnwjt) - possibly referring to the breed of dog Nu 6 (6nw) - ‘The sixth’, something like ‘Sextus’ Ibu (ʾbw) The depiction of the dogs can be compared to the Stela of Intef II Wahankh (Cairo 20 512). The Text “An offering that the king gives for Anubis, the one on his mountain, who is in the embalming place, the lord of the sacred land; an invocation offering of a thousand cattle, geese and bread for the venerable Head of the Desert Hunters, the Head of the Western Deserts, Beshet’s son Kay, true of voice, he says: I am a hero of the ongoing strike, a leader of the army on the day of distress; one whose execution of an assignment his master praises. I got to the western oasis searched all its ways and brought back all the fugitives I found in it; the troop was safe and there was no loss; what was entrusted to me came home happy. My lord ordered me to be their guardian, as his trusted administrator, because I am doing my lord's commission so well, the praised, the venerable Kay, the justified.” Transliteration and Translation Based on the original translation by Rudolf Anthes (1930), with additions from Tanya Blake (Macquarie University) and the kind people of Reddit (u/dbmag9 and u/Padibastt). ḥtp dı͗ nsw I͗np.w tp(.y) ḏw⸗f ı͗m.y w.t nb tꜢ-ḏsr prı͗.t-ḫrw ı͗ḥ Ꜣpd t An offering that the king gives for Anubis, the one on his mountain, who is in the embalming place, the lord of the sacred land; an invocation offering of a thousand cattle, geese and bread n ı͗mꜢḫ(.w) ı͗m.y-rꜢ nw.w ḫꜢs.wt ı͗m.y-rꜢ smy.t imn.tt Bšt sꜢ KꜢy mꜢꜤ-ḫrw for the venerable Head of the Desert Hunters, the Head of the Western Deserts, Beshet’s son Kay, true of voice, ḏd ı͗nk nḏs n(.y) ḥ-n-ḥr ḥꜢ.t mšꜤ hrw.w ḳsn.t ḥss.w he says: I am a hero of the ongoing strike, a leader of the army on the day of distress; one whose nb⸗f wp.t⸗f pḥ.n⸗ı͗ wḥꜢ.t ı͗mn.tt ḏꜤr.n⸗ı͗ wꜢ.wt⸗s execution of an assignment his master praises. I got to the western oasis nb.t ı͗nı͗.n⸗ı͗ wtḫw gmı͗.n⸗ı͗ ı͗m⸗s mšꜤ wḏꜢ searched all its ways and brought back the fugitive I found in it; the troop was safe nn nhw⸗f swḏ.t n⸗ı͗ ı͗yı͗ m ḥtp rḏı͗.n wı͗ and there was no loss; what was entrusted to me came home happy. nb⸗ı͗ m (stp)-sꜢ⸗sn m rwḏ⸗f n Ꜥḳ ı͗b⸗f n mnḫ n(.y) My lord ordered me to be their guardian, as his trusted administrator, because I ı͗rr⸗ı͗ wpi.t n nb⸗ı͗ ḥsı͗.w ı͗mꜢḫ.y KꜢy mꜢꜤ-ḫrw am doing my lord's commission so well, the praised, the venerable Kay, the justified. Further Reading R. Anthes, ‘Eine Polizeistreife des Mittleren Reiches in die Westliche Oase’, ZÄS 65 (1930), 108–14 R. Freed, “Stela Workshops of Early Dynasty 12,” in P. Manuelian, ed., Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson (Boston, 1996), vol. 1, p. 304 J. C. Darnell, ‘The Eleventh Dynasty Royal Inscription from Deir el-Ballas’, RdE 59 (2008), 100–1

Ancient Egyptian artefacts have been dispersed across the globe and now feature in the collections of hundreds of museums and cultural institutions. Use the map below to explore collections near you, and if any are missing, please let me know; this is a work in progress! Jump to... Australia Austria Belgium Brazil Canada Croatia Denmark Egypt France Germany Greece Hungary India Ireland Israel Italy Lebanon Lithuania Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Russia Scotland South Africa Spain Sudan Sweden Switzerland Turkey United Kingdom Ukraine USA Australia Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology, Caboolture The Museum’s collections include predynastic stone tools and pottery, Dynastic amulets, jewellery, figurines, painted panels and ceramics. Australian Museum, Sydney The Museum has a collection of around 1,100 items. The largest contribution to the Egyptian collection was the donation by Ernest and his brother Alfred Wunderlich (over 35%), followed by the Egypt Exploration Fund (30%). Australian National University Classics Museum, Canberra The collection, which is open to the public, spans the Mediterranean and beyond. It features examples of ancient art and objects of daily life from Greece and the Roman world, including Egypt and the Near East. Melbourne Museum, Melbourne Among the museum's small collection of Mediterranean antiquities are three important items that illustrate how that collection was formed and the perennial fascination with ancient Egyptian attempts to preserve the body to ensure eternal life after death. This includes two mummy cases, one that included the mummy of Tjeby the Elder, and the decorated wooden coffin of Nytamenkhamun. Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania Museum of art with around 460 pieces on display from a collection of more than 2,000 works. Less than half of this is contemporary art; it includes objects from Egypt and various parts of Africa, Mesopotamia and Mesoamerica. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Ancient Egyptian objects are some of the earliest works to have entered the NGV’s collection and in the early twentieth century, the Gallery received regular divisions of objects from British excavations in Egypt. Nicholson Museum, University of Sydney, Sydney The collection includes artefacts representing ancient Egyptian history from the Neolithic to the late Roman period, with mummies, monumental sculpture, inscriptions and ancient organic materials. The founding collection was donated by Sir Charles Nicholson to the University’s Museum of Antiquities in 1860 and expanded during the late 19th and early 20th centuries through acquisitions from the Egypt Exploration Fund (now Society). South Australian Museum, Adelaide The Ancient Egypt gallery was originally established in 1939 and gives an insight into the religion, burial practices and everyday life of Ancient Egypt. The items in the gallery form part of the Foreign Ethnology Collection which holds more than 22,000 items from the Pacific, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas. Western Australian Museum, Perth The Museum acquired numerous objects from early 20th century excavations in Egypt, complemented with objects donated or purchased to reflect ancient Egyptian culture. Most artefacts in this collection consist of pottery objects sourced from excavations in 1906-1913 at Abydos by William Leonard S Loat, and by John Garstang at various locations (Hierakonpolis, Esna, Hissayeh). Austria Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna The Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection contains more than 17,000 objects dating from the Egyptian Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods to the early Christian era. Geographically their origins range from Egypt, Nubia, the eastern Mediterranean and Mesopotamia to the Arabian Peninsula. The collection is structured in four large areas: funerary cult, cultural history, sculpture and relief and the development of writing. Belgium Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Brussels (Cinquantenaire Museum) The museum contains archaeological artefacts from prehistory to the age of the Merovingians, as well as relics from Egypt, the Near East, Iran and Classical antiquity. Among the star attractions are the collections of Egyptian sarcophagi and Greek vases, the great mosaic floor from Apamea and the model of Ancient Rome. Musée Royal de Mariemont, Morlanwelz The Royal Museum of Mariemont is built around the personal collection of art and antiquities owned by the industrialist Raoul Warocqué which were bequeathed to the Belgian state on his death. It contains material he collected to illustrate periods of the Egyptian civilization that were still poorly represented such as pre-dynastic industries and technologies. Brazil Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro (National Museum of Brazil) Canada Egyptian Museum of Mississauga, Ontario The museum tells the story of Egypt through Ancient Egyptian, Coptic and Islamic replicas. Highlights include a replica of Tutankhamun's golden mask. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal A small but fine collection of Egyptian material complements over 10,000 archaeological objects and works by artists from many different cultures in the museum’s galleries. Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montreal The collection is the second largest in Canada, after that of the Royal Ontario Museum. It includes approximately 2000 ceremonial and religious items including polychrome sculpture, hieroglyphic texts, amulets, ornaments, bronze figures, 3 human and several animal mummies, stone vessels, Predynastic and Dynastic pottery. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto The largest and most important Egyptian collection in Canada is comprised of approximately 25,000 artefacts. with nearly 2,000 of these on display in the museum. From prehistoric Egypt to the time of Ptolemaic rule, nearly 2,000 rare and exceptional objects are showcased in the museum's galleries. Croatia Arheološki Muzej u Zagrebu, Zagreb (The Archaeological Museum in Zagreb) Denmark Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen (National Museum of Denmark) Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen The display runs to more than 300 works demonstrating both the development of Egyptian art and significant works from each period. The collection has considerable range, not merely in terms of chronology but also in the representations of, first and foremost, Egyptian pharaohs, officials, scribes and gods. Egypt Alexandria National Museum, Alexandria The national museum is located in a restored palace and documents the history of Alexandria from the Pharaonic era through the 19th century. Its 1,800 objects include statues recovered from under the waters of Alexandria’s Bay, Coptic icons, weapons, and chinaware. Labels are in Arabic and English. Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria Cairo International Airport Museum - Terminal 3, Cairo Coptic Museum, Cairo Egypt’s Capitals Museum, Cairo Grand Egyptian Museum, Giza (opening 2022) Hurghada Museum, Hurghada Imhotep Museum, Saqqara Kafr El-Sheikh Museum, Kafr El Sheikh Luxor Museum, Luxor Museum of Mummification, Luxor The museum provides an understanding of the process the Ancient Egyptians used to preserve the body after death through the display of many tools, objects and equipment. It explains the ritual and religious significance of the practice through displays of canopic jars, elaborately decorated coffins, mummified remains, amulets and statues of deities. Museu d'Assuan (Aswan Museum on Elephantine) National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Cairo Nubian Museum, Aswan Sharm al-Sheikh Museum, South Sinai Tanta Museum, Tanta France Musée Anne de Beaujeu, Moulins Musée Antoine Vivenel, Compiègne Musée Beaux-Arts et Histoire Naturelle (Musée de Châteaudun), Châteaudun Created in 1897 and containing the archaeological collections of the Sociéte Dunoise d`Archeologie (Dunoise Society) and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Chartres, the museum holds has a good collection of Egyptian objects, including some found by Coptologist Émile Amélineau. Musée Calvet Musée Champollion, Figeac Musée Crozatier, Le Puy-en-Velay Musée d’Art Classique de Mougins, Mougins Musée d'Archéologie Méditerranéenne, Marseille Musée d'Art et d'Archéologie, Guéret Musée d'Art et d'Archéologie, Laon Musée d'Aquitaine, Bordeaux The museum has a small display case containing ancient Egyptian objects, which complement the collections that trace the history of Bordeaux and Aquitaine from Prehistory to today and its connections to Africa and Oceania through its harbour. Musée de la Castre, Cannes Musée de l'Hotel Sandelin, Saint-Omer Musée Guimet, Paris (Guimet Museum) Musée Granet (Granet Museum) Musée de Grenoble, Grenoble Musée de Tessé, Le Mans Musée des Antiquités, Rouen Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, Lyon Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dole Musée des Beaux-Arts, Limoges Musée des Beaux-Arts, Marseille Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rennes Musée des Confluences, Lyon Musée d'Histoire Naturelle et Ethnologie, Colmar Musée d'Histoire Naturelle, Perpignan Musée du Louvre, Paris Musée Francisque Mandet, Riom Musée Georges Labit, Toulouse (The Georges Labit Museum) Musée Jacquemart André, Fontaine Chaalis Musée Joseph Déchelette, Roanne Musée Languedocien, Montpellier Musée Lombart, Doullens Germany Ägyptisches Museum der Universität Leipzig, Leipzig Ägyptisches Museum, Bonn (The Egyptian Museum of the University Bonn) Ägyptisches Museum, Neues Museum, Berlin Heidelberger Zentrum für das Kulturelle Erbe, Heidelberg The Egyptian collection of the Heidelberg Centre for Cultural Heritage contains approximately 4,000 finds that provide a representative cross-section of almost four millennia of pharaonic history, from early prehistory to the Arab conquest. Among the objects of the greatest importance and interest are sculptures, reliefs and architectural parts, mummies, coffins, papyri, ceramics, jewellery, and various small finds. Museum August Kestner, Hanover Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim, Hildesheim Sammlung des Ägyptologischen Instituts der Universität, Tübingen (Museum of the University of Tübingen) Staatliche Sammlung für Ägyptische Kunst, Munich Greece National Archaeological Museum, Athens Hungary Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest India Indian Museum, Kolkata Ireland National Museum of Ireland, Dublin Israel Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem Israel Museum, Jerusalem Italy Museo dell'Accademia Etrusca, Cortana (Museum of the Etruscan Academy and of the City of Cortona) Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Parma, Parma Museo Civico Archeologico, Bologna Museo Egizio, Florence (Museum of Egyptian Antiquities) Museo Egizio, Sforza Castle, Milan (Museum of Egyptian Antiquities) Museo Egizio, Turin (Museum of Egyptian Antiquities) Museo di Scultura Antica Giovanni Barracco, Rome Museo Gregoriano Egiziano, Vatican City Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Altemps, Rome Università di Pisa Collezioni Egittologiche (Palazzo Mazzarosa), Pisa The Edda Bresciani Egyptological Collections of the University of Pisa today represent a point of reference for scholars and enthusiasts of ancient Egyptian archaeology due to the importance of its finds, especially those from the area of ​​ancient Nubia. The museum houses a deposit from the estate of Ippolito Rosellini, the Schiff Giorgini Collection, the collection of the Ostraca of Oxyrhynchus and the AE Breccia Archive. Lebanon National Museum of Beirut, Beirut Lithuania Lietuvos Nacionalinis Muziejus, Vilnius Norway Museum of Cultural History, Oslo The collection includes larger items such as mummy coffins and smaller objects such as mummified animals, wooden figures, bronze and ceramics, ushabtis, pottery, grave goods, scarabs, jewellery, flint arrows, textiles and papyri. Netherlands Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden Poland Muzeum Archeologiczne w Warszawie, Warsaw Muzeum Archeologiczne w Krakowie, Krakow Portugal Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon National Archaeology Museum, Lisbon Russia Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow The Hermitage, St Petersburg Scotland See UK for a full list, or read the report Ancient Egyptian Collections in Scottish Museums. South Africa Iziko South African Museum, Cape Town Spain Museo Arqueológico Nacional del Prado, Madrid (The National Archaeological Museum of Spain) Museu Egipci de Barcelona, Barcelona (Egyptian Museum of Barcelona) Museu de Montserrat, Montserrat Sudan National Museum of Sudan, Khartoum Sweden Etnografiska Museet, Stockholm (Museum Of Ethnography) Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm (Museum Of Mediterranean And Near Eastern Antiquities) The exhibition highlights change and continuity throughout Egypt's long history, from the first settlements in the Nile Valley, through the long Pharaonic period, and onwards to the Middle Ages when Cairo was the most important centre for trading and craftsmanship in the Mediterranean. Världskulturmuseet, Göteborg (Museum Of World Culture) Victoriamuseet för Egyptiska Fornsaker, Uppsala (The Victoria Museum for Egyptian Antiquities, Museum Gustavianum) Östasiatiska Museet, Stockholm (Museum Of Far Eastern Antiquities) Switzerland Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig, Basel Archäologischen Sammlung der Universität Zürich, Zürich Bernisches Historisches Museum, Bern BIBEL+ORIENT Museum, Fribourg (Bible and Orient Museum) Fondation Martin Bodmer, Geneva Historical and Ethnological Museum, St. Gallen Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva Musée d'Ethnographie de Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel Canton Musée d'Yverdon et Région, Yverdon-les-Bains Turkey Museum of Ancient Orient, Istanbul United Kingdom See also the National Museums Scotland detailed report on Ancient Egyptian Collections in Scottish Museums. Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums The small Egyptian collection cared for by Aberdeen City Council has a number of good examples of Predynastic and Early Dynastic pottery. Most of the collection was donated to the institution in the name of Royal Navy Sub-Lieutenant John Russell Stewart Bell by his father, an antique dealer. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, England Bolton Museum, Bolton, England Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, Brighton, England Bristol Museum, Bristol, England Derby Museum & Art Gallery, Derby, England Egypt Centre Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Swansea, Wales Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow Museums has the third largest collection of Ancient Egyptian objects in Scotland and contains approximately 5,000 objects dating from the Predynastic Period through to the beginning of the Islamic Period. It also contains the Burrell Collection of 300 mostly unprovenanced examples of Egyptian art donated to the City of Glasgow in 1944 by Sir William Burrell. Ipswich Museum, Ipswich, England Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, Scotland Macclesfield Silk Museum, Macclesfield, England Manchester Museum, Manchester, England Marischal Museum, University of Aberdeen Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge, England National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland New Walk Museum, Leicester, England Norwich Castle, Norwich, England Oriental Museum, Durham, England Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London, England Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro, England Sir John Soane's Museum, London, England The Box, Plymouth, England The British Museum, London, England The Garstang Museum of Archaeology, Liverpool, England The Great North Museum: Hancock, Newcastle, England Ulster Museum, Belfast, Northern Ireland World Museum, Liverpool, England Ukraine Odessa Archeological Museum, Odessa USA Anniston Museum of Natural History, Anniston, Alabama Art Museum of the University of Memphis, Memphis Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, Florida Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York Buffalo Museum of Science, Buffalo, New York Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois Fleming Museum, Burlington, Vermont Freer Gallery of Art, Washington Hearst Museum of Anthropology, Berkeley, California Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, Texas Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, Ann Arbor, Michigan Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art, Shawnee, Oklahoma McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, Knoxville, Tennessee Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York Michael C. Carlos Museum, Atlanta, Georgia Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin National Museum of Natural History, Washington Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey Oriental Institute, Chicago, Illinois Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven, Connecticut Penn Museum, Philadelphia Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art, California Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, San Jose, California San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas San Diego Museum of Man, San Diego, California Semitic Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland Statuary, reliefs, stelae, funerary objects, jewellery and objects from daily life, dating from prehistoric to Roman Egypt, can be found in the Walters’ collection of ancient Egyptian art. Among the most impressive pieces are two monumental statues of the lion-headed goddess Sekhmet; sarcophagi; an intact mummy, still in its elaborate wrappings; as well as images of private individuals and kings and impressive jewellery. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia

This funerary model was one of a number discovered in the elaborately decorated tomb of Khety I, a nomarch of the Oryx nome during the early part of Dynasty 12, which was carved into the bedrock of the Eastern Desert cliffs in the regional necropolis at Beni Hasan. It depicts a team of men and women industriously working in a brewery and bakery and was intended to ensure that Khety would have access to the bread and beer they created in the afterlife. The model itself is made of wood coated in plaster and painted using a palette of red-brown, black, white and pale yellow. The women are shown with paler skin in comparison to the men, a convention of Egyptian art that was well established at this time, and some of the figures still have linen garments attached. It features a number of men and women captured in the process of baking, including grinding and sifting flour, mixing dough and baking in ovens, as well as brewing activities such as mashing beer and carrying filled vessels. Grain was the staple produce of Egypt, and the base ingredient for both beer and bread production, so these two processes are often combined in one workshop complex. Funerary models depicting food production and crafts such as this one began appearing in tombs during the First Intermediate Period and were used until the end of Dynasty 12. Along with brewing and baking, a whole host of other scenes were replicated in these models, including butchery, animal husbandry, agriculture, sailing, fishing and military scenes. They were manufactured in large numbers in specialist craft workshops and placed in the burial chamber to provide the deceased with the necessary provisions for the afterlife, replicating the magical animation of the painted scenes in offering chapels. Khety’s tomb was one of nearly 500 examined in the Beni Hasan necropolis between 1902-1904 by a Liverpool Institute of Archaeology sponsored project under the direction of British archaeologist John Garstang. This funerary model, along with four others and a coffin from the tomb, were donated to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge in 1903 by the Beni Hassan Excavation Committee. An excavator’s mark noting the original catalogue number 366 was applied to the model, but it is now referenced by its museum accession number E.71d.1903. Comparison of this model can be made with two others from the same period in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum from the Theban necropolis (accession number 20.3.12) and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston from Deir el-Bersha (accession number 21.886).

My latest reproduction is a wall painting for the tomb of Watetkhethor, daughter of king Teti, dating to Dynasty 6 (around 2290 BC). It shows Watetkhethor seated in front of a table of offerings, whilst servants bring her legs of meat and birds to add to her piles of bread and gifts of flowers. The offering scene was the most important piece of art in an Ancient Egyptian tomb, as it provided the spells necessary for the deceased to continue eating and drinking in the afterlife. It comes from the Mereruka mastaba, which contains a complex of three individual’s tombs situated in the northeast section of the Saqqara necropolis, immediately north of the pyramid of Teti. Measuring an impressive 30m x 41m and standing 4.5m tall in its final phase of construction, it is the largest mastaba tomb by chamber count in Egypt. It was constructed for the family of Mereruka, vizier and chief justice under Teti and the second most powerful person in the state at the beginning of Dynasty 6. It contains 21 chambers dedicated to Mereruka himself, as well as 5 for his wife Watetkhethor, “eldest daughter of the king, of his body", and 5 for their son, Meryteti. Hieroglyphics The hieroglyphs give the standard offering formulae: 'Requirements of Hetepet-offerings and Henek-offerings, a thousand breads, a thousand beer, a thousand oxen, a thousand fowl, a thousand alabaster jars, a thousand clothes, and a thousand of all the good offerings of the year'. On the opposite side of the table and underneath it are piled items of food, jars and an ewer, above which is written: 'All the good offerings of the year'.

My reconstruction of a partially destroyed wall relief from the Ramesseum, the mortuary temple dedicated to Ramesses II in Thebes dating from the 19th Dynasty, features this depiction of the god Djhuty (Thoth). Thoth is the god of wisdom, writing, hieroglyphs, science, magic, art, judgment, and the dead. In this depiction, he is surrounded by symbols relating to time. His headdress is a combination of the crescent moon and the lunar disk, representing the eternal cycle of time. He holds the stripped central rib of a date palm frond, which was used as a tally to record time, with the notches on it to represent years. From the palm rib hangs the heb hieroglyphic meaning 'festival', combined with the sed symbol representing a pavilion. The heb-sed was a jubilee festival the king celebrated every 30 years. At the base of the palm rib is the tadpole hieroglyph meaning 'hundred thousand' combined with the Shen hieroglyph meaning 'encircle', it was used to represent eternal protection. The Shen symbol could be stretched to become a cartouche, providing protection for the contents.

The Gayer-Anderson Cat, Late Period The Gayer-Anderson cat is a Late Period hollow-cast bronze statue of the female cat deity Bastet shown with an inlaid silver sun-disc and wedjet (Eye of Horus) pectoral on the chest and golden earrings and nose-rings. Bastet was believed to be the daughter of the sun-god Ra, due to the fierce nature of cats Bastet is often depicted as a protector of the Pharaoh. Her worship appears to be native to Bubastis in the Nile River delta but she also had an important cult at Memphis. It was named after Major Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson who, together with Mary Stout Shaw, donated it to the British Museum in 1939. Details Period: Late Period Dimensions: 42 cm high and 13 cm wide Location: British Museum, G4/B10 Findspot: Saqqara, Memphis Materials: silver, gold, bronze Museum number: EA64391 Registration number: 1947,1011.1 #Photography #Museum #AncientEgypt #statue #LatePeriod #cat

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 king and part of a dedication to Amun-Ra. It was excavated in 1815 by Giovanni Belzoni under the direction of the British Consul General Henry Salt, who donated it to the British Museum in 1821. In London, it acquired its name ‘The Younger Memnon’ after the ‘Memnonianum’, the name in classical times for the Ramesseum and its association with the Colossi of Memnon. In antiquity, Ozymandias was a Greek name for Ramesses II, and in 1817 the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley began writing ‘Ozymandius’ after the British Museum’s announcement that they had acquired the statue. I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed: And on the pedestal these words appear: ‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’ Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away. Details Location: British Museum, G4/B9 Period: 19th Dynasty Created: c. 1270 BCE Findspot: Ramesseum, Thebes Material: Red granite, granodiorite Size: Height 267 cm, width 203 cm Location: The British Museum Museum number: EA19 Registration number:19 #Photography #Museum #19thDynasty #AncientEgypt #statue

Detail of the sarcophagus of Sasobek showing the winged sky goddess Nut The finely carved lid of the sarcophagus of Sasobek, northern vizier of Egypt during the reign of Psamtek I (664-610 BCE), depicts the winged sky goddess Nut. Nut was the personification of the sky and the heavens and is often featured inside coffin lids watching over the deceased soul in the afterlife. In this form, she was known as the goddess of death and was depicted as either having protective wings or as a ladder. Nut is identifiable here by the hieroglyphics within the sun disk atop her head, which depicts a water pot. Details Period: 26th Dynasty Date: c. 600 BCE Materials: Siltstone Dimensions: Length 225 centimetres Findspot: Unknown, possibly Memphis Location: British Museum G4/B5 Museum number: EA17 Registration number: 1839,0921.1190 #Photography #Museum #Sarcophagus #AncientEgypt #26thDynasty

Statue of Amun in the form of a ram protecting King Taharqa, 25th Dynasty 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 of Kush in present-day Sudan. The ram is one of the animals sacred to Amun, and several temples dedicated to Amun featured ram or ram-headed sphinx statues. The British Museum statue depicts a ram is lying on its stomach with its forelegs folded under it, protecting a standing figure of King Taharqa. A hole in the top of the ram’s head indicates where a gilded disk would originally have fitted. A hieroglyphic inscription runs around the sides of the plinth from front to back and proclaims Taharqa as: the son of Amun and Mut, Lady of Heaven, who fully satisfies the heart of his father Amun Other Examples The Ashmolean statue is displayed in the redesigned Egyptian and Nubian galleries The Khartoum statue is displayed in the yard of the National Museum of Sudan, Khartoum. Details Culture/period: Napatan, Kushite Date: 690-664 BCE Findspot: Kawa, Nubia Materials: gneiss granite Dimensions: Height 106 centimetres (max), length 163 centimetres (base), width: 63 centimetres (base) Location: British Museum, G4/B9 Museum number: EA1779 Registration number: 1933,0610.1 #Photography #Museum #AncientEgypt #25thDynasty #statue