The Tutankhamun Collection: Basic Funeral Equipment, The Egyptian museum in Cairo
The author: Professor Yasser Metwally
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Golden Death Mask of Tutankhamun
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An Outer (second) Coffin
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Wood Shrine Overlaid with Gold Sheet
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Canopic Chest
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Goddess Selket, Protecting Tutankhamun’s Shrine
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Goddess Isis Protecting Tutankhamun’s Shrine
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Sarcophagus of Brown Quartzite
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Canopic Chest
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Innermost Golden Coffin
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Miniature Canopic Coffin
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Painted Casket.
Slide show 1. The Tutankhamun Collection: Basic Funeral Equipment
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Gold Death Mask of Tutankhamun
This mask of solid gold, beaten and burnished, was placed over the head and shoulders of Tutankhamun’s mummy, outside the linen bandages in which the whole body was wrapped. It weighs about twenty – four pounds. Although it is difficult to judge how closely the face represents a true likeness of the king, it is at least an approximation. The rather narrow eyes, the shape of the nose, the fleshy lips, and the cast of the chin are all in agreement with the features visible in his mummy, and the whole countenance is unmistakably youthful. Perhaps it is slightly idealized, but essentially it seems to be a faithful portrait.
The stripes of the nemes headdress are made of blue glass in imitation of lapis lazuli, and the same material has been used for the inlay of the plaited false beard. The vulture’s head upon the brow, symbolizing sovereignty over Upper Egypt, is also made of solid gold, apart from the beak, which is made of horn-colored glass, and the inlay of the eyes, which is missing. By its side is the cobra, symbolizing sovereignty over Lower Egypt, its body made of solid gold, its head of dark blue faience, its eyes of gold cloisonne inlaid with translucent quartz backed with a red pigment, and its hood inlaid with carnelian, lapis lazuli, turquoise-colored glass, and quartz. The eyebrows, eyelids, and kohl marks extending sideways from the eyes are made of lapis lazuli and the eyes of quartz and obsidian. Caruncles (small red patches) are shown on the inner and outer canthi of the eyes – a frequent mistake in Egyptian reproductions of the human eye, which in nature shows a caruncle on the inner canthus only. The lobes of the ears are pierced for earrings, but when the mask was found the holes were covered with disks of gold foil. A triple-string necklace of gold and faience disk beads has also been removed from the mask in order to reveal the neck. On the chest, extending from shoulder to shoulder, is a broad collar encrusted with segments of lapis lazuli, quartz, and green feldspar with a lotus-bud border of colored-glass cloisonne work. At each end of the collar is a terminal in the form of a falcon’s head of gold encrusted with obsidian and colored glass.
The inscription engraved on the shoulders and on the back of the mask is a spell that first appears on masks of the Middle Kingdom, some five hundred years before the time of Tutankhamun. It was later incorporated in the Book of the Dead (Chapter 151 B). Intended for the protection of the mask, it identifies its various parts with the corresponding physical members of different gods, addressing them individually:
"…Your right eye is the night bark [of the sun god], your left eye is the day bark, your eyebrows are [those of] the Ennead of the Gods, your forehead is [that of] Anubis, the nape of your neck is [that of] Horus, your locks of hair are [those of] Ptah-Soker. [You are] in front of the Osiris [Tutankhamun], he sees thanks to you, you guide him to the goodly ways, you smite for him the confederates of Seth so that he may overthrow your enemies before the Ennead of the Gods in the great Castle of the Prince, which is in Heliopolis…the Osiris, the king of Upper Egypt Nebkheperura, deceased, given life like Ra."
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An Outer (second) Coffin of Wood Overlaid with Gold and Semiprecious Stones
It is hard to imagine the amount of work which must have been put into making this coffin. Carved in wood, it was first overlaid with sheet gold on a thin layer of plaster. Narrow strips of gold, placed on edge, were then soldered to the base to form cells in which small pieces of colored glass, fixed with cement, were laid. The technique is know as Egyptian cloisonne work, but it is not true cloisonne because the glass was already shape before being put in the cells (cloisons), and not put in the cells in powder form and fused by heating.
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Golden Shrine
Tutankhamun’s small shrine is in the form of the sanctuary of Nekhbet mounted on a sledge. It is made of wood overlaid with a layer of gesso and covered with sheet gold. The wooden sledge is overlaid with silver. Carter was of the opinion that the gesso was first modeled in relief and the plain sheet gold was then pressed against it until it had registered the impression of the modeling, the outer face of the gold being finally chased. It seems doubtful, however, whether the gesso, even reinforced by gossamer-like linen, which a recent examination has shown to be present on both faces of the exposed gesso on the inside of one of the doors, would have had the strength to withstand the amount of pressure and friction involved in the process. If this doubt is valid, the scenes and inscriptions must have been worked on the gold itself; the gold sheets would then have been put face downward on a flat surface and covered with a piece of linen; the gesso in a liquid state would have been poured on the back of the linen so that it filled the depressions on the reverse side of the gold and, while it was still soft, the second piece of linen would have been applied to the outer surface. The purpose of the gesso would thus have been to give support to the decoration on the gold and to provide a flat surface for attachment to the wooden walls, roof, and door.
Every exposed surface of the shrine is covered with scenes, inscriptions, or some other kind of decoration, all in relief, of which the following are the principal:
Roof: Fourteen vultures of the goddess Nekhbet, with outstretched wings, are represented in relief on the top of the roof, seven on each side of a single column of inscription giving the names and titles of the king and queen. The vultures hold in their talons the hieroglyphic sign for "infinity" (shen). Cartouches bearing the names of either the king or the queen occupy the space at each side of the talons. On the front of the roof is the winged disk of Horus of Behdet, the place being named in the inscriptions at the tips of the wings. A winged uraeus with the "infinity" sign between its wings occupies the entire length of each of the vertical sides of the roof.
Front: Beneath the roof on all four sides and projecting outward at the top is a cavetto cornice with a torus molding at the base. The whole of the front of the shrine is in the form of a doorway, the lintel of which is decorated with the winged disk of Horus of Behdet and the jambs bear inscriptions describing the king as "the son of Ptah and Sekhmet", and as "the image of Ra who does what is beneficial to him who begat him". In each case he is proclaimed as "beloved of [the goddess] Uret Hekau", a name meaning "The Great Enchantress", who is called in another inscription on the shrine "Lady of the Palace".
Each of the two doors is provided at the top and bottom with pivots, which fit into sockets, one in the lintel and the other in the floor of the sledge, and with a silver bolt that slides through two gold staples into a third staple in the other door. Two additional staples, side by side in the middle of each door, were intended for a sealed tie. On the outer faces of the door are representations of incidents in the daily life of the king and queen, arranged in three panels on each door. The uppermost panel on the left had door shows the queen in a plumed headdress standing with hands upraised before the king, who hold in his right hand the crook and scepter and in his left a lapwing. In the corresponding panel on the right hand door and on both the middle panels, the queen holds out bunches of flowers toward the king and in the middle panel on the right she also holds a sistrum. The queen’s headdress in two of these scenes is surmounted by a cone of unguent, flanked in one instance by uraei with the sun’s disk. In the middle panels the king is seated on a stool and on a chair, both with thick cushions. He wears the blue crown on the left and the nemes headdress on the right. In the bottom panels, on the left side, the queen holds the king’s arm with both hands and, on the right, the king’s hand with her left hand, while extending a blue lotus and buds toward him in her right hand.
The gold overlay from the inner face of the left hand door is lost, but it is evident from the damaged impression on the surviving gesso that its decoration was very similar to that of the right hand door. Sandwiched between two panels that are entirely filled with the king’s cartouches and supporting uraei is another scene of the queen holding a bunch of flowers and a sistrum toward the king. In this case her headdress is surmounted by lyriform horns and the sun’s disk with two high plumes. At the bottom are two lapwings with outstretched human arms, both mounted on the hieroglyphic sign for "all" (neb) and having a five pointed star (dua) beneath the arms, thus forming a kind of monogram meaning "adoration of all people".
Sides: The toprails and two stiles of both sides are inscribed with the names and titles of the king and queen, followed by the words "beloved of the Great Enchantress" with or without the epithet "Lady of the Palace".
On the left side, in the upper register, the king stands in a boat made of papyrus stems throwing a boomerang, but the quarry – wild fowl rising from the papyrus marshes – is not shown. The queen stands behind him as an onlooker; in her left hand she holds a flail or perhaps a fly whisk. The king, who wears a corselet on the upper part of his body and over it two representations of falcons, holds in his left hand four birds that may represent his "bag" or may be tame fowl used as decoys. In the clump of papyrus behind the prow of the boat can be seen a nest with two fledglings. The right hand portion of this register is occupied with a scene that, although different in detail, repeats the theme of the bottom panel on the outside of the left hand door. In the present setting it seems out of place.
A second fowling scene is represented in the lower register. The action is not conducted from a boat, but on the bank at the edge of a papyrus swamp. The king is seated on a stool with a thick cushion, his tame lion is by his side, and the queen squats on a cushion at his feet. Behind his head is the vulture of Nekhbet. He is in the act of shooting an arrow at birds rising from the swamp, one of which has already been hit. The string of his bow has been delineated by the artist as though it passed around the king’s neck. His quiver hands down behind him, suspended on a strap from his shoulder. The queen holds an arrow in her hand, ready to pass it to the king. With her other hand she seems to be pointing at the fledglings in the nest, perhaps urging the king to take care not to hurt them.
The other (right) side has four scenes, all of an unusual kind. In the left of the top register the queen extends toward the king a sistrum and a necklace with an elaborate counterpoise. At the front of the counterpoise are the head and shoulders of a goddess, surmounted by cow’s horns and the sun’s disk and having the uraeus on her brow. Human hands project from beneath her collar, each hand holding a sign for "life" (ankh) toward the king. The identity of the goddess is revealed as the Great Enchantress in the inscription beneath the necklace. Addressing the king, the queen says: "Adoration in peace, receive the Great Enchantress, O Ruler, beloved of Amun!"
In the second scene in the top register the king, seated on a cushioned chair, holds out a vessel containing flowers and the queen pours water into the vessel from a vase in her right hand. In her left hand she holds a lotus flower and bud and a poppy.
On the left of the lower register the king pours water from a vessel into the cupped right hand of the queen. Her left elbow rests on his knee. The king, holding a bouquet of lotus flowers and poppies, sits on a stool covered with a cushion and an animal skin. What appear to be balls under the claw feet are in reality the ends of rounded crossbars. In the right hand scene the queen is tying the king’s floral collar behind his neck while he sits in a chair festooned with flowers. Nekhbet’s vulture hovers over his head.
Back: Two scenes decorate the back. In the uppermost the queen stoops toward the king, her right hand touching his left arm. In her left hand she holds, in addition to a bunch of lotus flowers and buds hanging downward, an unguent-cone holder mounted on a stand and decorated with lotus flowers. A comparable scene on the back panel of the golden throne found in the tomb shows the queen anointing the king with unguent from a vessel; the scene on the shrine seems to represent an action of a very similar kind.
In the lower scene the king, seated on a throne and wearing the crown of Lower Egypt, raises his left hand to receive from the queen two notched palm ribs, the hieroglyphic signs for "years". Within these signs are the symbols for jubilee festivals and also amuletic signs in groups. They are attached at the bottom to single tadpoles – the sign for "one hundred thousand" – mounted on the sign for "infinity". The inscription behind the king reads: "The Son of Ra, Lord of crowns, Tutankhamun has appeared in glory on the throne of Horus like Ra".
In spite of the intimate nature of the scenes in general, at least three – the two on the back wall and the presentation of the necklace and counterpoise – depict episodes in the coronation of the king; they are, moreover, ceremonies for which there is some evidence that, in the late Eighteenth Dynasty, they were performed by the queen. It seems likely, therefore, that one of the purposes of the shrine was to commemorate the king’s coronation, and through the processes of magic to renew his coronation, and through the processes of magic to renew his coronation in the afterlife.
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Canopic Chest
When the gilded outer casing of the canopic shrine was removed, the canopic chest itself stood revealed, draped with a dark linen sheet (1.5 by 4.5 meters) folded over 3 times. Although examples of such chests had been encountered before, the pristine beauty now exposed was something quite new. With the shroud removed, it could be seen that the chest had been carved from a single block of delicately veined and semi-translucent calcite, picked out in contrasting dark blue pigment and with a gilded dado of double djed and tyet symbols. It stood upon a second wooden sled, gessoed and gilded in the usual manner and fitted at its northern and southern sides with four huge staples of silver-sheet covered bronze intended to serve as handles. Its sloping lid, which separated from the box below the cavetto cornice, was decorated at the front with the winged solar disc of Horus-of-Behdet. It was attached to the chest by means of cords passing through four pairs of gold staples, two pairs to either side, sealed with the ubiquitous jackal and nine captives motif. The chest decorated at its four corners with images of Isis (southwest corner), Nephthys (northwest), Selkis (northeast), and Neith (southeast), sculpted in high relief to the traditional proportions, while the front was dominated by a second winged disc surmounting six vertical columns of text spoken by the goddesses positioned to either side; further invocations are present on either side and the rear of the chest.
With the lid of the canopic chest removed, four human-headed stoppers were exposed, arranged in pairs, those on the east facing west and the lids on the west facing east. Exquisitely modeled in calcite, each lid represents the king wearing the nemes-headcloth with separately modeled vulture head and uraeus. All four are hollowed out underneath and carry a symbol painted in black on the shoulder to identify the compartment for which they were intended. The facial features are carefully picked out with black, with dabs of red for the lips.
These detachable lids concealed four cylindrical hollows, the king’s canopic ‘jars’, drilled into the matrix of the chest proper. Each hollow contained a single linen-wrapped and resin-smeared coffinette of beaten gold, all four closely similar in design to the second coffin, inlaid in rishi, or feathered-pattern with colored glass and carnelian; these coffinettes contained the embalmed and carefully wrapped viscera of the dead king. On each of these coffins, which are 39cm high, is inlaid the name of the appropriate protecting genius with whom the king’s internal organs were identified – Imsety the liver, Hapy the lungs, Duamutef the stomach, and Qebhsenuef the intestines – the four ‘sons of Horus’. Over them, perhaps before their introduction into the tomb since the canopic lids were displaced slightly, had been poured the black resin already encountered on the king’s coffins and mummy.
The same lack of care noted in the arrangement of the large gilded shrines was evident in the canopic equipment also. The positions of the free-standing gilded deities Nephthys and Selkis had been transposed, and a similar mistake had been made in the placement of two of the inlaid coffinettes. A heap of wooden chips, detached during the fitting of the gilded wooden canopy, had been abandoned on the Treasury floor.
As with other objects from the king’s burial furniture, there are indications that certain elements of the canopic assemblage had not originally been prepared for Tutankhamun, but were surplus items left over from the unused funerary equipment of a predecessor. In the case of the calcite canopic lids, the grounds for doubting the attribution are stylistic: quite simply, the portraits do not resemble those of the boy king, though such a resemblance has been claimed. In the case of the canopic coffinettes (the lid to at least one of which Carter believed differed in workmanship and offered a poor fit to the box), the evidence is more substantial: the inscriptions chased on the interior gold linings have had the owner’s cartouches altered from those of Ankhkheprure – presumably Nefernefruaten, the enigmatic co-regent of Akhenaten, of whom the coffinette masks perhaps offer a likeness.
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Statue of Selket Protecting Tutankhamun’s Shrine (Goddess Selket, Protecting Tutankhamun’s Shrine)
One of the four protective goddesses who stand at the sides of the canopic chest, Selket, like her companions Isis, Nepthys, and Neith, is made of carved wood coated with gesso and gilt. She was fitted into a slot on the sledge by means of a support below her feet. The only paint is that used to delineate her eyes and eyebrows. Upon her head is her emblem, the scorpion, whose sting she was reputed to be able to cure.
In the Coffin Texts, Selket functions as a protectress of the canopic equipment and also as a guardian of the coffin. Her magic is referred to in religious texts, and it was she who would go against the evil serpent Apophis, the enemy of the sun god. Her role was later expanded to that of a protectress of the dead and her varied functions even included aiding during childbirth. She is usually depicted as a human female.
In the tomb of Tutankhamun it is Selket who will protect the intestines of the king. Placed in a miniature coffin, and according to inscriptional evidence, this organ was identified as one of the four sons of Horus, Kebehsenuef. The hieroglyph on the lid of the case states that Selket will put her arms upon what is inside her, an apparent reference to the representation of her on the underside of the lid and the three dimensional sculpture of her with outstretched arms.
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Goddess Isis Protecting Tutankhamun’s Shrine
The goddess Isis extends her arms in a protective gesture across one of the outer walls of Tutankhamun’s canopic shrine. Three other guardian deities protected the shrine: Nephthys, Selket and Neith. Each of them was associated with one of the cardinal points of the compass. Within the canopic chest itself were four gold coffinettes, with the viscera of the pharaoh.
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Sarcophagus of Brown Quartzite
The box of this fine sarcophagus is made of brown quartzite and the lid is made of pink granite tinted to the color of the box. Why two different stones should have been used is not obvious, unless the reason was that the intended quartzite lid was not ready in time for the funeral and a granite lid of indifferent quality, which happened to be available, was substituted for it. There was another puzzle too: the granite lid was broken in two and the fracture, which was concealed with cement and paint, must have occurred before the shrines were put in position. No explanation seems possible, except that the king’s premature death made it necessary to hurry the work and an accident happened.
Symbolism for magical purposes was an important feature of Egyptian funerary equipment. On the sarcophagus it is seen most clearly in the graceful figures of four goddesses, Isis, Nephthys, Neith, and Selket, carved in high relief on the corners, their wings outspread to protect the body within the sarcophagus.
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Alabaster Canopic Chest
Inside the canopic shrine was a magnificent alabaster chest with gilded dado, placed on a gilded wooden sledge and covered by a linen pall. The detachable roof, which served as the lid of the chest, was fastened by cords to gold staples near the top of the walls. At each corner was a figure, carved in high relief, representing one of the four goddesses who guarded the outer shrine. In front of the goddesses were short inscriptions, one of which is the following: "Words spoken by Isis: ‘My arms hide what is in me, I protect Imsety who is within me, [the] Imsety of the Osiris, king Nebkheperura [i.e. Tutankhamun], true of voice’." Four cavities were hewn in the interior of the chest to hold the internal organs and on top of each cavity was an alabaster stopper, a finely sculptured likeness of the king. The features were picked out in black and red and the vulture’s head and cobra on the brow were inserted.
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Innermost Golden Coffin
Like the internal organs of the king, his mummy was also within several series of containers. Three mummiform coffins, one inside the other, and weighing over three thousand pounds, were inside a carved quartzite sarcophagus, whose cracked lid was made of granite. The four goddesses, Isis, Selket, Neith and Nepthys, each carved on a corner, spread protective wings around the sides and utter words on behalf of the deceased king. A wooden canopy with a linen pall with golden rosettes covered the sarcophagus. Four gilt outer shrines, each one adorned with vignettes from funerary texts, were built one over the other; the outermost one of which almost reached the ceiling and was barely two feet from the wall.
When finally extricated from the almost glue-like unguents poured over each coffin, the golden coffin was found to weigh more than two thousand pounds. Slightly more than six feet in length and four feet in width, it is almost one eighth of an inch thick. Lying within the second mummiform coffin, the gold coffin was covered, except for the head, with reddish linen. A stiffened bead and floral collar adorned the neck.
Colored glass, faience and small pieces of semiprecious stones form the inlays that cover the upper portion of the coffin and include the eyes, eyebrows and false beard of the king. Strands of gold and faience beads, similar to the gold of honor, hang around the neck. An inlaid collar is over the upper part of the chest, while two vultures, one with the head of a serpent, adorn the arms, abdomen and sides of the figure and parallel the vulture and cobra goddesses upon his brow. A feather pattern and the protective goddesses, Isis and Nepthys, are engraved on the lower part. An inscription in two columns is found on the lower part of the coffin, and Isis, engraved on the foot, spreads out her protective wings and utters the statement, among others, that Tutankhamun will be strong and vigorous and that he will achieve a spiritual state in heaven.
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Video 1. Tutankhamen golden treasury
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Miniature Canopic Coffin
Each of the four compartments of the canopic chest held a miniature coffin. Covered in linen, they stood upright in their cylindrical compartments. Each was almost glued to the bottom owing to the hardening of the unguents that had been poured in as part of the ritual. It was the duty of the goddess Nepthys, whose name is inscribed on the front, to protect the lungs of Tutankhamun, which were placed inside, after first being preserved. The figure, fashioned of solid beaten gold, contains inlays of colored glass and semiprecious stones. It is very close in design to the second coffin in which Tutankhamun was buried; in fact, it is almost a miniature version.
The inscription written in the panel on the front are words spoken by the goddess Nepthys. She states that she will protect Hapy; Hapy means the lungs with which the god Hapy is associated. The figure is mummiform, and across the upper part are the protective wings of two vultures, one of which, however, has the head of a cobra. The two represent the goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt.
The inside of the canopic coffin is completely engraved. The upper part, which corresponds to the lid of the coffin, shows Nepthys with outstretched wings. The remainder of the top and the entire bottom is inscribed with hieroglyphs. The cartouches show indications that the name of Tutankhamun was not original and that it has replaced the name of his elder brother, Smenkhkare. In fact, the face portrayed here is quite distinct from that shown on other pieces.
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Painted Casket
When found, this alabaster casket was lying in the Antechamber with the lid removed, no doubt by the robbers. There was nothing to suggest that they had interfered with its contents, which consisted mainly of an ivory pomegranate, a layer of cloth, a mass of decayed (horse?) hair, and two balls of hair wrapped in linen, one 2 inches and the other 2-3/8 inches in diameter. Balls of dried Nile mud, sometimes with tufts of hair in the center and sometimes with fragments of papyrus or linen, have been found in Egyptian tombs and they are thought to have had a magical significance, the nature of which is still obscure, although there is evidence to suggest that they were associated with some form of contract. Since this casket bears the names of both the king and the queen, it is conceivable that each ball contains the hair of one of them. If some contract of importance was thereby signified, it may explain why such simple articles were placed in so elaborate a casket.
The box and lid of this casket are each carved from a single piece of alabaster (calcite) and the two knobs are made of obsidian (volcanic glass). The decoration throughout is incised and filled with colored pigments. On the lid it consists of formal bouquets in which the chief components are a papyrus flower, cornflowers, mandrakes and lily petals. Two identical horizontal bands of blue lily petals beneath friezes of a checker pattern decorate the box. At the head end the bands are broken by a rectangular frame within which are the cartouches of the king and of the queen. Above the cartouches are their titles "Good God, Lord of the Two Lands" and "Son of Ra, Lord of the Diadems" for the king, and "Great Royal Wife" for the queen. The cartouches of the king are followed by the wish that he may be "Given life for ever and ever" and beneath the cartouche of the queen is the wish that she may "be given life and be fruitful".
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Video 2. The tomb of Tutankhamen, the Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, was discovered by Howard Carter in 1923. The tomb in the Valley of the Kings was nearly intact when it was found and the discovery sparked worldwide press attention. Thus, Tutankhamen is now one of the most popular and widely recognised of Pharaohs. King Tut ruled 1333 BC – 1324 BC. He began his reign at the age of nine.
References
The Greek-Roman period of ancient Egyptian life (332 BC-395 AD)
The author: Professor Yasser Metwally
When the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great entered Egypt, he was welcomed as the son of the god Amun and he was immediately accepted as the new king of the country. He founded a new city on the shores of the Mediterranean, the first of many cities to bear the name of Alexandria. He also set about restoring all the damage done by the second Persian occupation.
Upon his death and the death of his two Macedonian successors Phillipos Arrhidaeos and Alexander IV, his empire was divided between his generals. Egypt was taken by Ptolemy, son of Lagos, who had been appointed to satrap of the country by Alexander himself. During the wars that resulted from this division, he was also able to conquer Syria-Palestine.
He and his successors would not only continue Alexander’s policy of restoration in Egypt, they also supported the building of new temples throughout the country. On the island of Philae, Ptolemy II Philopator started with the rebuilding of the 26th Dynasty temple of Isis; his successor Ptolemy III Euergetes I started with the building of a new temple dedicated to Horus and decorated the propylon of the temple of Khonsu at Karnak. Their successors would continue to enlarge these temples next to building new ones such as the temple of Hathor at Dendara and the temple of Khnum and Neith in Esna. This way they ensured the support of the Egyptian clergy and the Egyptian people.
During the reign of Ptolemy V, there was some upheaval when an Egyptian Dynasty tried to seize power.
Figure 1. Alexander the Great freed Egypt of the Persian yoke and added it to his own empire.
The dynastic rivalry of the later Ptolemies finally resulted in an intervention of the Romans to put Ptolemy XII Euergetes II back into power. From then on, the Romans began to play an important part in Egyptian history. They again intervened, this time in favour of Ptolemy XII’s daughter Cleopatra, a couple of years later. Although Cleopatra was a capable and a politically gifted ruler, she would become involved in the power struggle of the Romans Octavianus (Augustus) and Antonius and unfortunately, she chose the wrong side. When her and Antonius’ fleets were destroyed at the battle of Actium and she committed suicide, Egypt became a Roman province.
Figure 2. The open court and pylon of the temple of Horus at Edfu. The temple of Edfu was built during the Ptolemaic Period.
The Roman emperors too, continued the policy of building temples in Egypt, thus ensuring the loyalty of the Egyptian clergy and a stable flow of grain out of the greatest granary of the world. The beginning of the Roman Period is one of the most prosperous in Egypt: new cities were built and the land was considered of great importance to the world.
As part of the Roman Empire, Egypt was also more open to the world than before. Although it had admitted its share of foreigners in the past, it had always clung to its own culture and to its own ideas. Since the conquest by Alexander the Great, however, it became more and more a Hellenistic state, with a Hellenistic culture, and as a Roman province, it was also more open to the ideology that would finally strike the mortal blow to the millennia old Ancient Egyptian civilisation: Christianity.
During the first centuries A.D., Egypt was very slowly being converted to this new religion. Soon, the old temples would be closed and converted into monasteries or churches. The images of old gods and kings, meant to preserve the creation, were considered as demonic by the christians and were destroyed. The papyri that were kept in the temples’ libraries were proved an interesting fuel to help the burning down of the temples.
When the Roman Empire was divided into two parts and Egypt became a part of the Byzantine Empire, most of its population had converted to Christianity. The only temple with an ancient cult was the temple of Isis on the island of Philae. Although this last Egyptian temple had coexisted peacefully with the new Christian cult, rumours were spread in the beginning of the 6th century A.D. that this maginificent temple served to worship the devil through human sacrifice. Its closing by force of arms in 535/537 A.D. meant the definite end of the Ancient Egyptian civilisation.
Late Period of ancient Egypt
The author: Professor Yasser Metwally
With no permanent plans for conquest, the Assyrians left control of Egypt to a series of vassals who became known as the Saite kings of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty. By 653 BC, the Saite king Psamtik I was able to oust the Assyrians with the help of Greek mercenaries, who were recruited to form Egypt’s first navy. Greek influence expanded greatly as the city of Naukratis became the home of Greeks in the delta. The Saite kings based in the new capital of Sais witnessed a brief but spirited resurgence in the economy and culture, but in 525 BC, the powerful Persians, led by Cambyses II, began their conquest of Egypt, eventually capturing the pharaoh Psamtik III at the battle of Pelusium. Cambyses II then assumed the formal title of pharaoh, but ruled Egypt from his home of Susa, leaving Egypt under the control of a satrapy. A few successful revolts against the Persians marked the 5th century BC, but Egypt was never able to permanently overthrow the Persians.
Following its annexation by Persia, Egypt was joined with Cyprus and Phoenicia in the sixth satrapy of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. This first period of Persian rule over Egypt, also known as the Twenty-Seventh dynasty, ended in 402 BC, and from 380–343 BC the Thirtieth Dynasty ruled as the last native royal house of dynastic Egypt, which ended with the kingship of Nectanebo II. A brief restoration of Persian rule, sometimes known as the Thirty-First Dynasty, began in 343 BC, but shortly after, in 332 BC, the Persian ruler Mazaces handed Egypt over to Alexander the Great without a fight.
References
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Lichtheim, Miriam (1980). Ancient Egyptian Literature, A Book of Readings. Vol III: The Late Period. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24844-1.
Third Intermediate Period of ancient Egyptian life
The author: Professor Yasser Metwally
Following the death of Ramesses XI in 1078 BC, Smendes assumed authority over the northern part of Egypt, ruling from the city of Tanis. The south was effectively controlled by the High Priests of Amun at Thebes, who recognized Smendes in name only. During this time, Libyans had been settling in the western delta, and chieftains of these settlers began increasing their autonomy. Libyan princes took control of the delta under Shoshenq I in 945 BC, founding the so-called Libyan or Bubastite dynasty that would rule for some 200 years. Shoshenq also gained control of southern Egypt by placing his family members in important priestly positions. Libyan control began to erode as a rival dynasty in the delta arose in Leontopolis, and Kushites threatened from the south. Around 727 BC the Kushite king Piye invaded northward, seizing control of Thebes and eventually the Delta.
Egypt’s far-reaching prestige declined considerably toward the end of the Third Intermediate Period. Its foreign allies had fallen under the Assyrian sphere of influence, and by 700 BC war between the two states became inevitable. Between 671 and 667 BC the Assyrians began their attack on Egypt. The reigns of both Kushite kings Taharqa and his successor, Tanutamun, were filled with constant conflict with the Assyrians, against whom the Nubian rulers enjoyed several victories. Ultimately, the Assyrians pushed the Kushites back into Nubia, occupied Memphis, and sacked the temples of Thebes.
References
Second Intermediate Period and the Hyksos (1783 BC-1540 BC)
The author: Professor Yasser Metwally
Around 1650 BC, as the power of the Middle Kingdom pharaohs weakened, Asiatic immigrants living in the Eastern Delta town of Avaris seized control of the region and forced the central government to retreat to Thebes, where the pharaoh was treated as a vassal and expected to pay tribute. The Hyksos ("foreign rulers") imitated Egyptian models of government and portrayed themselves as pharaohs, thus integrating Egyptian elements into their Middle Bronze Age culture.
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Figure 1. A lifesize wooden statue of the 13th Dynasty king Hor I was found at Dashur. |
After their retreat, the Theban kings found themselves trapped between the Hyksos to the north and the Hyksos’ Nubian allies, the Kushites, to the south. Nearly 100 years of tenuous inaction followed, and it was not until 1555 BC that the Theban forces gathered enough strength to challenge the Hyksos in a conflict that would last more than 30 years. The pharaohs Seqenenre Tao II and Kamose were ultimately able to defeat the Nubians, but it was Kamose’s successor, Ahmose I, who successfully waged a series of campaigns that permanently eradicated the Hyksos’ presence in Egypt. In the New Kingdom that followed, the military became a central priority for the pharaohs seeking to expand Egypt’s borders and secure her complete dominance of the Near East.
References
Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom (1540 BC-1070 BC)
The author: Professor Yasser Metwally
The New Kingdom pharaohs established a period of unprecedented prosperity by securing their borders and strengthening diplomatic ties with their neighbors. Military campaigns waged under Tuthmosis I and his grandson Tuthmosis III extended the influence of the pharaohs into Syria and Nubia, cementing loyalties and opening access to critical imports such as bronze and wood. The New Kingdom pharaohs began a large-scale building campaign to promote the god Amun, whose growing cult was based in Karnak. They also constructed monuments to glorify their own achievements, both real and imagined. The female pharaoh Hatshepsut used such propaganda to legitimize her claim to the throne. Her successful reign was marked by trading expeditions to Punt, an elegant mortuary temple, a colossal pair of obelisks and a chapel at Karnak. Despite her achievements, Hatshepsut’s nephew-stepson Tuthmosis III sought to erase her legacy near the end of his reign, possibly in retaliation for usurping his throne.
Four colossal statues of Ramesses II flank the entrance of his temple Abu Simbel. Around 1350 BC, the stability of the New Kingdom was threatened when Amenhotep IV ascended the throne and instituted a series of radical and chaotic reforms. Changing his name to Akhenaten, he touted the previously obscure sun god Aten as the supreme deity, suppressed the worship of other deities, and attacked the power of the priestly establishment. Moving the capital to the new city of Akhetaten (modern-day Amarna), Akhenaten turned a deaf ear to foreign affairs and absorbed himself in his new religion and artistic style. After his death, the cult of the Aten was quickly abandoned, and the subsequent pharaohs Tutankhamun, Ay, and Horemheb erased all mention of Akhenaten’s heresy, now known as the Amarna Period.
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Video 1. Abu Simbel temple: Abu Simbel, in the heart of Nubian territory, almost on the borders of Sudan and about 300KM from Aswan, is the most beautiful and imposing construction of the greatest pharaoh in Egyptian history.
Around 1279 BC, Ramesses II, also known as Ramesses the Great, ascended the throne, and went on to build more temples, erect more statues and obelisks, and sire more children than any other pharaoh in history. A bold military leader, Ramesses II led his army against the Hittites in the Battle of Kadesh and, after fighting to a stalemate, finally agreed to the first recorded peace treaty around 1258 BC. Egypt’s wealth, however, made it a tempting target for invasion, particularly by the Libyans and the Sea Peoples. Initially, the military was able to repel these invasions, but Egypt eventually lost control of Syria and Palestine. The impact of external threats was exacerbated by internal problems such as corruption, tomb robbery and civil unrest. The high priests at the temple of Amun in Thebes accumulated vast tracts of land and wealth, and their growing power splintered the country during the Third Intermediate Period.
Figure 1. Four colossal statues of Ramesses II flank the entrance of his temple Abu Simbel.
Figure 2. Ramesses II reclaimed Egypt’s lost glory through war and peace treaties.
References
Ancient Egyptian Middle Kingdom (2040 BC-1783 BC)
The author: Professor Yasser Metwally
Amenemhat III, the last great ruler of the Middle KingdomThe pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom restored the country’s prosperity and stability, thereby stimulating a resurgence of art, literature, and monumental building projects. Mentuhotep II and his 11th Dynasty successors ruled from Thebes, but the vizier Amenemhat I, upon assuming kingship at the beginning of the 12th Dynasty around 1985 BC, shifted the nation’s capital to the city of Itjtawy located in Faiyum. From Itjtawy, the pharaohs of the 12th Dynasty undertook a far-sighted land reclamation and irrigation scheme to increase agricultural output in the region. Moreover, the military reconquered territory in Nubia rich in quarries and gold mines, while laborers built a defensive structure in the Eastern Delta, called the "Walls-of-the-Ruler", to defend against foreign attack.
Figure 1. Arts and crafts flourished during the Middle Kingdom as is shown in this lovely amulet of Sesostris III
Having secured military and political security and vast agricultural and mineral wealth, the nation’s population, arts, and religion flourished. In contrast to elitist Old Kingdom attitudes towards the gods, the Middle Kingdom experienced an increase in expressions of personal piety and what could be called a democratization of the afterlife, in which all people possessed a soul and could be welcomed into the company of the gods after death. Middle Kingdom literature featured sophisticated themes and characters written in a confident, eloquent style, and the relief and portrait sculpture of the period captured subtle, individual details that reached new heights of technical perfection.
The last great ruler of the Middle Kingdom, Amenemhat III, allowed Asiatic settlers into the delta region to provide a sufficient labor force for his especially active mining and building campaigns. These ambitious building and mining activities, however, combined with inadequate Nile floods later in his reign, strained the economy and precipitated the slow decline into the Second Intermediate Period during the later 13th and 14th dynasties. During this decline, the foreign Asiatic settlers began to seize control of the delta region, eventually coming to power in Egypt as the Hyksos.
Figure 2. Amenemhat III, the last great ruler of the Middle Kingdom
References
First Intermediate Period in Ancient Egyptian life (2450 BC-2040 BC)
The author: Professor Yasser Metwally
After Egypt’s central government collapsed at the end of the Old Kingdom, the administration could no longer support or stabilize the country’s economy. Regional governors could not rely on the king for help in times of crisis, and the ensuing food shortages and political disputes escalated into famines and small-scale civil wars. Yet despite difficult problems, local leaders, owing no tribute to the pharaoh, used their newfound independence to establish a thriving culture in the provinces. Once in control of their own resources, the provinces became economically richer — a fact demonstrated by larger and better burials among all social classes. In bursts of creativity, provincial artisans adopted and adapted cultural motifs formerly restricted to the royalty of the Old Kingdom, and scribes developed literary styles that expressed the optimism and originality of the period.
Figure 1. With the decline of the royal ateliers at Memphis, the art that was produced during the 1st Intermediate Period was crude, as shown by this funerary relief from Dendara
Free from their loyalties to the pharaoh, local rulers began competing with each other for territorial control and political power. By 2160 BC, rulers in Herakleopolis controlled Lower Egypt, while a rival clan based in Thebes, the Intef family, took control of Upper Egypt. As the Intefs grew in power and expanded their control northward, a clash between the two rival dynasties became inevitable. Around 2055 BC the Theban forces under Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II finally defeated the Herakleopolitan rulers, reuniting the Two Lands and inaugurating a period of economic and cultural renaissance known as the Middle Kingdom.
References
Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt (2575 BC-2450)
The author: Professor Yasser Metwally
Stunning advances in architecture, art, and technology were made during the Old Kingdom, fueled by the increased agricultural productivity made possible by a well developed central administration. Under the direction of the vizier, state officials collected taxes, coordinated irrigation projects to improve crop yield, drafted peasants to work on construction projects, and established a justice system to maintain peace and order. With the surplus resources made available by a productive and stable economy, the state was able to sponsor construction of colossal monuments and to commission exceptional works of art from the royal workshops. The pyramids built by Djoser, Khufu, and their descendants are the most memorable symbols of ancient Egyptian civilization, and the power of the pharaohs that controlled it.
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Figure 1. Alabaster statue of Menkaura. |
Along with the rising importance of a central administration arose a new class of educated scribes and officials who were granted estates by the pharaoh in payment for their services. Pharaohs also made land grants to their mortuary cults and local temples to ensure that these institutions would have the necessary resources to worship the pharaoh after his death. By the end of the Old Kingdom, five centuries of these feudal practices had slowly eroded the economic power of the pharaoh, who could no longer afford to support a large centralized administration. As the power of the pharaoh diminished, regional governors called nomarchs began to challenge the supremacy of the pharaoh. This, coupled with severe droughts between 2200 and 2150 BC, ultimately caused the country to enter a 140-year period of famine and strife known as the First Intermediate Period.
Figure 2. The scribe became the backbone of the royal administration that helped the government tighten its grasp on the society, enabling impressive building projects at Dashur and Giza.
The Old Kingdom is not as much a breach with the Early Dynastic Period as a continuation of it. The kings of the 4th Dynasty are believed to be descendants of Huni, the last king of the 3rd Dynasty. The Turin King-list, in fact, lists all kings from the first five dynasties without any further internal distinction. This means that the composers of the list considered these kings as belonging to a single group.
From a cultural, political and religious point of view, however, the 4th Dynasty has brought about several changes that set it apart from the first three dynasties.
The most remarkable change is the transition of Step Pyramids to ‘true’ pyramids with smooth surfaces. This transition was not only the result of increasing technical skills, but even more of religious views that shifted from stellar to solar. The Step Pyramid symbolised a staircase to the stars. The ‘true’ pyramid, on the other hand was considered as a solar symbol and as a representation of the primaeval mound from which all life had sprung.
Figure 3. This figure illustrates the evolution of the Early Dynastic Step Pyramid (to the left) to the ‘real’ pyramid shape of the pyramids at Giza (to the right). The pyramid of Meidum (second from left) was converted from a Step Pyramid into a ‘real’ pyramid by Snofru, the first king of the 4th Dynasty. The Bent Pyramid at Dashur was also built by Snofru. The angle of the pyramid may have been changed to alleviate the pressure of the weight of the pyramid.
The building of pyramids would not have been possible without a flourishing economy and a strong central government. Royal estates throughout the country centralised and provided the necessary resources that were needed in the construction of pyramid complexes. This required a powerful administration, both on a local and on a central level, to successfully manage the resources and ensure the flow of supplies, materials and riches to the central government.
Artists and craftsmen became increasingly skilled as state-sponsored ateliers produced the most exquisite objects of art for the royal family and the members of the ruling elite. The high-quality decoration of the private tombs that were grouped next to the royal pyramids, not only hint at the wealth and status of the tomb-owner, but are also a rich source of information about daily life in the age of the pyramids.
During the 4th Dynasty, there was also some military activity in the South, in Nubia, where a fortress was built at Buhen, near the 2nd cataract. This fortress not only confirmed the Egyptian military presence in Nubia, it was also a commercial settlement where traders from all of Nubia would come to trade with the Egyptians. Since the 4th Dynasty, Nubia, rich in many raw materials and especially in gold, has always been of interest to the Ancient Egyptians.
The addition of the title "Son of Re" to the royal titulary from the reign of Djedefre on, shows the increasing importance in the solar cult. Even more, it stresses the role of the king as the representative of the sun on earth.
During the 5th Dynasty, the solar religion was even more firmly established, when the kings built solar temples as well as pyramids. This may well explain why the 5th Dynasty Pyramids are far less dominating than their predecessors: the building effort was no longer concentrated on the building of a single pyramid and their temples.
Economic and political factors may have had some importance as well: the 5th Dynasty government seems to have been less centralised and less strong. Private tombs were no longer restricted to the vicinity of the king’s pyramid and their decoration became richer and more elaborate. Some private people had their tombs built in their own province and not in or near the necropolis of Memphis.
The last king of the 5th Dynasty, Unas, introduced yet another innovation: his pyramid was the first to have been "decorated" with texts, the so-called Pyramid Texts. These texts relate to the fate of the king in the afterlife, when he takes his place among the gods and among the stars.
With the 6th Dynasty, the Old Kingdom would start its slow decline. Although some military activity is reported to the East of the Delta or in Palestine and in Nubia, the central power of the king kept on decaying. This may have been caused, in part, by the long reign of Pepi II, during which more power may have been relegated to the central and local administrations.
Another key factor in the decline of the Old Kingdom was a decreasing inundation of the Nile. By the end of the Old Kingdom, the inundation apparently became less abundant. Local measures needed to be taken to ensure that the inundation would flood enough land and keep it fertile. Local administrators and governors who succeeded in controlling the flow of the floods for their region strengthened their position against the central government.
The kings of the 7th/8th Dynasty lacked the power and prestige to prevent their country from becoming divided. With them, the Old Kingdom has come to an end and the 1st Intermediate Period has started. Some history books have the 7th/8th Dynasty at the end of the Old Kingdom, but since it was during that Dynasty that the central government lost its grip on the country, it seems preferable to already place this dynasty in the 1st Intermediate Period.
References
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The Egyptian dynasties [Full text]
Burial customs in Ancient Egypt
The author: Professor Yasser Metwally
The ancient Egyptians maintained an elaborate set of burial customs that they believed were necessary to ensure immortality after death. These customs involved preserving the body by mummification, performing burial ceremonies, and interring, along with the body, goods to be used by the deceased in the afterlife. Before the Old Kingdom, bodies buried in desert pits were naturally preserved by desiccation. The arid, desert conditions continued to be a boon throughout the history of ancient Egypt for the burials of the poor, who could not afford the elaborate burial preparations available to the elite. Wealthier Egyptians began to bury their dead in stone tombs and, as a result, they made use of artificial mummification, which involved removing the internal organs, wrapping the body in linen, and burying it in a rectangular stone sarcophagus or wooden coffin. Beginning in the Fourth Dynasty, some parts were preserved separately in canopic jars.
Figure 1. Anubis was the ancient Egyptian god associated with mummification and burial rituals; here, he attends to a mummy.
By the New Kingdom, the ancient Egyptians had perfected the art of mummification; the best technique took 70 days and involved removing the internal organs, removing the brain through the nose, and desiccating the body in a mixture of salts called natron. The body was then wrapped in linen with protective amulets inserted between layers and placed in a decorated anthropoid coffin. Mummies of the Late Period were also placed in painted cartonnage mummy cases. Actual preservation practices declined during the Ptolemaic and Roman eras, while greater emphasis was placed on the outer appearance of the mummy, which was decorated.
Wealthy Egyptians were buried with larger quantities of luxury items, but all burials, regardless of social status, included goods for the deceased. Beginning in the New Kingdom, books of the dead were included in the grave, along with shabti statues that were believed to perform manual labor for them in the afterlife. Rituals in which the deceased was magically re-animated accompanied burials. After burial, living relatives were expected to occasionally bring food to the tomb and recite prayers on behalf of the deceased.
Figure 1. Anubis: The ancient Egyptian god of dead
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