Ancient Egyptian Things

The garden of Nebamun, an Egyptian scribe, from his tomb, 1350 BCE. The garden features a well-stocked pond surrounded by date palms and sycamores. The sycamore goddess appears at the top right.

Gold ring with jasper frog, Egypt, 600-30 BC

Mosaic glass inlay, Roman, probably Egyptian

Scientists led by the ESRF, the European Synchrotron, Grenoble, France and the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, have discovered the composition of red and black inks in ancient Egyptian papyri from circa 100-200 AD, leading to a number of hypotheses about writing practices. The analysis, based on synchrotron techniques, shows that lead was probably used as a dryer rather than as a pigment, similar to its usage in 15th-century Europe during the development of oil painting. They have published their results in PNAS.

In ancient Egypt, Egyptians used black ink for writing the main body of text, while red ink was often used to highlight headings, instructions or keywords. During the last decade, many scientific studies have been conducted to elucidate the invention and history of ink in ancient Egypt and in the Mediterranean cultures, for instance ancient Greece and Rome.

Ostracon of a Couple Making Love

An artist’s practice sketch of a couple making love, detail of an ostracon from Deir el-Medina, West Thebes. 

Ostraca are simple splinters of limestone or shards of pottery, on which the ancient Egyptians wrote or drew. This type of support was used because it was plentiful and of no material value, unlike papyrus, which was much more expensive.

Ancient Egyptian Phallophorus 

Egyptologists have often considered them to be late, decadent and unworthy of Egyptian culture, but that is a false value judgement: they have been found in native Egyptian contexts on numerous sites.

A painter’s palette🎨 from Ancient Egypt Inscribed with the Name of Amenhotep III ca. 1390–1353 B.C. New Kingdom Dynasty 18

~ Figure of a seated cat with kittens.

Place of origin: Egypt

Date: ca. 525-404 B.C.

Period: 27th Dynasty (Persian), Late Period