Idle Expectations

What was that again about the ethnicity of the ancient Egyptians?

(Source: Mummies and Death in Egypt, F. Dunand & R. Lichtenberg)

ancientpeoples:

Funeral vessel

Naqada II Period (Egypt)

The vessel has a slender barrel shape with a flat bottom and a moulded rim. It is made of a light-coloured clay. Two cylinder handles for suspending ropes are attached to the shoulder. The walls of the vessel have been sectioned by the reddish brown painted decoration. In the bottom half, a row of flamingos is represented on top of a series of triangles. Between the cylinder handles are images of ships complete with their oars, cabins, and standards. Their prows are decorated with a stylized structure made of reeds. These figurative drawings with their regulating divisions and series of motifs were of great importance for the development of Egyptian two-dimensional art. The small size of this jar suggests that it was intended for the storage of precious liquids placed in the tomb for use by the deceased in his otherworldly existence.

ancientpeoples:

Book of the Dead of Neferrenpet

From the reign of Ramesess II (New Kingdom 19th Dynasty)

Found at Deir el Medina

Beginning in the New Kingdom, the Egyptians customarily placed in their tombs funerary texts taken from the ‘Book of the Dead’. They were written on shrouds, tomb walls, funerary objects (such as shabtis or scarabs), and above all on papyrus rolls which were wrapped with the mummy. The ‘Book of the Dead’ of the sculptor Neferrenpet dates from c. 1250 BC, and the texts are written in so-called ‘cursive hieroglyphs’ in vertical columns; they are accompanied by ‘vignettes’ (illustrations) which emphasize their magical content. The deceased was supposed to recite the formulae to counteract the dangers of the Hereafter.

ancientpeoples:

Statue of Senwosret III

Middle Kingdom

Only the head of this royal figure survives, so we have no inscriptions to identify the ruler who commissioned it. Nevertheless, its attribution to Senwosret III is certain owing to the resemblance of this portrait to explicitly dated ones, and to certain stylistic features meant to show the Pharaoh’s unhappiness with issues in his kingdom. The striped headcloth (also know as a nemes) with its raised cobra frames a broad masculine face. The eyes are deeply set with heavy lids and there are folds indicated beneath the eyes. These are features encountered on other portraits of the same king, and there is no doubt that they correspond to the actual features of the king in life. This period is known for its realism in art, which is particularly apparent in the treatment of the planes of the face, which depict the anatomical structure of the bones, muscles and skin with great accuracy. The temples are slightly sunken, whereas the forehead appears slightly bulbous underneath the tight headcloth. On either side of the straight, severe mouth the muscles appear strong, giving the face with its massive chin an almost brutal expression. The headcloth breaks off at the bottom in an irregular manner, which proves that the head was not attached to a human body, but to that of a lion. The headcloth extends too far to the rear to have covered mere human shoulders. On the shoulders of a lion it would blend with the body harmoniously. Senwosret III was a powerful ruler who succeeded in subjugating the provincial nobility. He also led his armies far into Nubia and into Palestine. His reign saw advancements in many fields, including the arts.

Hey look, it’s my USB stick.

Why, yes, I have named my electronics after Egyptian kings, why ever should I not? 

ancientpeoples:

18th Dynasty Kohl pot

Made from wood and ivory

The pot has five holes in it and some remains of the stibium used to paint the eyes, the lid is of ivory with ebony and ivory pegs. One of the holes is smaller and holds the kohl stick. Inscribed down the front is a vertical line of text, coloured yellow.

Kohl pots were used to store “kohl” which was the iconic black eye make up you see in Ancient Egyptian art. Kohl was used almost like ancient sunglasses as putting it around the eyes lessened the sun’s glare. There were also some medicinal properties in kohl, such as an antibacterical fuction, which kept eyes clean and infection free. 

ancientpeoples:

The Ancient Egyptian family is somewhat of a complex construction much like today’s modern families. 

The basic terms for family members are:

 hi (pronounced hē) husband     nbt-hi  (pronounced nebet hē) wife (literally: possessor of husband)

 it (pronounced ēt) father     mwt (pronounced muwt) mother

 sAt (pronounced saat) daughter   sA (pronounced saa) son

  snt (pronounced senet) sister  sn (pronounced sen) brother

   Abt  (pronounced abet) family

However some of these terms could be used to represent other members of the extended family as well. In particular the terms sn and snt (brother and sister) could be used to mean cousin, uncle, aunt or other family members. This makes it difficult to make a comprehensive family tree of areas like Deir el Medina as it is not always clear just how people mentioned in texts are related to each other (there are a lot of social type texts found at this site particularly to do with daily life, wills, legal documents etc). 

The terms sA and sAt (son and daughter) can also be confusing as a man might refer to his wife as his daughter in a legal text. We can see an example of this in a document known as the “Adoption Papyrus” whereby a man adopts his wife as his daughter so that she may inherit his property on his death and in another section talks about a woman adopting her servants, which I will talk about below.

Year 1, 3rd month of Summer, day 20, under the Majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Ramesses (XI). On this day, proclamation to Amun of the shining forth of this noble god, he arising and shining forth and making offering to Amun. 
Thereupon Neb-nufe, my husband, made a writing for me, the musician of Seth Nanufe, and made me a daughter of his, and wrote down for me all he possessed, having no son or daughter apart from myself. ‘All profit that I have made with her, I will bequeath it to Nanufe, my wife, and if <any of> my own brothers or sisters arise to confront her at my death tomorrow or thereafter and say “Let my brother’s share be given (to me) —-.” ‘
Before many and numerous witnesses: … 

Behold, I have made the bequest to Rennufe, my wife, this day before Huy-irymu, my sister.’

This was probably be because the couple was unable to have any children of their own and thus, to prevent legal issues with the rest of the man’s family, he adopted his wife to make her the sole heir. 

Families might also adopt their servants (Slaves would be the wrong term to use here as they were not “slaves” in the modern sense of the word. These people were well looked after and were considered part of the family). Servants would be adopted when a couple had no children of their own and therefore wished to pass their belongings on to someone. So a servant might be referred to in a text as “Neferhotep son of his Mistress Mutemhab” meaning that he was a servant adopted by the family he worked for and therefore part of that family. They would then be known as “freemen/women” who were then recognised in society as full Egyptians and any children they might have would also then be full Egyptians. 

Now behold, I have made her a freewoman of the land of Pharaoh, and if she bears either son or daughter, they shall be freemen of the land of Pharaoh in exactly the same way, they being with the stable-master Padiu, this younger brother of mine. And the children shall be with their elder sister in the house of Padiu, this stable-master, this younger brother of mine, and today I make him a son of mine exactly like them.’

ancientpeoples:

Belt Hook in the Shape of a Horned Dragon

3rd–1st century B.C.

China

Made from gilded bronze and glass

ancientpeoples:

Necklace with pendants

Iron Age

4th-5th Century BC

Iberian Peninsula 

ancientpeoples:

Ivory Unguent Box of Queen Nefertari

New Kingdom, Ramesside Period (19th Dynasty)

ancientpeoples:

Celtic Sword and Scabbard

Iron blade in a copper alloy scabbard 

c.60 BC

The hilt has been made to end in a celtic warrior. The scabbard has become amalgamated with the blade over time which has led to the unusual surface textures. The sword type is associated with the La Tene culture near Lake Neuchatel, Switzerland and Eastern France.  

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art

ancientpeoples:

Headband with Heads of Gazelles and a Stag Between Stars or Flowers

Dynasty 15 (Second Intermediate Period)

During the late twelfth and then the thirteenth dynasty, late in the Middle Kingdom, people from western Asia established themselves among the Egyptian inhabitants of the eastern Nile Delta, especially at a place later called Avaris (now Tell el-Dab’a). A multicultural mix was thus established that culminated during Dynasty 15 in the rule of a line of kings now known as the Hyksos (from the Egyptian phrase “rulers of foreign lands”) who resided at Avaris but dominated a good part of northern and middle Egypt, while the south remained under the indigenous Dynasty 17 of Thebes. The northern “Hyksos” culture combined Egyptian and Middle Bronze Age Levantine traditions. This diadem, with animal heads alternating with flowers, has Near Eastern affinities and is typical of the commingling of artistic styles.

ancientpeoples:

Necklace with the head of the Egyptian God Bes

6th-4th Century BC

Achaemenid Period 

In the 5th century B.C. a homogeneous style of Persian court art and architecture was created that derived from the practices of the peoples that the Achaemenid kings ruled over: Ionian Greeks, Lydians, Mesopotamians and Egyptians.

Rich in figural imagery, this necklace is made up of Achaemenid elements, with a head of Bes, an Egyptian god; plaques of a male figure with a horse; and lotus terminals. Depictions of a double-winged Ahura Mazda are rendered in cloisonné on a circular gold earring. Parallels for this jewelry come from the sites of Susa and Pasargadae in southern Iran.