Royalty
Lion hunt scarab hieroglyphs
A scarab made of stone dating from the reign of Amenhotep III (1390-1352 BC). He was best known for his buildings such as the Colossi of Memnon and Luxor Temple.
These sacred scarab beetles represented the rising sun and rebirth, and scarab amulets were worn by both the living and the dead. Many were also used as seals and decorated on the flat underside with the name of their owner, the pharaoh or a god.
Amenhotep issued 'news bulletins' written on the base of large stone scarabs such as this 'Lion Hunt Scarab'. It gives the names and titles of the king and his wife Tiy, then claims "the number of wild lions which his majesty shot with his own arrows, from year 1 to year 10, was 102."
C.1388-1352 BC
Egypt. Unknown provenance.
Wooden shabti - Seti I
Wooden shabti of Seti I who reigned from around1294-1279 BC. He built the largest king's tomb in the Valley of the Kings. When his tomb was robbed in ancient times the thieves left his shabti figures, like this one, behind. Some were made of wood and others were made of blue glazed pottery, and we have one of these in the collection too.
Shabti figures represented servants who would do work for their owner in the Afterlife. Many have their owner's name and a spell from the Book of the Dead 'for making a shabti do work for someone in the Afterlife'.
C.1279 BC
Valley of the Kings, Egypt.
Pharaoh profile
A large sandstone block carved with the head of a pharaoh. He wears the red crown of northern Egypt and the style of carving suggests it was made in the New Kingdom (c.1500-1400 BC) or XXVth dynasty (747-656 BC).
Sandstone from the Gebel el-Silsilah quarries near Aswan was used for temples, and this block comes from a large temple scene. The unusual object on the right is part of a ship's steering equipment, and was held by the king as he ran a ceremonial race before the gods.
C.1500-1400BC or C700BC
Egypt. Unknown provenance.
Amarna Princess detail
Fragment of a limestone wall scene showing legs and draped clothing typical of a royal female. Possibly one of the six daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti.
C.1347-1340BC
Egypt. Amarna.
Henuttawy shabti
A Faience Overseer shabti from the burial of Queen Henuttaway (c.1069-1043 BC). She is thought to have been the daughter of King Smendes and married the high priest Pinjudem I to unite the country.
The couple were eventually buried together in the cliffs at Deir-el-Bahari beside the reburied mummies of earlier pharaohs including Seti I.
After thieves discovered the tomb they were eventually reburied nearby in a family vault of the priests with 40 other royal mummies.
This tomb was discovered by locals in 1871 before its official discovery by the authorities in 1881.
The Mummy of Queen Henuttaway is now in the Cairo Museum.
C.1043BC
Egypt. Deir-el-Bahari.
Calcite fragment with Nerfititi's name
A fragment of relief carving in alabaster with a cartouche on one side showing the name of Nefertiti. Nefertiti married the pharaoh Akhenaten.
C.1347 1340BC
Egypt. Amarna.