Images

The cobras on Tasherenese's headdress and forehead signal a royal status, and her fly-whisk was typical of queens. She was, however, not a queen. An inscription on the back-pillar identifies her as the mother of King Amasis, who started out...

The Governor of Upper Egypt dedicated this bowl to the goddess Hathor and Mut, both named in the inscriptions. The front displays Hathor's face. The bowl was presented by the kneeling figure of Montuemhat, but only traces of his hands survives...

The cobra emblem on the forehead and the Hathoric wig confirms this is a queen. Just as pharaohs were deemed an incarnation of Horus, so did queens embody the goddess Hathor. Ahmose-Merytamun was a sister and wife of Amenhotep I. The bust...

Priests used bowls like this in temples for liquid offerings to the gods. Two faces of the goddess Hathor adorn the rim. Flat depictions of persons were usually in profile, but Hathor's face was widely displayed in frontal view. In such images...

The statue shows the king offering pots of water or wine. Based on parallel statues, large parts have been restored in modern times, including the hands, posts, and knees. Cartouches enclosing Ramesses' birth and throne names appear on his...

The enthroned pharaoh has idealized features and wears a striped head-cloth, false beard, and pleated kilt. A bull's tail, symbol of superhuman strength, hangs between the legs. Many Egyptian kings used the title of "bull" or "strong bull"...

Detail of the upper margin of the sarcophagus of the last native Egyptian pharaoh Nectanebo II showing the so-called "djed" and tyet" symbols. The djed, a pillar-like symbol, represents the backbone (spine) of Osiris, the god of the underworld...

When complete, this scene showed Osorkon offering a clepsydra (water clock) to the snake goddess Wadjyt. The King wears the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. Osorkon's wife, queen Karoma, stands by his side. She wears a plumed crown...

A pharaoh was known primarily by his throne name. This was traditionally a statement about his divine father, the sun-god Ra, so all cartouches with throne names display a sun-god at the top. A king's birth name was the only name he had already...

Statue of Tutankhamun, from the temple of Amun-Ra at Thebes, Karnak, Egypt, 18th Dynasty, c. 1336-1327 BCE. The king presents an abundance of offerings, including lotus blossoms, bunches of grapes, pomegranates, and ducks hung by their...