r/egyptology

capital

Object Type

capital

Museum number

EA1107

Description

Red granite column capital with Hathor emblem: the surviving royal inscription and the classicizing style of the face indicate that they were made under Osorkon I and erected (or usurped) by Osorkon II. Each main surface of the capital front and back represented a female face with stylized cow's ears and a plaited, curled wig, on top of which was a platformdecorated with a row of cobras bearing solar disks on their heads. This composition was the emblem or fetish of the goddess Hathor. In its full form it represented a sistrum in the shape of a naos, set in a handle topped by the goddess' face. Slender, stylized horns that terminate in spirals rise on either side of the naos. The mask-like quality of the face on this capital is emphasized by its flatness and by the broad plane down the length of the nose. There is much plaster restoration.

Cultures/periods

22nd Dynasty

Excavator/field collector

Excavated by: Egypt Exploration Fund

Findspot

Excavated/Findspot: Tell Basta (Bubastis), Temple of Bastet, Festival Hall of Osorkon II or entrance hall

Africa: Egypt: Sharqiya, el- (Governorate - Egypt): Tell Basta (Bubastis)

Materials

red granite

Technique

incised

Dimensions

Height: 195 centimetres (max)

Weight: 1991 kilograms

Width: 80 centimetres

Depth: 84 centimetres (max)

Inscriptions

Inscription type: inscription

Inscription script: hieroglyphic

Inscription note: Incised with cartouches of Osorkon II.

Inscription subject

royal

Curator's comments

This is the major part of a Hathor capital that once crowned a colossal column in the temple of the goddess Bastet in the eastern Nile Delta city of Bubastis. The column was one of four in a hypostyle hall adjacent to the great gateway decorated with scenes from the sed festival of Osorkon II. It was on the north side of the hall, a location indicated by the red crown of Lower Egypt on the heads of the cobras flanking the face. Behind the snakes were papyrus plants, also symbols of the North. Traditionally, the columns have been dated to the Middle Kingdom, but a recent study proves them to be much later.

Bibliography:

B. Porter & R. Moss, 'Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings' IV (Oxford, 1934), p.29;

E. Naville, 'Bubastis, 1887-1889' (London, 1891), 11-12.

To be published by Karl Jansen-Winkeln

Bibliographic references

Russmann 2001 / Eternal Egypt: Masterworks of Ancient Art from the British Museum (112)

Location

Not on display

Exhibition history

Exhibited:

2015 July - September, Tokyo, National Museum, Queens of Egypt

2015 October - December, Osaka, National Museum of Art, Queens of Egypt

2016 8 Mar-12 Jun, Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, Pharoah: King of Egypt

2018 7 Jun-16 Sep, Barcelona, La Caixa, Pharaoh: King of Egypt

2018-2019 16 Oct-20 jan, Madrid, La Caixa, Pharaoh: King of Egypt

2024 14 Jun-06 Oct, Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria, Pharaoh

2026 29 Jan-2027 10 Jan, Tainan City, Chimei Museum, Pharaoh: King of Egypt

Condition

incomplete and split in two

Subjects

ancient egyptian deity

Associated names

Representation of: Hathor

Named in inscription: Osorkon IIAcquisition

name

Donated by: Egypt Exploration Fund

Acquisition date

1891

Department

Egypt and Sudan

BM/Big number

EA1107

Registration number

1891,1016.11

Conservation

Treatment: 06 Nov 2000

Treatment: 07 Apr 2015

Treatment: 01 Nov 2023

The British Museum

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA1107

Canopic chest

Object Type

canopic chest

Museum number

EA8535

Description

Sycomore fig wood canopic chest: in the form of a shrine or naos, inscribed for Irthorru. A wooden figure was originally mounted on the lid. Only the silhouette of the object and the dowel-holes for its attachment can now be seen; comparison with similar chests indicates that the figure probably represented a falcon. On the front of the chest is painted a 'djed'pillar, symbolizing the god Osiris. It is provided with his distinctive crown and has human arms and hands grasping royal sceptres. This image is balanced on the back of the box by the 'tit', emblem of the goddess Isis, the sister and wife of Osiris. On the sides are the Sons of Horus: baboon-headed Hapy and human-headed Imsety on the right, Qebehsenuef and Duamutef (here with the heads of a jackal and a falcon, respectively) on the left. The hieroglyphic texts by their sides state that they will grant various benefits to Irthorru, including life and protection, while Imsety promises that 'your corpse will be uninjured, your limbs beautiful'. Although door-hinges are painted on the front of the chest, it is opened by removing the top. The unpainted interior contains only one cavity. Drops of solidified black resin on the interior are probably traces of the packages which would have contained the mummified viscera.

Cultures/periods

30th Dynasty (?)

Ptolemaic (?)

Findspot

Found/Acquired: Thebes (historic - Upper Egypt) (?)

Materials

sycomore fig wood

Technique

painted

Dimensions

Height: 56 centimetres

Width: 24.20 centimetres (max)

Inscriptions

Inscription type: inscription

Inscription position: sides

Inscription script: hieroglyphic

Inscription note: Painted.

Inscription subject

funerary

Curator's comments

Irthorru was a scribe and priest of Amun in the temple of Karnak, and a 'Great and efficient singer in the necropolis'.

Bibliography:

S. Walker and M. Bierbrier, 'Fayum. Misteriosi volti dall'Egitto' (London, 1997), p. 51 [16];

'Art and Afterlife in Ancient Egypt' Japan, 1999-2000 [exhibition catalogue] (Japan, 1999), [68];

D. A. Aston, 'Aegypten und Levante' 10 (2000), 169, 170, pl. 10;

J.H. Taylor and N.C. Strudwick, Mummies: Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt. Treasures from The British Museum, Santa Ana and London 2005, pp. 82-3, pl. on p. 83.

Bibliographic references

Taylor & Strudwick 2005 / Mummies: Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt (p.82-83)

Location

Not on display

Exhibition history

1997 22 Oct-1998 30 Apr, Italy, Rome, Fondaione Memmo, Ancient Faces

2001 26 Jun-23 Sep, Birmingham Gas Hall, Egypt Revealed

2005-2008, USA, California, The Bowers Museum, Death and Afterlife in Ancient Egypt

19th Nov 2011- 11 Mar 2012. Richmond , VA, Virginia museum of Fine Art. Mummy. The inside story.

Mar - Oct 2012, Australia, Brisbane,Queensland Museum South Bank. Mummy: The Inside Story

2012, Nov-2013 Apr, India, Mumbai, CSMVS, Mummy: The Inside Story

2013, Apr-Nov, Singapore, ArtScience Museum, Mummy: The Inside Story

2024 20 Jun-24 Nov, Derby, Derby Museums and Art Gallery, Displaced: From the Nile to the Derwent

Condition

good

Subjects

ancient egyptian deity

Associated names

Representation of: Sons of Horus

Emblem of: Osiris

Emblem of: Isis

Department

Egypt and Sudan

BM/Big number

EA8535

Registration number

.8535

Additional IDs

Miscellaneous number: BS.8535 (Birch Slip Number)

Conservation

Treatment: 12 Aug 1997

Treatment: 22 Mar 2001

Treatment: 21 Apr 1999

Treatment: 27 Oct 2004

Treatment: 27 Nov 2013

Treatment: 29 Sep 2014

Treatment: 12 Mar 2024

The British Museum

Figure of Isis seated with the infant Horus on her lap

Gallery Location

Not on View

Medium

Glazed composition (faience)

Geography

Undetermined site, Egypt

Date

c. 30 BC-295 AD

Period

Probably Ptolemaic to Roman Period

Dimensions

11.8 x 2.3 x 5.7 cm

Object number

2002.95.4369

Credit Line

The T.G.H. Drake Collection; gift of the Academy of Medicine, Toronto, and the University Health Network

Client

Steven B. Shubert ROM Research Associate, 2008-2022

Cataloguer

Rexine Hummel ROM Departmental Associate, 2008-present

Collection

Roman World Egypt

Department

Art & Culture: Ancient Egypt & Nubia

If you see an error or have additional information, please contact us.

ROM’s Louise Hawley Stone Collections Management System is a working database with a team of experts continuously adding new objects. With a collection as large and diverse as the ROM’s, some catalogue records may not reflect the current state of knowledge. Please send corrections or additional information to romcollections@rom.on.ca

This project was made possible by the generous support of Nancy and Jon Love.

The Royal Ontario Museum

https://collections.rom.on.ca/objects/209084/figure-of-isis-seated-with-the-infant-horus-on-her-lap?ctx=58fbccf7bf9d87bfd5ffd0d33203818aa0464611&idx=46

In ancient Egypt, names were a kind of spoken blessing — and Nakht was no exception. Translating to ‘strong’ or ‘the strong one’, this word shows up in tombs, papyri, and iconography across millennia as a personal name and title meaning strength, might, and resilience. The very choice of the name was a wish for power and protection — like a prayer etched into stone and sand.

When written in hieroglyphs, Nakht isn’t just a random collection of symbols — it’s a purposeful combination of images that conveys sound and meaning. Egyptian writing didn’t spell vowels the way modern alphabets do; instead, consonants were represented by clear, pictorial signs. For a word like Nakht, scribes would use a sequence of signs such as:

• the bread loaf sign for the “t” sound, a simple, semicircular shape familiar from everyday life (this sign is one of the phonetic building blocks of hieroglyphs);
• a water ripple sign for “n,” representing the life‑giving Nile itself; (water signs also stood for fluid, flowing sounds and the letter n);
• and an arm or branch‑like sign for the “kh/t” sound, emphasizing action and bodily strength. *

Together, these look like a tiny pictorial sentence carved into tomb walls — like seeing the idea of strength visualized as objects you might have touched or seen in ancient Egypt. The hieroglyph is not just a letter‑by‑letter script, but a visual code rooted in everyday life, nature, and cultural symbolism.

I recorded myself saying “Nakht” and turned the sound into a Cymatic image — a geometric pattern created by the vibrations of my voice. What’s fascinating is seeing how a human vocal sound can generate organic geometry in our world, and then comparing that modern pattern to these ancient visual building blocks. Both are ways of making the invisible visible — whether it’s sound waves turned into shapes or the soul of a name turned into sacred art.

Curious to hear thoughts — do you spot echoes of the actual hieroglyphic imagery in the pattern? Is there something about the way humans give form to words, ancient or modern, that speaks to a deeper connection between sound, shape, and meaning?

I wanted to see what this heavily Fragmentes stele might have looked like complete after AI.

sistrum

Object Type

sistrum

Museum number

EA34190

Description

Fragment of sistrum in the form of a naos: surmounted by a vulture with an uraeus between its outstretched wings; on each the head is missing; the naos has a slight batter and the volutes are at a narrow angle to it; the three holes on each side for the rods seem never to have been bored right through; there is an uraeus at the base of the naos, both front and back; on each the head is missing. The capital has sixteen uraei on the front, fifteen on the back, and seven on each side. The double Hathor head has a curled wig fastened in one place; the floral necklace has seven chains. There are four lateral uraei, on one side two with the white crown, on the other one with the red crown and one with the crown missing. There is a hole below for a handle, which is missing.

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about description

Cultures/periods

26th Dynasty

Findspot

Found/Acquired: Tell Basta (Bubastis), Said to be from Bubastis (?)

Africa: Egypt: Sharqiya, el- (Governorate - Egypt): Tell Basta (Bubastis)

Materials

glazed composition

Technique

glazed (pale green)

pierced

Dimensions

Length: 26 centimetres

Weight: 0.760 kilograms

Width: 8.90 centimetres

Depth: 3.20 centimetres

Curator's comments

Registration indicates it was attached to 38174 (sistrum handle).

Bibliographic references

Anderson 1976 / Musical Instruments (71)

Shaw & Nicholson 1995 / British Museum Dictionary of Ancient Egypt(p119)

Location

Not on display

Condition

fair (handle and rods missing and vulture head broken)

Subjects

ancient egyptian deity

Associated names

Representation of: Hathor

Acquisition name

Purchased from: Rev. Greville John Chester

Acquisition date

1882

Department

Egypt and Sudan

BM/Big number

EA34190

Registration number

1882,0127.157

The British Museum

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/image/414140001

Group statue of Ukhhotep II and his family

Egyptian

Middle Kingdom, Dyn. 12, reign of Senwosret II or III

1897–1842 B.C.

Object Place: Egypt, Meir, Tomb C1 (Ukhhotep)

MEDIUM/TECHNIQUE

Granodiorite

DIMENSIONS

Width x height x depth: 26 x 37 x 15 cm (10 1/4 x 14 9/16 x 5 7/8 in.)

CREDIT LINE

Museum purchase with funds by exchange from the Egypt Exploration Fund by subscription

ACCESSION NUMBER

1973.87

ON VIEW

Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood Gallery (Gallery 119)

COLLECTIONS

Ancient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East

CLASSIFICATIONS

Sculpture

PROVENANCE

From Meir, tomb C1 (Ukhhotep). 1912, purchased in Asyut for the Walters Art Gallery; 1973: acquired by the MFA from the Walters Art Gallery by exchange.

(Accession Date: Februaury 14, 1973

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

https://collections.mfa.org/objects/164286/group-statue-of-ukhhotep-ii-and-his-family?ctx=534fcd89-1d59-4f0a-b837-ca038c5dd839&idx=0

Ibsamboul, Colosse Médial (Enfoui) du Spéos de Phrè Nubie, Palestine et Syrie, [Google translate: lIbsamboul, Medial Colossus (Buried) of the Speos of Phrè Nubia, Palestine and Syria], plate 106 from the album “Egypte, Nubie, Palestine et Syrie” (1852)

Date:

1849/51, printed 1852

Artist:

Maxime Du Camp

French, 1822–1894

ABOUT THIS ARTWORK

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

Maxime Du Camp

Title

Ibsamboul, Colosse Médial (Enfoui) du Spéos de Phrè Nubie, Palestine et Syrie, plate 106 from the album "Egypte, Nubie, Palestine et Syrie" (1852)

Place

France (Artist's nationality:)

Date 

Made 1849–1851

Medium

Salted paper print

Inscriptions

Printed recto, on album page, upper center, above image, in black ink: "NUBIE."; recto, on album page, lower left, below image, in black ink: "Maxime Du Camp."; recto, on album page, lower right, below image, in black ink: "Gide et Baudry, Editeurs."; recto, on album page, lower center, in black ink: "IBSAMBOUL. / COLOSSE MÉDIAL DU SPÉOS DE PHRÈ. / Imprimerie Photographique de Blanquard-Evrard, à Lille. / Pl. 106."; unmarked verso

Dimensions

Image/paper: 20.2 × 16.2 cm (8 × 6 7/16 in.); Album page: 43.1 × 30 cm (17 × 11 13/16 in.)

Credit Line

Photography Gallery Fund

Reference Number

1959.608.106

IIIF Manifest 

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/144320/manifest.json

EXTENDED INFORMATION ABOUT THIS ARTWORK

PUBLICATION HISTORY

Du Camp, Maxime. 1852. “Egypte, Nubie, Palestine et Syrie.” Gide et J. Baudry. pl. 106.

EXHIBITION HISTORY

Art Institute of Chicago, “The Photographer’s Curator: Hugh Edwards at the Art Institute of Chicago, 1959-1970,” May 24-October 29, 2017. (Elizabeth Siegel)

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email collections@artic.edu. Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

The Art Institute of Chicago

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/144320/ibsamboul-colosse-medial-enfoui-du-speos-de-phre-nubie-palestine-et-syrie-plate-106-from-the-album-egypte-nubie-palestine-et-syrie-1852

Broad collar necklace (wesekh collar)

Gallery Location

Galleries of Africa: Egypt

Medium

Glazed composition (faience)

Geography

Excavated at Amarna, Egypt

Date

c. 1352-1336 BC

Period

Reign of Akhenaten, 18th Dynasty, Amarna Period, New Kingdom

Dimensions

19.3 x 24.1 cm

Object number

910.48.15

Cataloguer

Gayle Gibson ROM Staff, 1990-2015; ROM Volunteer 2015-Present

Collection

Egypt

Department

Art & Culture: Ancient Egypt & Nubia

Bibliography

Daniels, P. (1987). Eye of the beholder : objects for personal adornment. Toronto, Ontario: Royal Ontario Museum.

Heinrich, T. A. (1963). Art treasures in the Royal Ontario Museum. Toronto, Ontario: McClelland and Stewart.

DESCRIPTION

This colourful broad collar is made of Egyptian glazed composition, also known as Egyptian faience, the earliest form of "paste" jewellery. Faience was easy to make and relatively cheap so that everyone could probably afford some small item of body adornment. An elaborate broad collar such as this, however, would have been expensive, due to the number and colours of the beads, and the skilled labour put into its manufacture.

The beds in this collar come from the site of Amarna, Akhenaten's royal city, dating to about 1340 BC. It has been re-strung based on an example displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The beads are in the form of fruit, grapes, buds and leaves, typical for the era. The finials are in the form of lotus flowers, one of which is a reproduction. Both men and women wore such collars. 

At banquets and festivals, people wore collars made of flowers, fragrant leaves, small fruits and colourful beads stiched onto a papyrus backing.  This example, heavier and not fragrant, may have been made as funerary jewellery.

If you see an error or have additional information, please contact us.

ROM’s Louise Hawley Stone Collections Management System is a working database with a team of experts continuously adding new objects. With a collection as large and diverse as the ROM’s, some catalogue records may not reflect the current state of knowledge. Please send corrections or additional information to romcollections@rom.on.ca.

This project was made possible by the generous support of Nancy and Jon Love.

The Royal Ontario Museum

https://collections.rom.on.ca/objects/187585/broad-collar-necklace-wesekh-collar?ctx=94c47791ee4159703de38cb5eff6237d70d5e389&idx=132

Just got back from my second trip! Giza Plateau

Mummified child with portrait mask

Egyptian

Roman Imperial Period

about A.D. 50

Findspot: Egypt, Hawara

MEDIUM/TECHNIQUE

Encaustic (colored wax) on wood; linen; and human remains

DIMENSIONS

Height: 113 cm (44 1/2 in.)

CREDIT LINE

Egyptian Research Account by subscription

ACCESSION NUMBER

11.2892

ON VIEW

Egypt: Funerary Arts Gallery (Gallery 109)

COLLECTIONS

Africa and Oceania, Ancient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East

CLASSIFICATIONS

Tomb equipment – Mummy trappings

DESCRIPTION

An innovation of Roman times was the beautiful lifelike portrait painted onto a wooden panel to be inserted into the mummy bandages. Such portrait mummies are contemporary with cartonnage mummy masks but present a very different appearance. Because the majority have been found in the cemeteries of the Faiyum, an oasis west of the Nile, about 80.5 kilometers (50 miles) south of Cairo, they are traditionally called “Faiyum portraits.” But finds at other sites indicate that the practice was widespread. Portrait mummies were neither placed in coffins, nor were they even buried right away. Classical authors comment on the Egyptian practice of dining with the dead, and it appears that the wrapped mummies of relatives were kept in the home as cult objects for a generation or two before being consigned to burial.

Much attention has focused on the funerary panels as the only painted portraits in the Greco-Roman style to have survived from antiquity, especially as so many have been detached from their mummies and displayed independently. However, it is important not to lose sight of the mummy for which each funerary portrait was specifically made and of which it was an integral part. The complete ensemble consists of three parts: portrait, mummy, and footcase. The portrait presents a moving, if not haunting, and lifelike image of the deceased. The subject here is a young boy with round, dark eyes, and dark hair combed close to the scalp. A wisp of hair behind the right earmay represent a sidelock of youth. He wears a white tunic and a gold amulet case suspended by a black cord. The gilded lips are rare. The gold may symbolize the deceased’s transformation into an akh, or blessed spirit, a being of light.

The mummy has been bound lengthwise in a rhomboid or diamond pattern approximately three layers deep with gilded stucco studs in the center of each rhombus. Bands of linen across the chest secure a strip of cartonnage with gilded studs. Plain linen bands, perhaps once holding a similar strip, gird the ankles. The wrapped feet are enclosed in a cartonnage footcase. The upper part of the footcase is modeled in relief with the sandaled feet of the deceased painted pink with gilded toes and resting on a checkered floor. The soles of the sandals on the underside of the footcase (not visible in the photograph) are painted with figures of bound prisoners, a motif borrowed from the royal sphere, and symbolic of the deceased’s victory over opposing forces in the underworld.

Although the art of bandaging reached new heights in the Roman Period, mummification itself lagged behind, and the fancy wrapping conceals shoddy preservation of the body. Even x-rays have not allowed experts to determine whether the occupant was a boy or girl. However, the lack of any specifically female clothing or adornment may indicate that the coffin was intended for a boy.

PROVENANCE

From Hawara. Excavated by William Flinders Petrie for the Egyptian Research Account; awarded to the Egyptian Research Account by the government of Egypt; given to the MFA by the Egyptian Research Account.

(Accession Date: December 7, 1911)

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

https://collections.mfa.org/objects/45976/mummified-child-with-portrait-mask?ctx=33eb816c-abee-44bd-901d-f04150ab7675&idx=33

Striding Statue of Minnefer

c. 2377–2311 BCE

Egypt, Giza, Old Kingdom (2647–2124 BCE), Dynasty 5

Medium

Painted limestone

Measurements

Overall: 53.8 x 14.4 x 23.4 cm (21 3/16 x 5 11/16 x 9 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund1948.420

You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Location

107 Egyptian

Did You Know?

In the Old Kingdom, wigs like the one Minnefer wears here were used to demonstrate higher social status.

Description

The base of this statue is inscribed with the name and title of the supervisor of palace attendants, Minnefer. He is represented as young and athletic, hands at his sides and left foot forward, the typical striding pose for male figures. To make the statue more lifelike, the flesh areas were originally painted reddish brown, the wig black, and the kilt white. This was one of four statues of Minnefer that were found in the serdab (sealed statue chamber) of his ruined mastaba (tomb) in the cemetery west of the Great Pyramid at Giza. Most Old Kingdom private statues were concealed in this way. The statue was regarded as more than just a representation. Once the proper rites had been performed, it functioned as a substitute for the deceased individual and could partake of food offerings necessary for the survival of his ka, or vital spirit.

Provenance

1936-1948

Giza, western cemetery, tomb G 2427, excavations of the Boston Museum-Harvard University Expedition, 1936, register no. 36-5-40. Formerly in the Egyptian collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 37.637

Citations

Reisner, George A. "Note on objects assigned to the museum by the Egyptian government." Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts 36, no. 214 (1938): 26-32. Mentioned: p. 26; Reproduced: p. 27, fig. 2

Smith, William Stevenson, and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A History of Egyptian Sculpture and Painting in the Old Kingdom. London: Pub. on behalf of the Museum of fine arts, Boston, U.S.A., by the Oxford University Press, G. Cumberlege (1946): 75 (2427, 4) Mentioned: p. 75

Comstock, Helen. "The Connoisseur in America: An Egyptian Statuette of the Old Kingdom." The Connoisseur 124 (December 1949): p. 114-120, reproduced on p. 120. Mentioned: p. 114-120; Reproduced: p. 120.

Wunderlich, Silvia. "An Old Kingdom Egyptian Statuette." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 36, no. 4 (April 1949): 43-44. Reproduced: front cover; Mentioned: p. 43 www.jstor.org

Wunderlich, Silvia. "Diorite Torso of a General." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 36, no. 6 (June 1949): 99-101. Mentioned: p. 100 www.jstor.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 3 archive.org

Cleveland Museum of Art, and Martha L. Carter. Egyptian Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: The Museum, 1963. Reproduced: p. 4; Mentioned: p. 5 archive.org

Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač. Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999 Reproduced: p. 126-127; Mentioned: p. 126-127

Gresser, Noah. "The Effects of the Late Egyptian Canon on Greek Statues." CORVUS: The Journal of the Carleton University Classics Society,XIII. Carleton University (2022-2023): 47-74. Mentioned: p. 49-53; Reproduced: p. 63, fig. 4.

Cite this Page

{{cite web|title=Striding Statue of Minnefer|url=https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1948.420|author=|year=c. 2377–2311 BCE|access-date=16 April 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Cleveland Museum of Art

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1948.420

The Spanish archaeological mission affiliated with the University of Barcelona and the Institute of the Ancient Near East, headed by Dr. Maite Mascort and Dr. Esther Pons Mellado, has successfully uncovered a Roman-era tomb in the Al-Bahnasa area in Minya Governorate during its excavation work at the site.

The excavation revealed a number of Roman-era mummies some wrapped in linen decorated with geometric patterns.

Along with wooden coffins. The team also discovered three golden tongues and another made of copper, as well as evidence of the use of gold leaf on some mummies.

Dr. Hisham El-Leithy, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, explained that this discovery provides new insights into funerary practices in the city of Al-Bahnasa during the Greek and Roman periods. He also noted that the mission uncovered a rare papyrus inside one of the mummies, containing a text from Book Two of the Iliad by Homer, which includes a description of the participants in the Greek campaign against Troy, known as the “Catalogue of Ships.” This discovery adds an important literary and historical dimension to the site.

Mr. Mohamed Abdel-Badie, Head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, He added that excavation work east of Ptolemaic Tomb No. (67), discovered during the 2024 season, led to the opening of a trench containing three rooms built of limestone, of which only limited remains survive.

He explained that in the first room, a stone slab and a large jar containing cremated human remains of an adult were found, Along with the bones of an infant and the head of an animal from the feline family, all wrapped in pieces of textile. The second room contained a similar jar with the cremated remains of two individuals, in addition to bones of an animal from the same family.

To the south of the site, small terracotta and bronze figurines were discovered, including figures representing the god Harpocrates as a horseman and a small statue of Cupid.

Dr. Hassan Amer, Professor of Archaeology at the Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo University, and Director of the mission’s excavations, stated that work in Tomb No. (65) revealed golden and copper tongues, along with several Roman mummies and painted wooden coffins inside an underground burial chamber (hypogeum). However, these were found in a deteriorated condition due to ancient looting.

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