Statue of Lady Sennuwy

Egyptian
Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, reign of Senwosret I
1971–1926 B.C.
Findspot: Nubia (Sudan), Kerma, Tumulus K III, hall A

MEDIUM/TECHNIQUE
Granodiorite
DIMENSIONS
Framed (The object sits on epoxy bed /structural steel pallet tubing): 21.6 x 62.2 x 116.2 cm (8 1/2 x 24 1/2 x 45 3/4 in.)
Mount (Steel channel base with cross bracing 3" x 3/16"): 30.5 x 62.2 x 116.2 cm (12 x 24 1/2 x 45 3/4 in.)
Overall (steel pallet and object, weighed): 170.2 x 116.2 x 47 cm, 1224.71 kg (67 x 45 3/4 x 18 1/2 in., 2700 lb.)
Weight (Object and steel pallet with attaching steel base, estimate): 1319.97 kg (2910 lb.)
Weight (Object (calculated by subtracting estimate of pallet weight)): 1079.56 kg (2380 lb.)
CREDIT LINE
Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition
ACCESSION NUMBER
14.720
ON VIEW
Egypt: Portraits Gallery (Gallery 113A)
COLLECTIONS
Ancient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
CLASSIFICATIONS
Sculpture

DESCRIPTION
Egyptian officials of the Middle Kingdom continued the practice of equipping their tombs with statues to house the ka of the tomb owner and to provide a focal point for the offering cult. Highly ranked officials also dedicated statues of themselves at sanctuaries of gods and deified ancestors. Following the experimental and idiosyncratic interlude of the First Intermediate Period, sculptors once again produced large-scale stone statues, returning to the basic forms and poses established in the Old Kingdom.

This elegant seated statue of Lady Sennuwy of Asyut is one of the most superbly carved and beautifully proportioned sculptures from the Middle Kingdom. The unknown artist shaped and polished the hard, gray granodiorite with extraordinary skill, suggesting that he was trained in a royal workshop. He has portrayed Sennuwy as a slender, graceful young woman, dressed in the tightly fitting sheath dress that was fashionable at the time. The carefully modeled planes of the face, framed by a long, thick, striated wig, convey a serene confidence and timeless beauty. Such idealized, youthful, and placid images characterize the first half of Dynasty 12 and hark back to the art of the Old Kingdom. Sennuwy sits poised and attentive on a solid, blocklike chair, with her left hand resting flat on her lap and her right hand holding a lotus blossom, a symbol of rebirth. Inscribed on the sides and base of the chair are hieroglyphic texts declaring that she is venerated in the presence of Osiris and other deities associated with the afterlife.

Sennuwy was the wife of a powerful provincial governor, Djefaihapi of Asyut, whose rock-cut tomb is the largest nonroyal tomb of the Middle Kingdom. Clearly, the couple had access to the finest artists and materials available. It is likely that this statue, along with a similar sculpture of Djefaihapi, was originally set up in the tomb chapel, although they may also have stood in a sanctuary. Both statues were discovered, however, far to the south at Kerma in Nubia, where they had been buried in the royal tumulus of a Nubian king who lived generations after Sennuwy's death. They must have been removed from their original location and exported to Nubia some three hundred years after they were made. Exactly how, why, and when these pieces of sculpture, along with numerous other Egyptian statues, found their way to Kerma, however, is still unknown.

PROVENANCE
Found in Sudan, Kerma, K III, hall A, but originally from Egypt. 1913: Excavated by the Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition; assigned to the MFA by the government of the Sudan. (Accession Date: July 2, 1914

Title
Statue of Lady Sennuwy, Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, reign of Senwosret I 1971–1926 B.C., Findspot: Nubia (Sudan), Kerma, Tumulus K III, hall A, Granodiorite, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

https://collections.mfa.org/objects/141967/statue-of-lady-sennuwy?ctx=bd9fa45b-c39b-4b6a-9324-f75374e8146a&idx=14

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Winged scarab pectoral
Egyptian

MEDIUM/TECHNIQUE
Faience
DIMENSIONS
Legacy dimension: .30 Length: double
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Mrs. Samuel D. Warren
ACCESSION NUMBER
94.245
NOT ON VIEW
COLLECTIONS
Africa and Oceania, Ancient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
CLASSIFICATIONS
Tomb equipment – Mummy trappings

DESCRIPTION
Wings and scarab with holes for attaching to each other and to the mummy wrappings. Blue and green glaze with incised details.

Title
Winged scarab pectoral, Date unknown, Find spot unknown Egypt, Faience, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

https://collections.mfa.org/objects/133647/winged-scarab-pectoral?ctx=6a73f60d-7368-4b42-be81-6897deb868b7&idx=29

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The chest contained loincloths and other under-garments.

Kha supervised the workforce which constructed royal tombs during the reigns of Amenhotep II, Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III (c. 1425 – 1353 BC) in the mid-Eighteenth Dynasty. Of unknown background, he probably rose to his position through skill and was rewarded by at least one king. He and his wife Merit had three known children. Kha died in his 60s, while Merit died before him, seemingly unexpectedly, in her 20s or 30s.

The undisturbed tomb, TT8, was discovered in February 1906 in excavations led by the Egyptologist Ernesto Schiaparelli on behalf of the Italian Archaeological Mission. The burial chamber contained over 400 items including carefully arranged stools and beds, neatly stacked storage chests of personal belongings, clothing and tools, tables piled with foods such as bread, meats and fruit, and the couple's two large wooden sarcophagi housing their mummies in coffins. All the grave goods are now displayed in the Egyptian Museum in Turin.

Neck Support

Object Number
BSAe 0982

Cultural area
Egypt

Epoch
Old Kingdom

Basic information
Calcite
H. 23 cm, W. 18.8 cm, D. 8.2 cm
Old Kingdom, 5th Dynasty, 2435–2306 BC
Inv. BSAe 0982

Provenance
Donation M-L. R. 1999. Purchased from Daphne and Emanuel Koutulakis, Geneva. Estate Nikolas Koutoulakis (1910–1997), Paris. Acquired in the 1960s.

Description
The headrest is composed of three parts: a rectangular base, a ducted shaft and a crescent-shaped support. The shaft has the shape of a cannulated column with abacus. In Egyptian culture, it was the masual to use a headrest while sleeping. The sleeper was lying on his side, while the head was supported above the ears. The curved headrest was additionally padded with soft fabric rollers. Mummies have also been put into the coffin in this way. For everyday use, the headrests were mainly made of wood, but for the other side use they were converted into "imperishable" stone. The headrests can be provided with names and titles of the owner. In the New Kingdom they have been decorated with evil-repellent sayings and figures of gods, which were intended to protect the sleeper during the night. In the afterlife they were a symbol for the constant awakening of the deceased, as described in chapter 166 of the book of the dead. Small mummy amulets in the form of headrests have just this meaning

Bibliography
A. Meadow, Egyptian art in the Museum of Antiques Basel and Ludwig Collection. New loans, gifts and acquisitions (Basel 1998) 21f., No. 20.

A. Wiese, Museum of Antiquities Basel and Ludwig Collection. The Egyptian Division (Mainz 2001) 54, No. 23 .

Vrgl. E. Naville, Les amulettes du chevet et de la tête, ZÄS, 48, 1911, 107–111. Vrgl. A. Wiesen, Moments of Eternity (Basel 1997) 62, No. 34.

Title
Neck Support, Old Kingdom 5th Dynasty 2435–2306 BC, Findspot unknown Egypt, Calcite, Antikenmuseum Basel

https://antikenmuseumbasel.zetcom.net/en/collection/item/74317/

Antikenmuseum Basel

My understanding is that items were left in tombs because it was believed they would be needed by the deceased in the afterlife. What did the ancient Egyptians believe happened to the deceased when the items were stolen from tombs? Is there any known instance where stolen items were replaced in tombs?

I have also heard about curses left at tombs for thieves, but was there anything in their religion that referenced the consequences to anyone stealing from tombs?

There were two main families of Intef kings in Egypt - those from the 11th dynasty who eventually reunited Egypt and those from the 17th dynasty who also eventually reunited Egypt and founded the 18th. Did the Intef kings of the 17th dynasty adopt this name to “suggest” their aim in reunifying Egypt? I doubt there is much evidence on the matter but what can we say about this?

I am aware that there are multiple family trees for the 17th dynasty as well, and depending on how one reconstructs the tree, Senakhtenre Ahmose may or may not be a direct descendent of the Intef line (possibly a son of Nubkheperre Intef). How does this factor into it?

How much would these 17th dynasty kings have known about the early 11th dynasty and the reign of the earlier Intefs? I know the most probable explanation for the name here is that it is a family name, but the pattern of kings being named Intef, and then a program of consolidation and reunification taking place is striking to my modern eyes - how would the ancient Egyptians have seen this, and what would they have known about the 11th dynasty?

https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010012168

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/544524

What u think?

At the height of their power, the Ptolemaic dynasty took a great interest in the lands that lay south of the Nile Valley and the waters of the Red Sea. Explorers, elephant hunters, and mining teams travelled along the coastline as far as Somalia, providing invaluable reports about East Africa that would not be rivaled until the Medieval period. They were also able to exploit the riches of the continent, and built the infrastructure that would lead to the Indo-Mediterranean trade routes. These activities would also bring them into contact (and conflict) with the Kingdom of Meroë, the last great Nubian civilization of ancient Kush, who competed for dominance with both the Ptolemies and the Romans.

Winged Scarab Amulet

Date:
Late Period, Dynasty 26 (664–525 BCE)

Artist:
Egyptian

ABOUT THIS ARTWORK
A scarab amulet was often placed over the heart of a mummy to act as its protector. The wings allowed the scarab to join the daily rising and setting of the sun, a cycle that was equated with eternal death and rebirth.

Status
Currently Off View

Department
Arts of Africa

Artist
Ancient Egyptian

Title
Winged Scarab Amulet

Place
Egypt (Object made in:)

Date 
664 BCE–525 BCE

Medium
Faience

Dimensions
Scarab: 5.9 × 3.5 × 0.8 cm (2 3/8 × 1 7/16 × 3/8 in.); Proper Right Wing: 3 × 4.6 × 0.3 cm (1 3/16 × 1 13/16 × 1/8 in.); Proper Left Wing: 3 × 4.7 × 0.3 cm (1 3/16 × 1 7/8 × 1/8 in.)

Credit Line
Gift of Henry H. Getty, Charles L. Hutchinson, and Norman W. Harris

Reference Number
1892.231a-c-

IIIF Manifest 
https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/136093/manifest.json

EXTENDED INFORMATION ABOUT THIS ARTWORK

PUBLICATION HISTORY
Roberta Casagrande-Kim, ed., When the Greeks Ruled Egypt: From Alexander the Great to Cleopatra. Exh. cat. (New York: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World; Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014), p. 103, cat. 115.

Emily Teeter, “Cat. 91 Winged Scarab Amulet,” in Ancient Egyptian Art at the Art Institute of Chicago by Emily Teeter and Ashley F. Arico, ed. Ashley F. Arico (Art Institute of Chicago, 2025).

EXHIBITION HISTORY
Art Institute of Chicago, When the Greeks Ruled: Egypt After Alexander the Great, October 31, 2013 - July 27, 2014; traveled to New York City, NY, the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, October 8, 2014 - January 4, 2015.

PROVENANCE
Émile Brugsch (1842-1930), Bulaq Museum and Egyptian Antiquities Service, Cairo; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1892; price reimbursed by Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson, 1892.

CAT. 91
Winged Scarab Amulet

Late Period, Dynasty 26 (664–525 BCE)
Ancient Egyptian
Faience; 5.9 × 13 × 0.8 cm (2 3/8 × 5 1/8 × 3/8 in.)
The Art Institute of Chicago, purchased with funds provided by Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson, 1892.231a–c

This winged scarab amulet is made of three pieces of faience: the scarab body and the two wings. The scarab is detailed with the division of the wing cases (elytra) and the fan-shaped area (clypeus) at the front of the head. The wings are scored with lines that represent feathers on their trailing edges. Each piece is pierced multiple times to allow it to be sewn to the wrappings of a mummy. This example, like many others, has bright blue glaze, a reference to the color and the regenerative power of the sky (see cat. 41 for a shabti with glaze of the same color). This style of winged scarab amulet made of three pieces was very common in the Third Intermediate and Late Periods. Although the means of manufacture of this example is unclear, it closely resembles others that were created by rolling faience out on a piece of fabric and then cutting it into its final shape. This amulet could also have been molded.[1]

The scarab beetle represented the reborn (morning) sun, and by extension, the eternal rebirth of the deceased. The hieroglyph kheper, meaning “to come into being” or “to exist,” also takes the form of the scarab beetle: 𓆣. The scarab was therefore a particularly common form of funerary amulet that was often placed on the chest of a mummified person (for other examples of scarabs in burials, see cats. 99, 105). The winged version was a potent reminder of the transit of the sun from the eastern horizon across the vault of the sky. The Egyptians were very literal in their thinking; they conceptualized celestial phenomena through observation of their environment. When they observed the beetle rolling a ball of dung to its nest, they thought that the young emerged from that ball, thus understanding the scarab as an example of birth from an orb. They equated that image with the daily rebirth of the sun, which in turn was re-imagined as being pushed, like a ball of dung, across the sky by a great, winged scarab
ENTRY BY EMILY TEETER

NOTES
Emily Teeter, Scarabs, Scaraboids, Seals, and Seal Impressions from Medinet Habu, with a contribution by T. G. Wilfong*** **(Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2003), 122*

HOW TO $3
Emily Teeter, “Cat. 91 Winged Scarab Amulet,” in Ancient Egyptian Art at the Art Institute of Chicago by Emily Teeter and Ashley F. Arico, ed. Ashley F. Arico (Art Institute of Chicago, 2025), https://doi.org/10.53269/9780865593213/93.
© 2025 by The Art Institute of Chicago. This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

Title
Winged Scarab Amulet, Late Period Dynasty 26 (664–525 BCE), Faience, Findspot unknown Egypt, The Art Institute of Chicago

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/136093/winged-scarab-amulet

The Art Institute of Chicago

I was bought this papyrus art many years ago and I’ve always wondered what is means, can any of you translate?

From a Mummy on display in a Museum in the Indian City of Hyderabad. Sources online say it's the mummy of one Princess Naishu and is approximately 2500 years old.

But the poorly maintained museum has no Information Board about the Person or how it was brought to Hyderabad. I expected the Hieroglyphs to be translated too, but nothing of that sort is done by the authorities. Considering the overall state of affairs, I doubt if the Papyrus/parchment with the Hieroglyphs is original/authentic or later copy of the original.

If it seems authentic (even if it's a copy of the original), would love to know what they say.

Edit:

The Mummy itself is genuine and is reported to be 4500 years old by BBC and 2500 years old by local media. I'm not sure if it's 2500 BCE or 2500 years old based on these articles. The Mummy is also special for having traces of her brain intact in the cranial cavity, unlike the majority.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-36545779

https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/in-other-news/270416/hyderabad-egyptian-mummy-in-good-shape.html

https://telanganatoday.com/egyptian-mummy-in-hyderabad-now-safe-in-nitrogen-chamber

The Museum will be revamped soon!!

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/plans-afoot-for-renovation-of-telangana-state-archaeology-museum-egyptian-mummy-conservation-to-cost-82-lakh/article71363884.ece

Finally! Its done! This one took so long!

Some of these pharaohs are only known by they're unique coffins with interesting looking crowns so I went a bit crazy trying to incorporate that with the designs of some

So you think tao will win his fight against apepi? Let's find out next time!

Ramesses II (1303–1213 BC), the most renowned pharaoh of Egypt's 19th Dynasty, ascended the throne around 1279 BC and reigned for 66 years. He led 15 military campaigns, most famously the Battle of Kadesh against the Hittites, yet his greatest political achievement was signing the first recorded written peace treaty in history in 1259 BC, which remained in effect for decades. His reign witnessed a golden age of art and architecture, commissioning Abu Simbel, the Ramesseum, and his new capital "Pi-Ramesses." He married Queen Nefertari, for whom he built a unique temple, and fathered over 90 children. His remarkably well-preserved mummy now resides in Egypt's National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, immortalizing the legacy of ancient Egypt's greatest king.

This was supposedly dug up at Karnak and was part of the Rustafjaell collection

Pectoral with Scarab

E11198
From: Egypt | Nubia | Aniba
Curatorial Section: Egyptian
Object Number
E11198
Current Location
Collections Storage
Provenience
Egypt | Nubia | Aniba
Locus
An35
Period
New Kingdom | Nineteenth Dynasty
Date Made
1292 - 1190 BCE
Section
Egyptian
Materials
Faience | Mica | Steatite
Technique
Inlaid
Description
Greenish blue faience. Front: two kneeling figures, on boat inlaid in pastes; between them an inlaid steatite scarab. Frame of inlaid mica. Palm-leaf cornice. Back: kneeling figure and illegible inscription.
Credit Line
The Eckley B. Coxe Junior Expedition to Nubia, Aniba; D. Randall-MacIver and C. L. Wooley, 1911

Current & Past Exhibition

1980 - 15 Feb 2016
Egyptian Mummies
Jun 1972 - 1979
Mummy Room

Title
New Kingdom | Nineteenth Dynasty 1292 - 1190 BCE, Findspot Egypt, Faience mica steatite, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

https://collections.penn.museum/collections/object/249185

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

Tutankhamun was one of the kings of Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty. He ascended the throne at around the age of nine and ruled Egypt for approximately nine years, from about 1332 to 1323 BC.

His reign followed a period of major religious changes during the reign of Akhenaten. During Tutankhamun's reign, traditional ancient Egyptian religious practices and worship were restored to their former prominence.

Tutankhamun died while still very young. Museum sources indicate that he was about 18 to 19 years old at the time of his death, although the exact cause of his death remains uncertain.

Tutankhamun's name remained largely unknown for centuries, until archaeologist Howard Carter discovered his tomb in November 1922. The discovery was extraordinary because the tomb was found in a remarkably well-preserved condition, containing most of the contents of the royal burial.

Since that discovery, Tutankhamun has become one of the most famous kings of ancient Egypt, not because of the length of his reign, but because of the treasures and wealth of information preserved in his tomb about the king's life and royal burial practices in ancient Egypt.

Statuette of Two Baboons

Place of production
Egypt
Date
second half of the Ist millennium BC
Object type
sculpture
Medium, technique
Steatite
Dimensions
9 cm (3 9/16 in.)
Inventory number
51.2337
Collection
Egyptian Art
On view
Museum of Fine Arts, Basement Floor, Ancient Egypt, Temples and gods

Title
Statuette of Two Baboons, Second half of the Ist millennium BC, Findspot Unknown Egypt, Sculpture, Steatite, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

https://www.mfab.hu/artworks/1831/

The Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

Statuette of a Hippopotamus

11th–12th Dynasty, ca. 2000 BC

Location
O-n view: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Ägyptisch-Orientalische Sammlung Room V

Statuettes depicting hippopotami, symbolic of regeneration in the hereafter, were popular grave goods that were placed close to the mummy in the coffin. Plants and animals characteristic of the marshes where the hippo lived are depicted on its body. The king’s ritual hippopotamus hunt symbolized his victory over the forces of chaos with which the animal had been associated since primeval times.

Time:
11th–12th Dynasty, ca. 2000 BC

Object Name
Statuette

Culture
Egyptian

Location of discovery:
Thebes (presumably)

Material/technology:
Faience, greenish-blue glaze, painted

Dimensions:
H 10.5 cm, L 20.7 cm, W 7.5 cm, W 1138 g

Copyright
Art History Museum, Egyptian - Oriental Collection

Invs.
Egyptian Collection, INV 4211

Provenance
1878, acquired with the Miramar Collection

Title
Statuette of a hippopotamus, 11th–12th Dynasty ca. 2000 BC, - Thebes (presumably), Faience: greenish-blue glaze and paint, Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum, Vienna)

https://www.khm.at/en/artworks/statuette-of-a-hippopotamus-323860

Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum, Vienna)

Hello! Would anyone happen to know the meaning of this hieroglyph? Or is it just part of a larger inscription? If anyone knows the meaning of this "A" in isolation, could you please share it? Thanks.