Antiquities Exhibits

This block originally formed part of a screen wall that connected the four front columns and the sidewalls of the temple of Harendotes ("Horus the Avenger") on the island of Philae. The relief represents the "Baptism of Pharaoh," a purification ritual that was part of Egyptian coronation ceremonies. The gods Horus (not preserved) and the ibis-headed Thoth, god of wisdom, pours water, represented by streams of the hieroglyphs ankh (life) and was (dominion), over the head of the king. The pharaoh whose head is partially preserved is a Claudian emperor, most probably either Claudius or Nero as defined in the strip of hieroglyphs along the top of the relief. As Pharaoh of Egypt, Nero adopted the royal titulary Autokrator Neron Heqaheqau Meryasetptah Tjemaahuikhasut Wernakhtubaqet Heqaheqau Setepennenu Merur ('Emperor Nero, Ruler of rulers, chosen by Ptah, beloved of Isis, the sturdy-armed one who struck the foreign lands, victorious for Egypt, ruler of rulers, chose...

Yesterday I finished editing and uploading the last of my images of artifacts in the Egyptian gallery of the University of Pennsylvania's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum) to Wikimedia Commons. Next I'll be working on uploading my images of their Greco-Roman collection. Here are some of my favorites from their Egyptian collection: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Egyptian_antiquities_in_the_University_of_Pennsylvania_Museum Head of King Osorkon II of Egypt excavated at Tunis 874-850 BCE Black Granite Head of a colossal statue of Ramesses II King of Egypt from Abydos 1290-1224 BCE New Kingdom Dynasty 19 Head of a colossal statue of Ramesses II King of Egypt from Abydos 1290-1224 BCE New Kingdom Dynasty 19 Closeup of Bronze statue of a cat with gold leaf Dynasty 22 Egypt 945-712 BCE Basalt Baboon Egypt Dynasty 20 1182-1151 BCE Statue of Ramesses III Limestone Egypt 1187-1156 BCE (Reign of Ramesses III, Dynasty 20) Ka statue of the Royal Acquaintanc...

Closing soon! Gods of Egypt through March 31, 2019 at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, Netherlands. The exhibition Gods of Egypt brings together more than five hundred objects from domestic and foreign museums: impressive statues of gods and goddesses, magical papyri, golden jewelry and colorfully painted mummy boxes. The exhibit focuses on the function of the temples in the country, the numerous rituals with which the  gods were worshiped, and the journey to the underworld. It then concludes with an examination of the Greek and Roman conquerors of Egypt who brought the Egyptian gods back to their own cultures. Votive image of Thoth, god of wisdom and writing, depicted as a mantle baboon. Faience with silver muzzle and sickle, and gold sun disc. Ptolemaic Period 332-30 BCE.  Image courtesy of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden.