Images

A 19th century CE painting by John William Waterhouse depicting the sorceress Circe of Homer's Odyssey offering a cup of magic potion to Odysseus. (Oldham Gallery, UK)

A scene from a wooden Egyptian sarcophagus depicting Anubis, the god of mummification and the afterlife. c. 400 BCE. Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam.

Statue of the Nile God Hapy, from Thebes, Karnak, temple of Amun-Ra, Egypt, 22nd Dynasty, reign of Osorkon I, c. 924-889 BCE. The fleshy body symbolizes the Nile's fertility. Hapy holds a table of offerings, from which hang geese, quails...

The prince holds two sacred standards. In his left hand is a fetish (sacred emblem) kept in Abydos and linked to Osiris. Atop the other stood figures of Osiris, Isis and Horus. Prayers on the back-pillar invoke Osiris. The text around the...

On this side, Psamtek (Psamtik) I kneels making offerings to fearsome-looking deities, including a double-headed bull god and a snake. The majority hold long knives, as they were meant to guard a sacred space located behind this wall. Most...

This slab enclosed a sacred spot in the temple of Atum, a creator god, Heliopolis. King Nectanebo I is shown kneeling and making offerings. In this scene, he presents a loaf of bread. On the other side (now damaged), he appeared in the company...

This detail shows the cobra goddess Wadjyt empowering king Nectanebo I, who is represented by his Horus name and cartouches. A pharaoh had five official names; this panel, shows the most important three. The Horus name identifies the king...

King Horemheb with Amun-Ra, probably from the temple of Amun-Ra at Thebes, Karnak, possibly usurped from Tutankhamun (c. 1336-1327 BCE), 18th Dynasty, c. 1323-1295 BCE. The inscriptions identify the headless king as Horemheb and the larger...

This serpentine statue comes from the lost tomb of Nebhepetra. It shows him in prayer, with arms extended. The long inscriptions on his robe and on the back pillar reveal an extraordinary career as a lector and a guard. 12th Dynasty, probably...

This sculpture represents a sacred boat on a sledge. It included a seated figure of Queen Mutemwia, wife of Thutmose IV. Only her legs and right hand remained intact, but part of the head is also in the British Museum. Mutemwia clasps a looped...