A Yank At Oxford

Today was the Egyptian Museum! This is the second most significant museum of Egyptology in the world, next to the one in Cairo and it is AMAZING. The sheer volume of material is almost overwhelming. The first thing I saw was an 18 meter papyrus, The Book of the Dead. So. COOL! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the museum. (I'll caption them later!)

Stela of the superintendent of chancellor Meru from the Middle Kingdom, 11th dynasty, reign of Montuhotep II (2009-1959 BC). It was written either for Abydos or Thebes.

A statue of the goddess Sekhmet from the New Kingdom, 18th dynasty (1539-1292 BC).
She was discovered in Thebes.

These are predynastic cosmetic palettes. Aren't they amazing? Some of them are still slightly discolored from the
pigments used in ancient makeup.

Body ornaments from between 3900 and 3300 BC. When I see things like this, I always wonder about the people who wore/used them and how these pieces of jewelry came to be in a museum in Italy thousands of years later.

A statue of Princess Redji from the Old Kingdom, 3rd Dynasty (2592-2543 BC). She was found in Saqqara. This statue was mean to go in a tomb in order to serve as a substitute for the Princess and to preserve her bodily integrity.

A pleated linen tunic that had been folded and placed on the deceased person's mummified body before burial. It is from the Old Kingdom, 5th-6th Dynasty (2435-2118 BC) and was found in Gebelein.

This is a funerary stela showing Iti and Neferu receiving food. It is from the First Intermediate Period (2118-1980 BC) and was found in the tomb, located in Gobelein, of Iti and Neferu on the floor of a corridor.

This is a false-door stela of the chamberlain Mornakht, son of Mera. It is dated from the Middle Kingdom, 12th Dynasty (1939-1759 BC).

I love this. It is a wood carving showing bread-making Such an ordinary thing and yet someone took the time to create it and the carving has survived all of this time so that we can catch a glimpse of how an every-day activity occurred millennia ago. It is dated from the Middle Kingdom, early 12th Dynasty (1939-1875 BC)and was found in Asyut, in the tomb of Minhotep.

This picture truly doesn't do this pottery work justice. It was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, the lighting wasn't ideal and I was not able to use my flash. These pieces are dated from the New Kingdom, 18th-20th Dynasty (1539-1076 BC) and were found in Deir al-Medina.

I love this piece. It's really touching that they were carved with their arms around each other. I know it was a common theme but that doesn't make the gesture any less meaningful. This is a funerary statue of a couple and on the pack are carved prayers to the gods of the netherworld and images of the couple's children praying for/paying homage to their parents. You can see that they had one son and four daughters. Just amazing. I'm not sure of the date on this one but it was found in Deir al-Medina.

Their children are along the bottom of the statue.

This is stinkin' awesome. It's called the Chapel of Maya and was found in Deir al-Medina in 1906. The outer structure is not original, of course, but the images on the inside appear as they would have in the necropolis. The colors are still incredibly vivid.

These are the outer and middle coffins of a high-born man named Kha. The outer coffin is HUGE and notice that the bottom is carved like sled skids, so it could be moved into the tomb.

These are the outer and inner coffins of Kha's wife, Merit. Her coffins are smaller than her husband's and where he had three coffins, she had two. Her outer seemed to have been 'recycled' and it is speculated that Merit died suddenly. This would, according to E. Schiaparelli (the man who discovered it), explain some of the irregularities in the coffins.

This is Merit's funerary mask.

Merit's inner coffin. It is apparently one of a kind in terms of its decorative patterns. The funerary texts carved into the coffin are in her husband's name and the coffin was too large for Merit, who was quite slight. It is believed that the coffin was originally made for her husband and used for Merit instead, which also indicates that her death may have been sudden. The use of black and gold was meant to pay homage to Osiris.

Kha's middle coffin.

Kha's inner coffin.

Detail from Kha's inner coffin.

This is Merit's bed. When it was found, it was fitted with sheets, blankets, towels, and two headrests. Her headrest was wrapped in double cloth to make it softer and more comfortable.

This is Kha's bed. It was quite a bit bigger than his wife's and, based on the size of his inner coffin and his sandals which were on display next to his Merit's, he was quite a large man.

Merit's cosmetic case, which was divided into compartments and held jars of alabaster and glass, some of which still contained traces of her make-up.

More of Merit's cosmetic tools.

The sarcophagus of the government minister Gemenefherbak from the Late Period, 26th dynasty (664-525 BC). The large slab on the far right is the lid of the sarcophagus of Ibi, overseer of the South, overseer of the priests of Thebes and chief steward of Nitocris, Divine Adoratrice of Amon (no idea what most of that means, but it really sounds impressive!). It is dated from the Late Period, 26th Dynasty, reign of Psametk I (664-610 BC) and was found in Thebes.

Detail of the sarcophagus lid.

Beautiful canopic jars.

Here you can see in the Roman influence after the fall of the Ptolemaic dynasty. This is a votive foot wearing a Roman sandal, flanked by Isis and Serapis as serpens and Harpocrates on the back. It is from the Roman Period, 2nd-3rd century AD.

I love this one. OK, I love everything I saw, but this one is just so quirky:) It's an offering table of Senmuti with a hole containing a staircase, imitating a pool. How cool is that?! It's dated from the Roman Period (30 BC-395 AD).

This was in my favorite room in the whole museum - the Room of the Pharaohs. LOVED it. This sphinx is dated from the New Kingdom, early 19th Dynasty (1292-1250 BC) and was found at the temple of Amon at Karnak.

Kneeling statue of Amenhotep II offering two vases. This is dated from the new Kingdon, 18th Dynasty (1425-1400 BC) and was found at the temple of Amon in Karnak.

Statue inscribed for Tuthmosis I. I like how he's smiling a little. This is dated from the New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty (1493-1483 BC) and was found in the temple of Amon in Karnak.

This is Ramses II. It is dated from the New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty (1279-1213 BC) and was found in the temple of Amon in Karnak.

This is a statue of the pharaoh Horemheb and his wife, Mutnedjemet. Notice how she has her arm around him. This is dated from the New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty (1319-1292 BC) and was found at the temple of Amon in Karnak.