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Stela and Miniature Chapel of the Overseer of the Troops Sehetepib

This stela is quite an unusual object, as it combines both a stela and a miniature chapel (with niches to hold statuettes of the commissioner and his family). Both individual parts are known from other monuments, but the combination is rare or perhaps unique.

This commissioner was a man called Sehetepib who lived during the 12th Dynasty and was the Overseer of the Troops. The text also names his father Senbebu and his grandfather Heqaib, and it’s possible that these men are also known from statues found on Elephantine.

However this stela was probably erected at Abydos, alongside many hundred other monuments commissioned by officials of the Middle Kingdom to line the processional route at this site of pilgrimage – a way of partaking in the ceremonies honouring Osiris forever.

Stela and Miniature Chapel of the Overseer of the Troops Sehetepib. Provenance unknown. Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, probably reign of Amenamhat II or Senwosret II, c. 1919-1878 BCE Acc. No.: Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden AP 78

This object is now in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden (acc. no.: AP 78), but I took this photograph at an exhibition in the Met Museum in 2013.

See it on my photo site: https://photos.talesfromthetwolands.org/picture.php?/1633/category/8

Jigsaw Puzzles:
easier: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=053f6770b26f
harder: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=1268d5c2029b

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Labels from Tomb U-j

At first glance this is a collection of rather unprepossessing little objects. Squares of ivory, with a small hole and hieroglyphic sign or two etched onto the surface. They’re not terribly big, just about the size of the museum’s number for the objects.

And that juxtaposition illustrates what they are – they are labels. Very very old labels with some of the first evidence for the use of hieroglyphs. They were found in Tomb U-j at Abydos, which had been looted in the distant mists of time but some of the labels remained.

It’s thought that they were attached to the various funerary goods that were buried with the tomb’s owner. There are numbers on some of them, others are thought to name towns – including what looks like the names of a couple of towns in the Delta region far to the north.

It’s not entirely certain whose tomb this is, but it probably belongs to a ruler called Scorpion – probably not the one with the famous macehead but an earlier one, who may’ve unified Upper Egypt around 3150 BCE.

Labels from Tomb U-j. From Tomb U-j, Abydos. Predynastic Period, Naqada III, c. 3100-2900 BCE.

These are now in the Cairo Museum, but I don’t have accession numbers for them.

See it on my photo site: https://photos.talesfromthetwolands.org/picture.php?/479/category/4

I’ve written about Egyptian writing on the blog before: https://talesfromthetwolands.org/2020/10/01/write-like-an-egyptian/

Jigsaw Puzzles:
easier: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=1c8ebb4a5b53
harder: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=03521a781453

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Detail of the Outer Coffin of Amenemopet

This is another detail from the outer coffin of a man called Amenemopet who lived during the 22nd Dynasty (around 3000 years ago), I shared a photo of the interior a few months ago and this is the outside of the foot portion of the coffin.

I love looking at and taking photos of coffins from this era, because they are so covered in motifs and decorative elements – every time you look at an object you see something you’d not seen before!

The central panel of this piece is heavy on protective snake motifs, just in this photo alone there are three of them. And between them are solar and Osirian images, with more protective beings (and more snakes).

The top panel shows the scarab beetle, Khepri, pushing the sun up (protected by paired snakes) from what looks awfully like a palace facade motif. He’s flanked by two mummiform jackal headed beings, kneeling on the ground and each holding a crook and flail.

Below is an analogous scene with different participants. The sun disc and flanking snakes sits on top of a tyet knot, the symbol of the goddess Isis, and the mummiform beings are human headed and seated on chairs.

Detail of the Outer Coffin of Amenemopet. From Sheikh Abd el-Gurna, Western Thebes. Third Intermediate Period, early Dynasty 22, c.975-909 BCE. Acc. No.: 17.2.7a

And there’s loads more, if you go to my photo site you can look at a larger version using the drop menu on the top right of the page and see more of the details to the left & the right. The coffin itself is in the Met Museum, acc. no.: 17.2.7a.

See it on my photo site: https://photos.talesfromthetwolands.org/picture.php?/1567/category/6

Jigsaw Puzzles:
easier: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=2f6fac7de13f
harder: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=286eb8bf813f

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Granite Doorjamb of Ramesses II

This is another bit of royal re-use of a predecessor’s monument, this time from the Ramesside Period. The blocks were found in 1912/3 by the Met Museum’s excavations in the Asasif, the area of Western Thebes in front of Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir el Bahri.

They were part of the foundations of a large temple, started by Ramesses IV and continued by his two successors but never finished. Originally, however, the blocks were part of a doorjamb in a monument belonging to Ramesses II, who ruled about 60 years before Ramesses IV.

That’s not the only way it’s been reused. If you look at the cartouches you can see that those on the bottom register are different to the pairs of cartouches above. That’s because the ones at the bottom were added later, by Ramesses III.

Granite Doorjamb of Ramesses II. From Thebes. New Kingdom, Dynasty 19, reign of Ramesses II, 1279-1213 BCE. Acc. No.: 13.183.2 A-B

The blocks are now in the Met Museum, acc. no.: 13.183.2 A-B

See it on my photo site: https://photos.talesfromthetwolands.org/picture.php?/833/category/6

Jigsaw Puzzles:
easier: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=06c242a4fc2d
harder: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=119523239792

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Bead Shroud of Tabakenkhonsu

800 years after Hatshepsut built her temple at Deir el Bahri it was still in use as a temple, and also served as the final resting place for the Priests of Montu and their families. Tabakenkhonsu was the daughter of one of these priests and was probably married to another.

Her burial was found intact in 1894-5 by the Egypt Exploration Fund’s excavation and given to the Met Museum (acc. no.: 96.4.5) in exchange for their earlier funding. This photo is a detail of the bead shroud that was sewn onto the outer wrapping of her mummy inside her coffins.

The beads are made of faience, a manufactured ceramic which was used a lot by the ancient Egyptians, and they are strung together to make a lattice. Additional decoration is worked into the basic lattice, like the Four Sons of Horus protecting her abdomen and internal organs.

You can also see at the top of the photo a winged scarab, sitting over her heart like a scarab amulet would. I’m not sure (as the museum website doesn’t discuss her mummy) whether or not she would also have had amulets inside her wrappings or if this bead net replaced those.

Bead Shroud of Tabakenkhonsu. From the pit in the Hypostyle Hall of the Hathor Shrine at the Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el Bahri. Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty 25, c. 680-670 BCE. Acc. No.: 96.4.5

See it on my photo site: https://photos.talesfromthetwolands.org/picture.php?/1488/category/6

I’ve previously shared a photo of a mummy board belonging to Henattawy which has a representation of a bead net on it: https://talesfromthetwolands.org/2022/06/24/mummy-board-of-henettawy/

Jigsaw Puzzles:
easier: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=159e6ec4c569
harder: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=1d15c2d405aa

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“‘God is his potter’: Disability and Bodily Difference in Pharaoh’s Court” Kyle Jordan

In August Kyle Jordan spoke to the Essex Egyptology Group about his work on disability & bodily difference in Early Dynastic Egypt. Click here for my write up of his talk, on my sister blog Other People’s Tales.

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Statue of a Queen

This face once belonged to a seated statue of an Egyptian queen, perhaps with the king seated beside her. It was broken up in antiquity with only the torso and head of the queen (less than a foot tall) remaining to be found by the Met Museum in the early 20th Century.

She’s wearing the vulture headdress over a large wig. In this photo you can mostly see the wing of the headdress, with just the one braid of the wig framing her face. The vulture’s head has been damaged (along with the queen’s nose, cheek & lips).

The museum dates it on stylistic grounds to the beginning of the New Kingdom, or just before, and very tentatively suggest that it might be Ahmose-Nefertari who was one of the line of formidable queens who oversaw the inauguration of the New Kingdom.

Her husband (and brother) was Ahmose I, the first ruler of the 18th Dynasty, and her son was Amenhotep I. Alongside her son she was deified after her death and they were worshipped in Deir el-Medina as patrons of the village.

Statue of a Queen. Possibly Ahmose-Nefertari, the mother of Amenhotep I. From Asasif, Thebes. New Kingdom, Dynasty 17, c. 1580-1550 BCE. Acc. No.: 16.10.224

It’s now in the Met Museum, acc. no.: 16.10.224.

See it on my photo site: https://photos.talesfromthetwolands.org/picture.php?/1163/category/6

I’ve written about Ahmose-Nefertari on the blog before: https://talesfromthetwolands.org/2019/12/11/ahmose-nefertari/

Jigsaw Puzzles:
easier: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=30ceb69caa1d
harder: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=165b733a244c

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Head of the Goddess Mut

This small piece (a little over 6 inches high) represents the goddess Mut. It’s probably an attachment for something like a piece of furniture – perhaps to be carried on procession or used during a ritual.

The goddess is represented wearing the double crown, which is a symbol of a unified Egypt – it has the shape of both the Red Crown of Lower Egypt and the White Crown of Upper Egypt. Once upon a time those elements of the crown were gilded (as the face still is).

Even though they were gilded the two colours of the crown were still indicated – the White Crown portion (that looks like a bowling pin) was covered in a pale mix of gold & electrum, and the Red Crown portion was covered in pure gold which the Egyptians associated with red.

Even though it’s a bit cross-eyed it’s a lovely little piece and must’ve been very eye-catching when shiny and new. It’s not known where it was found, but it dates to the Third Intermediate Period and is now in the Met Museum (acc. no.: 26.7.1427).

Head of the Goddess Mut. Provenance unknown. Third Intermediate Period, c.1070-664 BCE. Acc. No.: 26.7.1427

See it on my photo site: https://photos.talesfromthetwolands.org/picture.php?/1596/category/6

Jigsaw Puzzles:
easier: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=09ebc3a2a502
harder: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=298ff0748b50

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Cast of an Architrave of Khafre

This is a modern cast of an architectural element probably from the court of the Pyramid Temple at Khafre’s pyramid at Giza, which was subsequently re-used in the pyramid of Amenemhat I some 500 years later and was so deeply embedded in that structure that it can’t be removed.

The inscription on it is damaged in an interesting way – someone has carefully chiselled little lines around the outline of most of the hieroglyphs and motifs on the block. But not in such as way as to obscure them, everything is still legible.

The Met Museum’s website has quite a long discussion of the piece in its curatorial interpretation – they think the damage may indicate that it was reused more than once, perhaps originally by Khafre moving it from the building it was originally in.

The reuse by Amenemhat I was probably partly for pragmatic reasons (why quarry another huge piece of stone if you can just re-use an old one), but it also probably had more symbolism than that – it would link Amenemhat I and his tomb to the great old kings of the Old Kingdom.

Cast of an Architrave of Khafre. This is a modern cast of an ancient original. Original was probably for Khafre’s Pyramid Temple and was reused in the entrance corridor of the Pyramid of Amenemhat I. Original from Dynasty 4, c.2520-2494 BCE. Acc. No.: 1999.4.1

This cast is in the Met Museum, acc. no. 1999.4.1 (see: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/551054), and the original is still in Amenemhat I’s pyramid at Lisht.

See it on my photo site: https://photos.talesfromthetwolands.org/picture.php?/1371/category/6

Jigsaw Puzzles:
easier: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=21d79d91289d
harder: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=162cb9def3fb

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Barque Sphinx

When an Egyptian deity was taken on procession its statue was placed in a shrine on a small boat (called a barque) which was carried by the priests. As well as the main deity there was also an entourage, including a sphinx like this one mounted on a pole at the prow.

The Ancient Egyptians called it a “sib”, and it stands poised and alert ready to defend the deity in the shrine – it was described as “trampling the sun god’s enemies”. Accompanying it on its stand are two snakes with raised heads, also protective symbols.

Even though the description references the sun god, I think these sibs appeared on barques carrying other deities – rather than being literal it’s intended to reference the night and day voyages of the sun god in his boat, as are detailed in the Egyptian funerary texts.

Barque Sphinx. Provenance unknown. Late Period, Dynasty 26, c.664-525 BCE. Acc. No.: 2011.96

It’s not known where it was found, but it dates to the 26th Dynasty (c.600 BCE) and is now in the Met Museum (acc. no.: 2011.96)

See it on my photo site: https://photos.talesfromthetwolands.org/picture.php?/1594/category/6

Jigsaw Puzzles:
easier: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=21557f760899
harder: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=290e6e0256aa