Bust of Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II

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Egyptian Museum, Turin, Italy. Dynasty 19th 1250 B.C.

The most celebrated of all Pharaohs, Ramses II, is well known for the length of his reign, the numerous temples he built and his military campaigns, such as the battle of Kadesh where Ramses II, facing the army of Muwattali, King of the Hittites found himself surrounded by 2500 Hittite Charioteers with only his personal bodyguard to help him. As the enemy closed in around him, Pharaoh leaped into his chariot, tied the reins around his waist to leave his hands free, sent forth a great cry for help to Amun and charged six times against the Hittites, finally breaking through and winning the battle. Ramses II was the son of Seti I and was crowned Pharaoh in 1290 b.c. when he was 18 years old. Ramses II had many wives but the first and favorite chief Queen was Nefertari. Ramses died at the age of 85 after ruling Egypt for 67 years. This bust from a seated statue of Ramses II is a portrait of the young King in which grace and grandeur are intermixed.

 
 

Bust of Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut Sculpture

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Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 18th Dynasty 1500 B.C.

Upon the death of her father, Tuthmosis I, Hatshepsut became sole legitimate heir. Tradition demanded however, that only a male heir could ascend the throne. Hatshepsut married her half-brother Tuthmosis II, who died prematurely. Once again it was a stepson, Tuthmosis III, born of a concubine, who was crowned. Serving first as a regent for the young king, Hatshepsut assumed the royal title in the second year and ruled egypt for two prosperous and relatively peaceful decades. This bust derives from one of the statues placed throughout her magnificent funerary temple at Keir el Bahri which was intended to both legitimize and commemorate her rule. The statue shows the great Queen in idealized masculine guise. Nevertheless, the prim little face and the delicate figure give a distinctly feminine impression.
 
 

Egyptian Queen Nefertari Sculpture

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Tomb of Nefertari, Valley of the Queens, Luxor. 19th Dynasty 1270 B.C.

The tomb of Nefertari, from which this wall fragment comes, is the largest architectural and decorative enterprise ever dedicated to a Pharaoh’s wife. Nefertari was the chief Queen and favorite wife of Ramses II. The name Nefertari means “the most beautiful of them”. Ramses II devoted the minor temple of Abu Simbel to the Goddess Hathor and dedicated it to Nefertari. There,identified with the Goddess, Nefertari intensely participated in the divine cult. Nefertari gave Ramses II his firstborn son as well as three other sons and two daughters. Nefertari died in her forties. Nefertari is standing with arms raised in signal of adoration towards an altar where Osiris is seated and Anubis is standing. The Queen, dressed in white ceremonial garb, wears the crown with the vulture headdress of Nekhbet, the protective Goddess of Upper Egypt.
 
 

Egyptian God Anubis Box

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Egyptian Museum, CairoDynasty XVIII, 1347-1237 B.C. Egyptian Museum, Cairo

This statue of Anubis in the form of a black jackal was found in the entrance to the chamber known as the “treasury”, and was turned to face the burial chamber. It rested upon a chest in the shape of a temple or shrine, mounted upon a portable sledge with four carrying poles. The statue is carved of wood which was then stuccoed and coated with a black resin. The interior of the ears, the scarf and the collar are gilded. Anubis is essentially a funerary god, venerated as the lord of the necropolis. He guides the dead in the next world, watches over them and is considered the inventor of mummification. He is the one who introduces the deceased into the tribunal of judges for the weighing of the heart. This statue was in all probability borne in the funeral procession, and was later deposited at the entrance to the chamber which held the canopic chest. Thus it fulfills the guardian role of this god.
 
 

Egyptian Symbol Ankh Sculpture

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Egyptian Museum, Cairo Dynasty XVIII, 1347-1337 B.C.

Only Kings, Queens and Gods were allowed to carry this symbol. The ankh is the Egyptian sign of life and indicates that the King or God holding it has the power to give life or take it away from lesser mortals. The Ankh as a symbol of the life giving elements of air and water was often used by a God or Goddess who holds the ankh before the King’s nose, giving him the “breath of life” or as streams of water in the form of ankhs running over the King during ritual purification. The ancient original of this reproduction was a case cover for a mirror and it was part of the funerary treasures found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun.
 
 

Egyptian God Anubis Relief Wall Plaque

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Anubis, God of the Dead, represented with a head of a jackal or simply as a jackal opened the road to the other world and presided over embalmments. After a funeral, Anubis would take the deceased by the hand and introduce him into the presence of the sovereign judges where the soul of the deceased would be weighed. Anubis was the Guardian of Offerings brought to the ceremony by heirs of the deceased and he also guarded the mummy from evil forces in the night. When the body was embalmed, a priest wearing a jackal mask acted as Anubis's representative. He also was the guardian of the Sacred Esoteric Mysteries. The origin of this God lay in the fact that jackals could be heard howling in the desert to the west of the Nile at sunset-at the time when burials took place. Here, Anubis is shown carrying the long ‘was’ scepter and the crook and flail, symbols of kingship.
 
 

Egyptian Goddess Selket Sculpture

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Egyptian Museum, Cairo Dynasty XVIII, 1347-1337 B.C.

She is one of the four protector goddesses who, with gracefully outstretched arms protect the gilded wooded shrine that houses the alabaster chest containing the four canopic jars which hold the royal viscera of King Tutankhamun. Her responsibility is to protect Qebehsenuef, god guarding the intestines. She is usually represented as a lady whose head is surmounted by a scorpion with it’s tail raised ready to sting. Selket has healing powers over venomous bites and she was patroness of magician-medics dealing with poisonous bites. She was also known as “lady of the beautiful house” referring to her association with the embalmer’s tent. Here she is dressed like a queen. The khat headdress adorns the head and tumbles down over the back; a large collar covers the shoulders. The pleated shawl is tied at the waist, partially covering the elegant, long pleated robe tied with hanging sashes. Selket turns her head slightly to one side as if to ward off some danger.
 
 

Egyptian Goddess Isis Statue

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The name Isis means “seat” or “throne”. She was regarded as the symbolical mother of the King. In myth, she sought her dead husband and brother, Osiris, conceived her son Horus by him, buried and mourned him together with her sister Nephtys. Isis was regarded as the “Eye of Ra” and was worshipped as the “Great of Magic” who had protected her son Horus from snakes, predators and other dangers: thus she would protect mortal children also. The ancient Egyptians regarded the Goddess as the “Eye of Ra”. Here she carries the ankh and the papyrus scepter of Goddesses; the horns and sun disk of Hathor. She wears a feather dress and a headdress composed of a vulture, showing that she was identified with the Goddess Mut.
 
 

Egyptian Goddess Winged Isis Sculpture

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This sculpture shows the Goddess Isis with her wings extended in a pose of protection. The name Isis means "Seat" or "Throne". She was regarded as the symbolical mother of the King. In myth she sought her dead husband and brother, Osiris, conceived her son Horus by him, buried him and mourned him together with her sister Nephtys. Isis was regarded as the “Eye of Ra” and was worshipped as the "Great of Magic" who had protected her son Horus from snakes, predators and other dangers; thus she would protect mortal children also. In the New Kingdom Isis was closely connected with Hathor whose physical attributes, the cow's horns and sun-disk she adopted.
 
 

Egyptian goddess Winged Isis Wall Plaque

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Tomb of Seti I, Valley of the Kings. Luxor, Egypt 1280 B.C.

This sculpture shows Isis with her wings extended in a pose of protection. The name Isis means "Seat" or "Throne". She was regarded as the symbolical mother of the King. In myth she sought her dead husband and brother, Osiris, conceived her son Horus by him, buried him and mourned him together with her sister Nephtys. Isis was regarded as the “Eye of Ra” and was worshipped as the "Great of Magic" who had protected her son Horus from snakes, predators and other dangers; thus she would protect mortal children also. In the New Kingdom Isis was closely connected with Hathor whose physical attributes, the cow's horns and sun-disk she adopted.