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An Egyptian Basalt Bust of Tuthmosis III, 18th Dynasty, reign of Tuthmosis III, 1479-1426 B.C.
Height 4 3/4 in. 12.1 cm.
A Fragmentary Egyptian Red Granite head of Amenhotep III, 18th Dynasty, reign of Amenhotep III, 1390-1353 B.C.
Height 9 5/8 in. 24.4 cm.
From an over life-size statue of the king, his face with full lips, broad nostrils, almond-shaped eye with prominent upper lid folded over the lower at the outer corner, and thick arched tapering eyebrow in relief, a small part of the nemes-headcloth and ceremonial beard remaining, the beard-strap incised.
The ushabti was a funerary figurine used in Ancient Egypt. Ushabtis were placed in tombs among the grave goods and were intended to act as servants or minions for the deceased, should he/she be called upon to do manual labor in the afterlife. The figurines frequently carried a hoe on their shoulder and a basket on their backs, implying they were intended to farm for the deceased. They were usually written on by the use of hieroglyphs typically found on the legs. Called “answerers,” they carried inscriptions asserting their readiness to answer the gods' summons to work. The practice of using ushabtis originated in the Old Kingdom (c. 2600 to 2100 BCE) with the use of life-sized reserve heads made from limestone, which were buried with the mummy. Most ushabtis were of minor size, and many produced in multiples – they sometimes covered the floor around a sarcophagus. Exceptional ushabtis are of larger size, or produced as a one of-a-kind master work.
Due to the ushabti's commonness through all Egyptian timeperiods, and world museums' desire to represent ancient Egyptian art objects, the ushabti is one of the most commonly represented objects in Egyptology displays. Produced in huge numbers, ushabtis, along with scarabs, are the most numerous of all ancient Egyptian antiquities to survive. More
Ushabtis of Neferibresaneith are among the most beautiful faience works of the period known as the Saite Renaissance. Everything is perfectly carved: the modeling of the body softly wrapped in the shroud, the details of the hair, the anatomy of the face, the attribute-tools, and especially the long inscription, which is composed of clear, evenly engraved signs. Following the usual typology of these figurines, the man is standing upright, his body entirely wrapped in a pall; only the hands protrude from the shroud at chest level and hold a hoe, a pick, and the string of a seed sack suspended from the left shoulder and hanging in the back. The square face, which conveys a serene, barely “smiling” expression, is framed by a tripartite wig, while a false beard adorns the chin. The inscription occupies horizontal lines placed on the legs of the figurine, on both sides of the supporting pillar. It indicates the name of the deceased and of his mother (Shepenhoubastet), but it does not give his complete titles. This figure, named Neferibresaneith, was a well-known notable under the Saite dynasty. The text is completed by the long version of Chapter 6b of the Book of the Dead, which forces an ushabti to carry out many tasks for the deceased in the afterlife.
Other ancient sources reveal that in the reign of Pharaoh Amasis, Neferibresaneith was the Wab priest to the king, royal chancellor of Lower Egypt, and administrator of the palace. His tomb was found at Saqqara (a shaft grave located near the pyramids of the Old Kingdom) in 1929: the ushabtis of Neferibresaneith, which had been deposited on the lid of the anthropoid sarcophagus, were subsequently sold by the Egyptian Antiquities Service and are currently housed in many public and private collections worldwide. From the small but numerous stylistic and textual differences (the rendering of the face and the modeling of the chest and body are not exactly the same, the engraved text is not always identical, and some hieroglyphic signs show differences between one example and another), these ushabtis can be divided into four groups, each “descending” from a different matrix. After the statuette was removed from the mold, the finishing touches were done by hand. This demonstrates that the pieces were mass-produced, probably by several craftsmen, or that they were executed in different workshops. The three examples presented here seem to have been made from three different molds. More
In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet was originally the warrior goddess as well as goddess of healing for Upper Egypt, when the kingdom of Egypt was divided. She is depicted as a lioness, the fiercest hunter known to the Egyptians. It was said that her breath formed the desert. She was seen as the protector of the pharaohs and led them in warfare.
Her cult was so dominant in the culture that when the first pharaoh of the twelfth dynasty, Amenemhat I, moved the capital of Egypt to Itjtawy, the centre for her cult was moved as well. Religion, the royal lineage, and the authority to govern were intrinsically interwoven in Ancient Egypt during its approximately three millennia of existence.
Sekhmet also is a Solar deity, sometimes called the daughter of the sun god Ra and often associated with the goddesses Hathor and Bast. She bears the Solar disk and the uraeus which associates her with Wadjet and royalty. With these associations she can be construed as being a divine arbiter of the goddess Ma'at (Justice, or Order) in the Judgment Hall of Osiris, associating her with the Wadjet (later the Eye of Ra), and connecting her with Tefnut as well. More
Amenhotep III, also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty. According to different authors, he ruled Egypt from June 1386 to 1349 BC or June 1388 BC to December 1351 BC/1350 BC[4] after his father Thutmose IV died. Amenhotep III was the son of Thutmose by a minor wife Mutemwiya.[5]
His reign was a period of unprecedented prosperity and artistic splendour, when Egypt reached the peak of its artistic and international power. When he died in the 38th or 39th year of his reign, his son initially ruled as Amenhotep IV, but then changed his own royal name to Akhenaten. More
Nehebkau (Nehebu-Kau, Nehebkhau), 'He Who Unites the Kas', was a benevolent snake god who the Egyptians believed was one of the original primeval gods. He was linked to the sun god, swimming around in the primeval waters before creation, then bound to the sun god when time began. He was a god of protection who protected the pharaoh and all Egyptians, both in life and in the afterlife. More
The Ancient Egyptian Noble Paser was vizier, in the reigns of Seti I and Ramesses II, during the 19th dynasty. He would later also become High Priest of Amun.
Paser was part of the close entourage of Seti I's son, the then Prince Ramesses. More
Thoth was one of the deities of the Egyptian pantheon. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him. His feminine counterpart was Seshat, and his wife was Ma'at.
Thoth's chief temple was located in the city of Khmun, later called Hermopolis Magna during the Greco-Roman era (in reference to him through the Greeks' interpretation that he was the same as their god Hermes) and Shmounein in the Coptic rendering, and was partially destroyed in 1826. In that city, he led the Ogdoad pantheon of eight principal deities. He also had numerous shrines within the cities of Abydos, Hesert, Urit, Per-Ab, Rekhui, Ta-ur, Sep, Hat, Pselket, Talmsis, Antcha-Mutet, Bah, Amen-heri-ab, and Ta-kens.
Thoth played many vital and prominent roles in Egyptian mythology, such as maintaining the universe, and being one of the two deities who stood on either side of Ra's boat. In the later history of ancient Egypt, Thoth became heavily associated with the arbitration of godly disputes, the arts of magic, the system of writing, the development of science, and the judgment of the dead. More
An Egyptian Steatite Figure of the Lady Iset, Chantress of Sobek, 19th Dynasty, Reign of Ramesses I/early in the Reign of Ramesses II, circa 1292-1250 B.C.
Height 16 in. 40.6 cm.
Wife of the scribe Imen-heru, seated on a cushioned seat with her hands resting on her thighs, and wearing sandals, long wraparound pleated gown clinging to her body and fastened below the chest, bracelets, broad beaded collar, and long wig, parted in the center, bound in a diadem with lotus flower in front, arranged in a herringbone pattern down the sides and back, and falling over the shoulders in short fringes, the back pillar and back of the seat finely engraved in sunk relief with three columns of inscription starting with the hetep-di-nesut offering formula (“an offering given by the King”) and naming “Isis of the sovereign isle of the gods,” the sides of the seat engraved at a later stage with representations of Itset’s children, on the right with two columns of inscriptions and the figures of two striding priests, one called Nakht(?), “prophet of Paibib,” the other “wab-priest of Paibib”, his name unspecified, and on the left side of the throne with two striding women each introduced as a “chantress of Ptah” in the accompanying inscriptions, raising her left hand in a gesture of adoration, and holding a lotus flower in her right hand.
An Egyptian Sandstone Relief Fragment, Karnak, early in the reign of Akhenaten, circa 1353-1345 B.C.
8 1/4 x 11 x 2 1/8 in. 21 x 27.9 x 5.4 cm.
Probably from a talatat, carved in sunk relief with two bowing figures, perhaps bent over in toil.
An Egyptian Limestone Votive Relief Fragment, late Ptolemaic/early Roman Period, circa 50 B.C./100 A.D.
6 1/2 x 7 x 2 in. 16.5 x 17.3 x 5.1 cm.
Carved in high relief with the god Tutu in the form of a sphinx, striding to right on a serpent, Maat feathers on his paws, the vulture goddess Nekhbet.
An Egyptian Polychrome Limestone Relief Fragment, early 18th Dynasty, circa 1540-1400 B.C.
11 7/16 by 13 3/16 in. 29 by 33.5 cm.
Carved in shallow relief with two lector priests on the day of a burial, the priest on the left pouring libations of purifying water, the priest on the right standing on the stern of a boat that carried the deceased on the voyage to Abydos.
An Egyptian Limestone Votive Bust of a King, early Ptolemaic Period, circa 305-200 B.C., possibly Ptolemy II Philadelphos (285-246 B.C.),
Height 6 in. 15.2 cm.
Wearing a fragmentary nemes-headcloth with uraeus, his face with mouth rounded at the corners and large eyes with contoured upper lids.
An Egyptian Bronze Figure of Isis with Horus, 25th/26th Dynasty, 750-525 B.C.
Height without tenon 7 5/8 in. 19.4 cm.
Seated and holding her child Horus in her lap, and wearing a long close-fitting dress, beaded collar, finely striated tripartite wig with uraeus, vulture headdress, diadem of uraei, and horns and sun-disk (the latter with restoration), her broad face with smiling mouth and large wide-set eyes.
An Egyptian Bronze Figure of a Goddess, 26th/30th Dynasty, 664-342 B.C.
Height from modern base 4 7/8 in. 12.4 cm.
Probably Isis, standing on a rectangular base with her arms held at her sides, and wearing a long close-fitting dress, bracelets and armlets, broad collar, finely striated tripartite wig passing behind her ears, uraeus, and diadem of uraei surmounted by horns and sun-disk, her face with slightly smiling mouth with full lips, and large eyes with tapering eyebrows.
An Egyptian bronze figure of Osiris, 26th Dynasty, 664-525 B.C.
Height 14 3/4 in. 37.5 cm.
Standing and holding the crook and flail, and wearing a close-fitting cloak, beard and atef-crown with large uraeus and fragmentary plumes.
An Egyptian Limestone Figure of a Nile Perch, Ptolemaic Period, 304-30 B.C.
Length 6 3/4 in. 17.1 cm.
With finely engraved scales and formerly inlaid eyes.
An Egyptian Serpentine Ushabti of Kefri, Mistress of the House, late 18th Dynasty, circa 1330-1292 B.C.
Height 7 13/16 in. 19.8 cm
Holding hoes and a seed-sack behind her left shoulder, and wearing a pectoral in the form of a ba-bird with outstretched wings, broad beaded collar, long enveloping wig of horizontally striated curls, and floral diadem centering a lotus blossom above the forehead, her face with full lips indented at the corners, straight nose, and almond-shaped eyes with long incised eyebrows and cosmetic lines, the seven lines of inscription in sunk relief naming the owner and reciting a spell on her behalf followed by verses from chapter VI of the Book of the Dead.
Due to the ushabti's commonness through all Egyptian timeperiods, and world museums' desire to represent ancient Egyptian art objects, the ushabti is one of the most commonly represented objects in Egyptology displays. Produced in huge numbers, ushabtis, along with scarabs, are the most numerous of all ancient Egyptian antiquities to survive. More
An Egyptian Serpentine Ushabti of Kenj, 19th Dynasty, 1292-1190 B.C.
Height 7 in. 17. 8 cm.
Holding hoes and seed-sack, another agricultural implement with criss-crossing ropes tucked into the back of his kilt below the proper right shoulder, and wearing a long-sleeved shirt, long pleated kilt with over-fold, broad beaded collar, and double wig composed of zig-zag and echeloned curls, his face with slightly aquiline nose and wide-set eyes, a column of inscription on the over-fold and five lines of inscription on the kilt behind naming the owner and reciting chapter VI from the Book of the Dead.
An Egyptian Pale Blue Faience Ushabti of Neferibresaneith, 26th Dynasty, reign of Amasis, 570-526 B.C.
Height 7 1/4 in. 18.4 cm
Wab priest of the king, Royal Chancellor of Lower Egypt, Administrator of the Palace, and son of Shepen-Bastet, holding the hoe, pick, and seed-sack over his left shoulder, and wearing a braided beard with curled tip and striated tripartite wig, his finely modeled face with full lips indented at the corners, straight nose, and long contoured eyebrows and cosmetic lines, the nine lines of inscription beginning and ending at the back pillar.
Other ancient sources reveal that in the reign of Pharaoh Amasis, Neferibresaneith was the Wab priest to the king, royal chancellor of Lower Egypt, and administrator of the palace. His tomb was found at Saqqara (a shaft grave located near the pyramids of the Old Kingdom) in 1929: the ushabtis of Neferibresaneith, which had been deposited on the lid of the anthropoid sarcophagus, were subsequently sold by the Egyptian Antiquities Service and are currently housed in many public and private collections worldwide. From the small but numerous stylistic and textual differences (the rendering of the face and the modeling of the chest and body are not exactly the same, the engraved text is not always identical, and some hieroglyphic signs show differences between one example and another), these ushabtis can be divided into four groups, each “descending” from a different matrix. After the statuette was removed from the mold, the finishing touches were done by hand. This demonstrates that the pieces were mass-produced, probably by several craftsmen, or that they were executed in different workshops. The three examples presented here seem to have been made from three different molds. More
A Large Egyptian Wood Mummy Mask, 25th/early 26th Dynasty, circa 750-600 B.C.
Height 13 1/4 in. 33.7 cm.
Wearing a short beard, the central portion of the tripartite wig remaining, his broad idealized face with full outlined lips rounded at the corners, shallow philtrum, straight nose, and inlaid almond-shaped eyes with long slightly flaring cosmetic lines, the inlay of the pupils and long finely-arched eyebrows missing; faint traces of red pigment on the face, and blue pigment on the lower edge of the wig.
Ancient Egyptians believed that it is very important to preserve a body of the dead because the soul has to have a place where to dwell after the death. Preservation of the dead body was done by mummification. It was also considered very important for the soul to be able to recognize the body so it can return to it. For that reason death masks were used. Death mask were made in the likeness of the deceased and from the different materials. Early masks were made from wood, in two pieces and connected with pegs. After that Egyptians used, so called, cartonnage, a material made from papyrus or linen and soaked in plaster and then molded on a wooden mold. That was, of course, a cheap variant intended for lower class. Royal death masks were made from precious metals, first of all - gold or gold leaves on bronze. One of the most famous funerary masks is the mask of the Tutankhamen. All death masks were made to resemble deceased but with a slightly enlarged eyes and a faint smile and also showed fashion of the moment with painted jewelry and makeup. These death masks later evolved into a full body inner coffins in the human shape with same decorations and ornaments More
A Monumental Granite Figure of Sekhmet Enthroned, Thebes, 18th Dynasty, reign of Amenhotep III, 1403-1365 B.C.
Height: 82 1/2 in.; 209.5 cm
The lion-headed goddess seated against a back pillar with her hands resting by her knees, the right hand open, the left hand holding an ankh, and wearing a long close-fitting dress, broad collar, and striated tripartite wig covering her mane, the stylized whiskers and ruff carved in shallow relief, the high projection behind the head with channel for insertion of the sun-disk and uraeus, her throne carved on each side with block borders and the union of the emblematic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt, and on the front with two columns of inscription in sunk relief containing the prenomen and nomen of Amenhotep III: the “good God, the Lord of performing Rituals, Neb-maat-re,” and “The Son of Re, whom Re loves, Amenhotep, Ruler of Thebes,” in both declaring him “beloved of Sekhmet-Selkyt.”
Her cult was so dominant in the culture that when the first pharaoh of the twelfth dynasty, Amenemhat I, moved the capital of Egypt to Itjtawy, the centre for her cult was moved as well. Religion, the royal lineage, and the authority to govern were intrinsically interwoven in Ancient Egypt during its approximately three millennia of existence.
Sekhmet also is a Solar deity, sometimes called the daughter of the sun god Ra and often associated with the goddesses Hathor and Bast. She bears the Solar disk and the uraeus which associates her with Wadjet and royalty. With these associations she can be construed as being a divine arbiter of the goddess Ma'at (Justice, or Order) in the Judgment Hall of Osiris, associating her with the Wadjet (later the Eye of Ra), and connecting her with Tefnut as well. More
Amenhotep III, also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty. According to different authors, he ruled Egypt from June 1386 to 1349 BC or June 1388 BC to December 1351 BC/1350 BC[4] after his father Thutmose IV died. Amenhotep III was the son of Thutmose by a minor wife Mutemwiya.[5]
His reign was a period of unprecedented prosperity and artistic splendour, when Egypt reached the peak of its artistic and international power. When he died in the 38th or 39th year of his reign, his son initially ruled as Amenhotep IV, but then changed his own royal name to Akhenaten. More
An Egyptian Limestone Votive Relief, 30th Dynasty/ early Ptolemaic Period, circa 380-200 B.C.
Height 8 5/8 in. 21.9 cm.
A finely carved shallow relief with a serpent-headed god striding to right and wearing a short kilt and long tripartite wig.
Relief plaques, usually set on pillars in sanctuary precincts, are the commonest sculptural dedications. They may show the donor, often with his family, making a sacrifice or offering, and the deity is often shown also, at a larger size, receiving them.
An Egyptian Limestone Sarcophagus Mask, 30th Dynasty/early Ptolemaic Period, circa 380-250 B.C.
17 by 20 in. by 43.2 by 51 cm.
From the lid of a large anthropoid sarcophagus, wearing a wide tripartite wig, the idealized face with full outlined lips, straight nose, and almond-shaped eyes with long contoured eyebrows and cosmetic lines in relief; remains of blue and black pigment.
The Ptolemaic dynasty was a Macedonian Greek royal family which ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt during the Hellenistic period. Their rule lasted for 275 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC. They were the last dynasty of ancient Egypt.
Ptolemy, one of the seven somatophylakes (bodyguards) who served as Alexander the Great's generals and deputies, was appointed satrap of Egypt after Alexander's death in 323 BC. In 305 BC, he declared himself King Ptolemy I, later known as "Soter" (saviour). The Egyptians soon accepted the Ptolemies as the successors to the pharaohs of independent Egypt. Ptolemy's family ruled Egypt until the Roman conquest of 30 BC.
All the male rulers of the dynasty took the name Ptolemy. Ptolemaic queens, some of whom were the sisters of their husbands, were usually called Cleopatra, Arsinoe or Berenice. The most famous member of the line was the last queen, Cleopatra VII, known for her role in the Roman political battles between Julius Caesar and Pompey, and later between Octavian and Mark Antony. Her apparent suicide at the conquest by Rome marked the end of Ptolemaic rule in Egypt. More
An Egyptian Polychrome Limestone Ushabti of the Squire Paser, 18th Dynasty circa 1550-1292 B.C.
Height 9 in. 23 cm.
Holding hoes and a seed-sack over his left shoulder, and striated tripartite wig, the seven lines of inscription in sunk relief naming the owner, mentioning his title, and reciting Spell VI of the Book of the Dead.
Paser was part of the close entourage of Seti I's son, the then Prince Ramesses. More
An Egyptian Wood Mummy Mask, Late Period, 716-30 B.C.
Height 25.5 cm.
The oval face with full lips and aquiline nose, the central portion of the wig remaining; remains of red and black pigment.
An Egyptian Polychrome and Gilt Cartonnage Mummy Mask, late Ptolemaic Period, circa 100-30 B.C.
Height 12 1/2 in. 31.3 cm.
Wearing a tripartite wig and broad collar painted in black and touches of red on the white ground with numerous rows of foliate and other beads, the face with long black-painted eyebrows and cosmetic lines.
An Egyptian Polychrome and Gilt Cartonnage Mummy Mask, late Ptolemaic Period, circa 100-30 B.C.
Height 18 1/8 in. 46 cm.
Wearing a broad collar and wig with headband knotted in back and Eye of Horus in relief in front, the stylized hair falling in linked spirals over the forehead, the gilt face with eyes and eyebrows painted black and white, the lappets decorated on the left with a seated figure of Nephthys and on the right with a seated figure of Isis, a diminutive figure of a woman wearing a diademed tripartite wig on the back; traces of bitumen.
Nephthys or Nebthet is a member of the Great Ennead of Heliopolis in Egyptian mythology, a daughter of Nut and Geb. Nephthys was typically paired with her sister Isis in funerary rites because of their role as protectors of the mummy and the god Osiris and as the sister-wife of Set. More
A Large Egyptian Polychrome Wood Figure of Ptah-Soker-Osiris , Ptolemaic Period, 304-30 B.C.
Height 27 1/2 in. 70 cm.
The god standing on a rectangular base decorated with rosettes on the sides and three columns of inscription on top invoking the protection of Ptah and Osiris, and wearing a broad beaded collar with Horus-head terminals, beard, and tripartite wig surmounted by a crown of horns with plumes and sun-disk, a panel of five columns of inscription on the body in front surmounted by a kneeling figure of the goddess Maat holding plumes.
A figure of either the god Osiris or of the composite deity Ptah-Soker-Osiris could be found, along with heart scarabs, both gold and faience.
An Egyptian Wood Figure of a Crocodile, Sacred to the God Sobek, Late 12th/ 13th Dynasty, circa 1800-1640 B.C.
Length 8 1/8 in. 15.6 cm.
Possibly from the lid of a crocodile coffin, resting on a fragmentary base with head lifted and jaws agape, the markings of the thick hide finely carved.
Sobek was an ancient Egyptian deity with a complex and fluid nature. He is associated with the Nile crocodile and is either represented in its form or as a human with a crocodile head. Sobek was also associated with pharaonic power, fertility, and military prowess, but served additionally as a protective deity with apotropaic qualities, invoked particularly for protection against the dangers presented by the Nile river. More
An Egyptian Pale Blue Faience Amulet of Thoth, 26th/ 30th Dynasty, 664-342 B.C.
Height 2 3/4 in. 7 cm.
The ibis-headed god striding on a rectangular base with recess, perhaps for an insertion, behind the back pillar, and wearing a pleated kilt and striated tripartite wig, a small pendant loop on the wig’s right side, a ribbed simulated suspension hole on the pillar, the head finely modeled.
Thoth's chief temple was located in the city of Khmun, later called Hermopolis Magna during the Greco-Roman era (in reference to him through the Greeks' interpretation that he was the same as their god Hermes) and Shmounein in the Coptic rendering, and was partially destroyed in 1826. In that city, he led the Ogdoad pantheon of eight principal deities. He also had numerous shrines within the cities of Abydos, Hesert, Urit, Per-Ab, Rekhui, Ta-ur, Sep, Hat, Pselket, Talmsis, Antcha-Mutet, Bah, Amen-heri-ab, and Ta-kens.
Thoth played many vital and prominent roles in Egyptian mythology, such as maintaining the universe, and being one of the two deities who stood on either side of Ra's boat. In the later history of ancient Egypt, Thoth became heavily associated with the arbitration of godly disputes, the arts of magic, the system of writing, the development of science, and the judgment of the dead. More
An Egyptian Turquoise Faience Figure of a Baboon, late 18th/20th Dynasty, circa 1390-1075 B.C.
Height 6 1/8 in. 15.5 cm.
Sacred to the moon god Thoth, seated on a pylon-shaped support rounded at the back and resting his forepaws on his knees, the tail curved around to one side, his cape-like mass of fur composed of echeloned vertically-striated lappets against a horizontally-striated ground, a naos pendant suspended on the chest, with incised mouth, recessed eyes beneath prominent arched brows, and human-like ears, a mortise for insertion of a headdress, probably the crescent and moon-disk, on the crown, a deep tapering recess under the support.
Acknowledgement: Sothebys
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