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The Tomb of the Vineyards

Built for Sennefer, chief nobleman of Thebes, the decorations of this tomb in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna depict the tranquil pleasures of the afterlife.

Tomb of Sennefer (TT96). New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, reign of Amenhotep II, ca. 1427-1401 BC. Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, West Thebes.

Photo: Araldo De Luca 

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Canopic Chest of Tutankhamun

This alabaster canopic chest is considered to be one of the finest masterpieces of Tutankhamun’s collection. The interior of the chest is divided into four compartments, each with a cylindrical hollow covered by a lid elegantly carved in the form of the king’s head. 

The lid was fixed to the chest with cords knotted to gold rings and bore the official seal of the royal necropolis. Within each compartment was a miniature gold mummiform coffin that held the king’s embalmed internal organs. 

At the four corners of the chest, carved in high relief, are four goddesses: Isis, Nephthys, Neith and Serket, who stretch out their arms to protect the contents of the chest.

From the Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62), Valley of the Kings, West Thebes. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 60687

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1524 Spanish map of Tenochtitlan, a city of 200,000 people that was built largely on water.

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Diadem of Princess Sithathoriunet

The diadem was made to be worn above the princess wig. It is made from gold, lapis lazuli, carnelian and glass paste. Princess Sithathoriunet was daughter of Senusret II. This diadem was discovered in the Tomb of Sithathoriunet, Funerary Complex of Senusret II at El-Lahun.

Middle Kingdom, 12th Dynasty, reign of Senusret II, ca. 1897-1878 BC. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 44919

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Silver tetradrachm of Ptolemy I (r. 305-282 BCE), depicting the head of Alexander the Great, who is wearing an elephant-skin headdress.  Minted in Alexandria, Egypt; now in the Cabinet des Médailles, Paris.  Photo credit: Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons.

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Ostracon of Ramesses III Crushing an Enemy

One of the most typical royal scenes is reproduced on this ostracon. The king in the act of crushing the defeated enemy. The scene was widely used on pylons and external walls of temples. On this piece the king is shown upright, his head adorned with red crown topped by the two feathers and the ram’s horn; leaning forward, he grasps the tightly bound arms of a kneeling Nubian captive with both hands. 

The prisoner’s ethnic group is identified by the typical garb with large festooned neckpiece and by his short curly hair. In front of the king there are two cartouches containing the king’s name over a short line of text: “The Lord of the Two Lands, Usermaatre Meryamun, the Lord of the Two Lands, Ramesses, the one who crushes the foreign lands”. 

New Kingdom, 20th Dynasty, reign of Ramesses III, ca. 1186-1155 BC. Limestone with black ink drawing. From Deir el-Medina. Schiaparelli excavations, 1905. Now in the Egyptian Museum of Turin. S. 6279

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Gold Bracelet in the form of a Snake

This massive bracelet or armlet is cast in solid gold. The scales and details of the snake’s head were chased after casting.

Early Ptolemaic Period, ca. 300-250 BC. Now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1988.22

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Pyramids of Giza

A view of the Pyramids of Giza along the Nile River at sunset. Photograph, 1934.

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The Tomb of the Vineyards

Built for Sennefer, chief nobleman of Thebes, the decorations of this tomb in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna depict the tranquil pleasures of the afterlife.

Tomb of Sennefer (TT96). New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, reign of Amenhotep II, ca. 1427-1401 BC. Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, West Thebes.

Photo: Araldo De Luca 

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The Temple of Hatshepsut glows at sunset 

Hatshepsut’s temple is one of the world’s most striking architectural masterpieces, but perhaps even more noteworthy is the woman who commissioned it.

The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, West Thebes. 

Photograph by Kenneth Garrett, National Geographic Creative

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Pashedu Praying Under a Palm Tree

Detail of a wall painting in the Tomb of artisan Pashedu (TT3), Servant in the Place of Truth. 

New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, ca. 1292-1189 BC. Deir el-Medina, West Thebes.

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Statue of Ramesses VIII Presenting Amun

The statue of Ramesses VIII is an example of hasty workmanship. It lacks vigor. One of the few statues that survive from the Ramesside Period, it demonstrates that the great era of creativity had ended.

The face of the statue is heavy with a troubled expression devoid of interior strength. The wig, a vestige of 19th Dynasty style, is composed of parallel stripes that form a kind of visor over the brow, which is adorned with the uraeus, or royal cobra. The wig falls in unusually long locks onto the collar bones, which are not marked. The widely pleated kilt is decorated with a heavy front panel.

The god Amun holds the Was scepter, symbol of prosperity and well being, in his left hand and the Ankh, sign of life, in his right. The god’s high headdress is only just recognizable and the pleats of his kilt have not been marked.

New Kingdom, 20th Dynasty, reign of Ramesses VIII, ca. 1130-1129 BC. Basalt. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 37595

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Gold and silver decorated mace, Milan Italy, 2nd half of the 16th century.

from The Wallace Collection

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Silver mounted flintlock pistol, Montenegro, 19th century.

from Hermann Historica

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Silver mounted Ottoman yatagan with bone grips, 19th century.

from Helios Auctions

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BRONZE AGE COLLAPSE: 

THE Bronze Age Collapse (also known as Late Bronze Age Collapse) is a modern-day term referring to the decline and fall of major Mediterranean civilizations during the 13th-12th centuries BCE. The precise cause of the Bronze Age Collapse has been debated by scholars for over a century as well as the date it probably began and when it ended but no consensus has been reached. What is clearly known is that, between c. 1250 - c. 1150 BCE, major cities were destroyed, whole civilizations fell, diplomatic and trade relations were severed, writing systems vanished, and there was widespread devastation and death on a scale never experienced before.

The primary causes advanced for the Bronze Age Collapse are:

Natural Catastrophes (earthquakes)

Climate Change (which caused drought and famine)

Internal Rebellions (class wars)

Invasions (primarily by the Sea Peoples)

Disruption of Trade Relations/Systems Collapse (political instability)

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