Ephrahim

First Known Representation of the Ouroboros

Painted Relief of Osiris and Isis

Abydos is the cult center of Osiris, god of the dead. The necropolis is a place of pilgrimage and burial and at least ten temples were originally constructed there. 

Hebrew terracotta bowl from the Mesopotamian city of Nippur dating back to around 400-800 CE. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA.

A cuneiform letter from the Old Babylonian period (circa 1900-1600 B.C.) shows the first example of ghosting.  Written by a certain Sîn-magir to an individual named Sîn-eribam, the letter records the follow line:

Good behavior it is, that I write to you again and again, and you pay no attention to me.    

Apparently, previous letters were sent but Sîn-eribam had no intention of every responding.

Statue of Isis

Statue of the goddess Isis, so-called “Isis of Coptos”. She wears a tripartite wig with uraeus. The sun disc and cow’s horns identify the sculpture as Isis or Hathor. Her dress is Egyptian in style and sheath-like in appearance, and around her neck she wears an incised collar of beads.

Abu Simbel Temple

View of a colossal sculpture of Ramesses II in his Great Temple at Abu Simbel, Lower Nubia, 1856-1860 

Nubian Tribute

Mural depicting a Tribute to the King of Egypt from Nubian nobility, detail of a painting in the Tomb Chapel of Amenhotep called Huy (TT40), Viceroy of Kush under Tutankhamun.

Unearthed Statue of Amenhotep III

The face of the colossal alabaster statue of Amenhotep III (r. ca. 1391-1353 BC) wearing a Nemes headdress and a royal beard. 

Amuletic disk (Hypocephalus) 

It was made for Tasheritenkhonsu. Linen and plaster, inscribed in ink. It dates to the Late Period, 26th Dynasty, ca. 664-525 BC. Linen and plaster, diam: 20 cm. Now in the Ashmolean Museum. AN1982.1095

“A hypocephalus is a small disk-shaped object generally made of stuccoed linen, but also of papyrus, bronze, gold, wood, or clay, which ancient Egyptians from the Late Period onwards placed under the heads of their dead. The circle was believed to magically protect the deceased, cause the head and body to be enveloped in light and warmth, making the deceased divine.”

Scene of the Amduat

Relief of Horus and Seth

Decoration on the side of the throne of King Senusret I showing the theme of the unification of the Two Lands ‘Sema-Tawy’, which was associated with the Nile god, Hapi. He was replaced by Horus and Seth.

Furthermore, we have here one of the rare cases in which the image of Seth, god of confusion, power and desert, was not destroyed through the superstition of later generations.

Mummy of Pacheri

It is the mummy of a man about 1.65 meter tall, who lived during the Ptolemaic period. We call him the mummy of Pacheri, although the reading of the name remains problematic. The quality of its embalming, as well as the state of conservation make it a specimen noticeable and worthy of notice.

“Long ago, a great civilization thrived along the banks of the Nile River. Ruled by awesome god-kings called pharaohs, Egypt was a land of bustling cities, golden palaces, and huge stone monuments. This astonishing culture endured for more than 3,000 years before it gradually disappeared. Its cities crumbled to dust, and the meaning of its writings was lost. 

But beginning with the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799, the secrets of Egypt’s people, its pharaohs, and its golden days have slowly been revealed. Bit by bit, we have solved the mystery of one of the mose fascinating civilizations of all time.”

Stele of Nanai

When Osiris (above center) was killed, he was sent to rule over the Underworld with his fellow god, Anubis (above left). Together they watched over the dead, while Osiris’s son, Horus, became the patron god of the living pharaohs. This detail from the ancient Egyptian Stele of Nanai shows the deceased adoring Osiris and Anubis.

Guardians of the Underworld

Statue of Sheikh el-Balad Representing Kaaper

Sheikh el-Balad, Arabic title for the chief of the village, was the name given to this remarkable wooden statue discovered by the workmen of Auguste Mariette, the French archaeologist, because it resembled their own village chief.

The statue depicts Ka-aper, the chief lector priest, in charge of reciting prayers for the deceased in temples and funerary chapels. It is one of the masterpieces of the private statuary of the Old Kingdom.

The arms were separately modeled and attached to the body, a technique frequently used in wooden statuary. A wooden cane supported the left arm, made out of two pieces of wood joined together.

The eyes are inlaid; the rim is made out of copper and the white is of opaque quartz, while the cornea is made out of rock crystal.