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Relief of Maya praying to the gods

Maya was Chancellor and Overseer of the Treasury during the reign of Kings Tutankhamun, Ay and Horemheb. New Kingdom, late 18th Dynasty, ca. 1332-1292 BC. Tomb of Maya, Saqqara necropolis.

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Antechamber in the Pyramid of Unas

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Seshat was the Ancient Egyptian goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and writing. She was seen as a scribeand record keeper, and her name means “she who scrivens” and is credited with inventing writing. She also became identified as the goddess of architecture, astronomy, astrology, building, mathematics, and surveying. These are all professions that relied upon expertise in her skills. Usually, she is shown holding a palm stem, bearing notches to denote the recording of the passage of time, especially for keeping track of the allotment of time for the life of the pharaoh. She was also depicted holding other tools and, often, holding the knotted cords that were stretched to survey land and structures. As the divine measurer and scribe, Seshat was believed to appear to assist the pharaoh in both of these practices. It was she who recorded, by notching her palm, the time allotted to the pharaoh for his stay on earth.

(requested by anonymous)

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Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun

Queen Ankhesenamun holds a salve-cup and spreads perfumed oil on her husband’s collar in a typical Amarna style scene, the sun disc Aten shines above the royal couple. At the time it was made, their names were Tutankhaten and Ankhespaaten.

The young king appears sitting and being regaled with an ointment by his wife Ankhesenamun. The king wears a composite crown and a broad collar and the queen wears a diadem. The bodies and wigs of both of them are inlaid with exquisite colored glass and their linen robes are silver.

Detail of the back of the golden throne of Tutankhamun. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 62028

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Tutankhamun is shown wearing the nemes headdress followed closely by his Ka, as Osiris welcomes him into the Netherworld with an embrace.

The scene from the north wall shows the brown freckling of the paintings that may have resulted when the tomb was hastily painted and sealed, trapping moisture.

Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62), Valley of the Kings, West Thebes.

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I’m so sorry, Horus

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Egyptian God Family Tree

(Source)

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This majestic sphinx of Queen Hatshepsut was created during her joint reign with her stepson Thutmose III. After the death of the queen-pharaoh (1458 BC) he will destroy the sphinx and bury it in a quarry together with other statues of Hatshepsut.

Met Museum

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Statue of Hermanubis, white marble, 1st-2nd century CE (Vatican Museums)

“In classical mythology, Hermanubis (Ancient Greek: Ἑρμανοῦβις, romanized: Hermanoubis) was a god who combined Hermes (Greek mythology) with Anubis (Egyptian mythology). He is the son of Set and Nephthys.

Hermes’ and Anubis’s similar responsibilities (they were both conductors of souls) led to the god Hermanubis. He was popular during the period of Roman domination over Egypt. Depicted having a human body and a jackal head, with the sacred caduceus that belonged to the Greek god Hermes, he represented the Egyptian priesthood. He engaged in the investigation of truth.” 

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2.000-Year-Old Roman Cemetery Discovered in Gaza

Archaeologists working on a 2,000-year-old Roman cemetery discovered in Gaza last year have found at least 125 tombs, most with skeletons still largely intact, and two rare lead sarcophaguses, the Palestinian Ministry of Antiquities said.

The impoverished Palestinian territory was an important trading post for civilizations as far back as the ancient Egyptians and the Philistines depicted in the Bible, through the Roman empire and the crusades.

In the past, local archaeologists reburied findings for lack of funding but French organizations have helped excavate this site, discovered in February last year by a construction crew working on an Egyptian-funded housing project.

"It is the first time in Palestine we have discovered a cemetery that has 125 tombs, and it is the first time in Gaza we have discovered two sarcophaguses made of lead," Fadel Al-A’utul, an expert at the French School of Biblical and Archeological Research, told Reuters at the site.

One of the two sarcophaguses was decorated with images of grapes and the other with dolphins said A'utul, whose organization is supervising the work with help from French aid agency Premiere Urgance International.

"We need funds to preserve this archeological site so that history does not get washed away," he added.

A'utul said he hoped the site would become a tourist destination, with a museum to display the findings.

Engineers and technicians were working at the scene

At least 25 engineers and technicians were engaged on Sunday, despite the soaring heat, in digging, clearing the dirt, and preserving the skeletons. They have also been piecing together clay jars found inside some of the graves.

"This is unprecedented," said Jamal Abu Reida, General-Director of Gaza's Antiquities Ministry.

"It deepens Palestinian roots on this land and shows they date back thousands of years," he said.

Gaza has been under an Israel-Egyptian economic blockade since 2007 when the Islamist militant group Hamas, which opposes peace with Israel, took control. The narrow coastal territory's 2.3 million Palestinian residents have since endured several wars.

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Tomb of Ankhtifi who was governor of Hierakonpolis during the First Intermediate Period. SECRETS OF THE DEAD (2019) — (17.06) Egypt’s Darkest Hour

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GEB was known as the God of Earth. His appearances portrayed as a man with a goose on his head. Goose was a sacred animal to Geb, as such he was also called “The Great Cackler”. Sometimes, he also portrayed as a man lying underneath the arch of his wife the sky goddess Nut. The ancient Egyptians believed Geb’s laughter was to start earthquakes.

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Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II’s  Statues and Treasures now on Exhibition in Paris

Many of the more than 180 objects have never left Egypt before.

From whichever angle you approach Ramses II, the 13th century B.C.E pharaoh earns his epithet: the Great.

His 67-year reign stands as the second longest in Egyptian history. Bold in both war and peace, Ramses expanded Egyptian territory and signed the earliest-known peace treaty with the Hittites in 1271 B.C.E. This consolidation led to an unparalleled building of cities and monuments—often to himself. Ramses’s progeny was also vast, he’s estimated to have fathered more than 100 children.

There may have been 11 other pharaohs named Ramses, but “Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs,” a recently opened show in Paris demonstrates the pharaoh who acquired semi-godlike status in his own lifetime needs no identifiers.

The exhibition is on the third leg of a five-year, 10-city global tour with previous stops at Houston Museum of Natural Science and San Francisco’s de Young Museum. It was devised through a collaboration between the Supreme Council of Antiquities of the Arab Republic of Egypt and World Heritage Exhibitions.

Across more than 180 objects, many of which have never before left Egypt, the show creates a vivid picture of the country’s ancient Golden Age. Though Ramses’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings was raided and plundered of its gold adornments, the show presents ample treasures directly connected to him including a colossal red granite statue of the pharaoh’s head, one of his many gold rings, and painted reliefs celebrating his military victories.

More broadly, the exhibition presents a view of the world Ramses inhabited, sculpted, and inspired. There is space dedicated to the grave of royal tomb builder Sennedjem, a collection of mummified animals found at the Saqqara necropolis, and treasures discovered in the royal tombs in Dahshur and Tanis.

The exhibition also leans on contemporary technology to bring both artifacts and historical events to life. Drone footage and computer animations have been used to recreate the ancient splendor of Ramses’s memorial temple, photo-murals are projected on walls, and there’s a multimedia recreation of the Battle of Kadesh, a 1274 B.C.E. chariot battle widely considered the pharaoh’s greatest military achievement. There is also a V.R. experience available to visitors.

“Ramses II is considered to be the greatest king ever to rule Egypt,” said Mostafa Waziri, Egypt’s Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in a press statement. “This exhibition will illuminate the pivotal moments that earned the great pharaoh his place in history, while bringing visitors face-to-face with absolutely stunning Egyptian artifacts”.

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Tomb of Ankhtifi who was governor of Hierakonpolis during the First Intermediate Period. SECRETS OF THE DEAD (2019) — (17.06) Egypt’s Darkest Hour

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EGYPT FROM ABOVE (2020) — (1.02) Engineering the Future

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Anubis and Osiris with the Deceased

Greco-Roman mummy cases and shrouds were often painted with images reflecting pharaonic religious beliefs about the hereafter but adapted to suit the prevailing Greco-Roman style. 

Egyptian divinities of the afterlife feature prominently, and include some or all of the following: Osiris, god of the afterlife and the underworld; his sisters Isis (also his wife) and Nephthys, also considered a protector of the dead. Anubis, the jackal- or jackal-headed god is also often shown as patron of the mummification process and responsible for delivering the soul of the deceased into the kingdom of Osiris. The falcon god Horus often makes an appearance too. The Greco-Roman tradition had no problem about mixing in classical motifs. 

So in addition to representations of the Egyptian funerary gods, shrouds and mummy cases might depict figures in Roman dress. Greek elements might be included too: pomegranates, boughs of myrtle and rose, and kraters or goblets of wine, all alluding to eternal life in Greek iconography. On this Roman-era Egyptian shroud, the deceased in the center is dressed in Roman style, flanked to the right by the Egyptian deity Anubis.

Funeral shroud from 2nd Century CE Roman Egypt. Now in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.