Senusret III

The Pharaoh Senusret III was one of the most emblematic monarchs in Ancient Egypt. At the peak of the Middle Kingdom, his reign (circa 1872-1854 B.C.) marked a turning-point in the history of Ancient Egypt. This strategist and visionary sovereign conquered Nubia (now the Sudan) where he had a network of fortresses built; set the first boundaries of his kingdom and established trade and strong diplomatic relations with his eastern neighbors (now Cyprus, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, Israel and the Palestinian Territories). His military expeditions and the setup of a loyal administration meant he could consolidate his power. The Egyptian state was restructured in depth.

These changes were embodied in statuary art: the surviving enigmatic portraits of the Pharaoh show a break with tradition, depicting either stern features, symbolic of wisdom, or an idealized young man. Other artistic output (jewels, objects of everyday life, burial equipment) illustrates regained prosperity and obviously vigorous cultural exchanges with neighboring kingdoms. The public will discover the artistic riches of a key reign, considered to be a golden age of Ancient Egypt.

If this pharaoh doesn't have the fame of Tutankhamen or Ramses II, he is, in the eyes of historians and archaeologists, the pharaoh who in the beginning of the second millennium BC made Egypt into a powerful state, and who remained a model for his successors. Many striking examples of the numerous representations of Senusret III, for the most part statues but also low reliefs, are shown in the exhibition. They reveal the authoritarian, inflexible character of the ruler who could also be merciful and attentive to his people. Providing Egypt with a restructured administration that led to a new social order, he extended the limits of his empire towards the north and the south, leaving traces of his conquests on these territories.

Sculptures of Sensuret III:

Senusret III is known for his strikingly somber sculptures. Senusret III is considered to be perhaps the most powerful Egyptian ruler of the dynasty, and led the kingdom to an era of peace and prosperity. Senusret III is known for his strikingly somber sculptures in which he appears careworn and grave.

While many statues portray him as a vigorous young man, others deviate from this standard and illustrate him as mature and aging. This is often interpreted as a portrayal of the burden of power and kingship. Another important innovation in sculpture during the Middle Kingdom was the block statue, which consisted of a man squatting with his knees drawn up to his chest.

During the Middle Kingdom, relief and portrait sculpture captured subtle, individual details that reached new heights of technical perfection. Some of the finest examples of sculpture during this time was at the height of the empire under Pharaoh Senusret III.

Khakhaure Senusret III (also written as Senwosret III or Sesostris III) ruled from 1878 BC to 1839 BC, and was the fifth monarch of the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. His military campaigns gave rise to an era of peace and economic prosperity that not only reduced the power of regional rulers, but also led to a revival in craft work, trade, and urban development in the Egyptian kingdom. One of the few kings who were deified and honored with a cult during their own lifetime, he is considered to be perhaps the most powerful Egyptian ruler of the dynasty.

Aside from his accomplishments in architecture and war, Senusret III is known for his strikingly somber sculptures in which he appears careworn and grave. Deviating from the standard way of representing kings, Senusret III and his successor Amenemhat III had themselves portrayed as mature, aging men. This is often interpreted as a portrayal of the burden of power and kingship. That the change in representation was indeed ideological and should not be interpreted as the portrayal of an aging king is shown by the fact that in one single relief, Senusret III was represented as a vigorous young man, following the centuries old tradition, and as a mature aging king.













The White Chapel of Senusret I

The White Chapel of Senusret I:

The White Chapel of Senusret I at Karnak is a good example of the fine quality of art and architecture produced during the 12th Dynasty. Its columns hold reliefs of a very high quality which are hardly seen elsewhere at Karnak.







Tutankhamen Treasures (Part 6)

Tutankhamun on a Funerary Bed: 


The unexpected death of the young pharaoh in 1323 B.C. was mourned throughout Egypt. Except for the busy necropolis workshops, all labor halted and a period of ritual fasting was observed in addition to which the pharaoh’s men stopped shaving until his burial 70 days later, the customary interval required for the mummification process. One such high official was Maya, the overseer of works in the Place of Eternity (the royal necropolis), royal scribe, and overseer of the burial treasury, who appears to have felt some affection for the young pharaoh. In addition to supervising Tutankhamun’s burial preparations in an unfinished and hastily appropriated commoner’s tomb, Maya’s personal sentiments are reflected in his touching funerary gift of this finely carved wooden ushabti figure, utterly unique in form, representing the pharaoh recumbent on a lion-headed bier.

Wishing Cup: 


This stately drinking chalice, carved from a single block of alabaster, represents a blooming white lotus flanked with handles sculpted in the form of blue lilies, each surmounted by a kneeling figure of the god of eternity, Heh, resting on the sign for infinity and holding the hieroglyphic symbols for 100,000 years of life. It was found directly inside the tomb entrance, apparently the last object to be placed by the burial priests (or abandoned by the graverobbers). Called a “wishing cup” by Howard Carter, the chalice is inscribed with the pharaoh’s royal cartouches and bears a blessing engraved in a band around the lip: May your spirit live and may you spend millions of years, you who cherish Thebes, sitting with your face to the north wind, you eyes gazing upon joy.

Bust of Tutankhamun on a Lotus: 


While Howard Carter was locked out of the tomb by the Egyptian government, an official inventory of its separately stored contents revealed this painted wooden bust of the young pharaoh, undocumented and previously unknown to the authorities, suspiciously concealed inside a small wooden box. Bearing the misleading emblem of the English vintners Fortnum & Mason, it was obviously prepared for shipping. Carter’s embarrassed explanation was that the sculpture had been found in the rubble filling the tomb’s corridor (where it had presumably been abandoned in antiquity the fleeing robbers) along with a number of other objects that were “not yet fully registered.” The portrait faithfully captures Tutankhamun’s elongated platycephalic skull, a common feature among members of the inbred royal family of Amarna. A touching likeness of the young pharaoh, the sculpture represents him as the solar deity emerging from the corolla of the primordial lotus at the moment of creation. As a ritual object it symbolizes his divine rebirth every day with the rising sun.


Tutankhamen Treasures (Part 5)

Lion Funerary Bedhead:


Reminiscent of a royal throne, the first of 3 ritual couches discovered in the Antechamber was flanked by a pair of gilded wooden lions (or cheetahs). Its 2 magnificent bedheads, identically sculpted in leonine form, were elaborately inlaid in blue glass with eyes of painted crystal. The bed was assembled in 4 sections inside the tomb, this ornamental head still bearing the remains of black construction marks on its neck. Standing too high for practical use as a bed and inscribed with the epithet “The Osiris”, the Lion Couch was apparently employed as a ritual bier during the pharaoh’s 70 day process of mummification.

Alabaster Ibex Vase:


This graceful alabaster ibex, inscribed with the pharaoh’s cartouche, bears no magical formulas or spells, no sacred association with a deity, nor any apparent ritual function whatsoever. One of Tutankhamun’s personal possessions, this charming unguent vase reflects the innocent tastes of an adolescent whose fondness for hunting game was typical for his age. Decorated with an inlaid tongue of pained ivory and a single curving horn of genuine ibex, it held a small vase which was wrested from its back by the ancient robbers for its valuable aromatic contents. The first robbery penetrated the Antechamber and its sealed adjoining Annex, which were stripped of their most easily transportable treasure by thieves whose familiarity with the tomb suggested they had probably placed the objects there themselves. Although the necropolis guards re-secured the pharaoh’s tomb, it was soon violated again. Reaching the sealed Burial Chamber and the adjoining Treasury before they were finally caught, the sacrilegious intruders were most likely taken into the desert and impaled on stakes, the traditional penalty for such an offense. Throughout the centuries that followed, the desecration of the other pharaoh’s tombs resulted in the reburial of over 30 royal mummies together in a hidden underground sepulcher by the last rulers of Thebes (around 1000 B.C.) during the 21st Dynasty. Obliterated from memory and buried in the bedrock 13 feet beneath the grand entrance to the tomb of Ramesses VI, Tutankhamun’s humble sanctuary alone was spared for over 3 millennial.

Bes Unguent Vessel:


Inscribed with the royal cartouches of Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun, this whimsical alabaster unguent vase, with its inset ivory tongue, is fashioned in the form of the lusty household deity Bes. A divinity of the hearth with no temple of his own, this deformed dwarf spirit was revered in the humblest of homes. The god of marriage and domestic bliss, Bes was often portrayed as a lion. This vase was found in the Annex; its crown, torn off by the tomb robbers, still retained some of its original contents. Standing with one paw resting on the hieroglyph that represents protection, the figure was believed to possess the power to ward off evil influences. Besides the scheming vizier Ay, another treacherous element in the pharaoh’s court was the powerful general Horemheb, whose chief wife was Ay’s daughter Mutnodjme (Nefertiti’s younger sister), claimed the throne. With the help of the Amun priesthood he immediately embarked on a ruthless campaign to deface and usurp all monuments to the gods erected by the Amarnan royal family. Employing the faithful Maya as his overseer of finance, Horemheb (who was to succeeded by Ramesses I) proceeded to sack the tombs of his heretic predecessors with a vengeance, leaving only Tutankhamun’s treasures untouched.

Canopic Caskets:


Made of beaten gold inlaid with cloisonné rishi (or feather patterns), these 4 miniature anthropoid coffins held the mummified internal organs of the pharaoh. Appropriated from leftovers of another burial and refashioned for Tutankhamun’s funeral, the caskets were housed in the alabaster Canopic chest. Magic inscriptions chased on the gold interiors of the coffins revealed cartouches originally representing the names of Ankhkheprure Nefernefruaton (Nefertiti) which had been re-inscribed for Tutankhamun. Another small wooden casket found in the Treasury revealed the sentimental offering of a pleated lock of hair from the pharaoh’s grandmother, Queen Tiye. Nearby, a pair of small coffins of a less ornate design contained the mummies of the 2 stillborn daughters of Ankhesenamun and Tutankhamun, one pitifully deformed by congenital spina bifida and scoliosis. “Had one of those babes lived,” Howard Carter was to speculate, “there might never have been a Ramesses.”.

Canopic Stopper:


In the Treasury, within the golden shrine guarded by the tutelary goddesses, was an alabaster Canopic chest in which the pharaoh’s mummified viscera were stored. Each of its 4 hollows held a miniature gold coffin, containing the embalmed liver, lungs, stomach, and intestines of Tutankhamun. These compartments were topped by detachable alabaster (calcite) stoppers, each in the form of a small bust wearing the pharaoh’s finely modeled portrait, his youthful features delicately highlighted with paint. Although these effigies bear him in a striking resemblance, it has been suggested that they were originally prepared for the burial of an enigmatic Ankhkheprure (or Smenkhkare) which now appears to have been ritual throne names referring to Nefertiti and not another individual.

Golden Leopard Head:


The pharaoh’s ritual vestments included a sacred leopard skin mantle decorated with this ornamental head. Found in the antechamber, the object is fashioned of wood overlaid with gold, with features of inlaid colored glass and eyes of painted quartz. The ornament was worn hanging at the waist with the attached leopard skin over one shoulder whenever the pharaoh was called upon to officiate as high priest of all the gods. A painting on the north wall of the Burial Chamber depicts the aged Ay wearing an identically decorated leopard skin while performing his first act as Tutankhamun’s successor, the ritual restoration of the dead pharaoh’s senses with the symbolic touch of a sharpened adze to the eyes and mouth of the Osirine mummy. Known as “the opening of the mouth,” this ceremony was customarily executed by the dead pharaoh’s son to commemorate the participation of the god Horus in the resurrection of his father Osiris. As the great-grandfather of Tutankhamun’s 2 stillborn children, the “Divine Father” Ay was the young pharaoh’s heir; thus he was obliged to fulfill this priestly function at his predecessor’s funeral. Once banned by Akhenaton as barbarous, the possession and ritual use of such leopard skins suggests the extent to which his heretic influence had been abandoned during his son’s brief reign.

Golden Mummiform Coffin:


Lying within the stone sarcophagus, facing the sunrise, were 3 nesting anthropoid coffins, each more magnificent than the one preceding it. The 2 outmost coffins were made of wood (the first of them identified as cypress) overlaid with gold foil and inlaid with elaborate cloisonné work. Their sculpted covers (here represented by a traditional Pharaonic mummiform coffin lid) bear the reliefs portraying the recumbent pharaoh as Osiris, embraced by the protective wings of Isis and Nephthys. Nothing in their features suggests that they were originally intended for Tutankhamun. To Howard Carter’s astonishment, the third and innermost coffin was made of solid gold weighing 296 pounds, its ethereal gaze a result of the darkening of its inlaid alabaster eyes through the ages. Wearing the pleated false beard of divinity and the striped memes headdress crowned with the “Two Ladies” (the vulture and the cobra divinities), this dazzling mummy case is decorated in the classic Osirine style of the late New Kingdom.

Lion Unguent Jar:


The serene pose of this recumbent lion, unusual in its time, first appeared in a pair of granite lions intended for the monumental temple built in Nubia (Sudan) by the pharaoh Amenhotep III. For 20 years after his death one of the lions remained unfinished until his grandson, the pharaoh Tutankhamun respectfully had it completed along with a proud inscription. Found in the Burial Chamber near the doorway of the outermost shrine, this delightful alabaster unguent jar (suggesting the age-old association of royalty with lions) may have been a ritual or sentimental commemoration of the young pharaoh’s reverent act of devotion. Standing on 4 carved heads representing vanquished African and Asiatic enemies of Egypt (a recurrent motif among the sovereign’s possessions), the vase is incised and stained with scenes of lions and hounds hunting bulls and ibex, surmounted on its swivel lid by a recumbent lion inscribed with the pharaoh’s prenomen. The lion’s decorative tongue of painted ivory matches the traditionally depicted tongue of the dwarf god Bes, whose head is emerging from a pair of carved lotus columns supporting the lid.

Menkheret Carrying Tutankhamun:


The occult funeral rites, faithfully perpetuated by those who had long forgotten their remote origins, were primarily concerned with the various stages of the pharaoh’s rebirth as the living god. In the Treasury, sealed in small, black wooden shrines and undisturbed since the ancient burial day was a collection of gilded hardwood figures ritually associated with what the ancients referred to as “the divine ennead which is in the Netherworld,” of the 9 divinities of Heliopolis. Inscribed with the prenomen Nebkheprure on its black varnished base, this statue of the spirit Menkheret reverently bearing aloft the little pharaoh in his mummy shroud (wearing the red deshret crown) tenderly depicts the initial lethargy of the newborn divinity as he embarks, with the assistance of the gods, upon his journey beyond death.

Ritual Couch:


This spectacular piece of furniture was probably the first thing that Howard Carter saw when he broke the seal of the tomb. Associated with Mehetweret, goddess of “the great flood,” its matching heads were fashioned in the form of the revered cow goddess Hathor, their tall horns framing a pair of solar discs. The matching bodies, however, with their inlay of blue glass trefoils, evoke the celestial canopy associated with the sky goddess Nut. An inscription from The Book of the Divine Cow found in the Burial Chamber alludes to its sacred function as a solar barque for bearing the pharaoh to the heavens. Although commonly depicted in Egyptian tomb paintings, Tutankhamun’s was the only furniture of this sort ever to be found intact. The individual ceremonial purpose of each of the 3 ritual couches was associated with a different animal deity. The careless mismatching of parts between them suggests that they were erected in haste. Hieroglyphs carved on the footboard promise the protection of Isis and the endurance of Osiris.

Royal Mummy of Pharaoh Tutankhamun and Funerary Bier:




The much anticipated opening of the third coffin, delayed by the sudden death of Lord Carnarvon, revealed the pharaoh’s mummy which measured 5 ft. 4 in. in length. Wrapped in linen bandages enfolding over 150 carefully placed sacred jewels and amulets and liberally anointed with consecrated lustrations, his body had been badly damaged, its brittle tissue withered and blackened by excessive application of the very resins intended to preserve it. His face, protected by the gold mask suffered the least. Encircling his head was a splendid royal diadem (bearing a simple, knotted ribbon design) of gold inlaid with cloisonné and semiprecious stones. His fingers and toes were individually capped with plain gold sheaths and his feet were fitted with a pair of ornamental sandals made of gold. As the priceless treasures on Tutankhamun’s person were removed by Carter, the youthful pharaoh’s fragile remains were senselessly torn to pieces. A second examination of the mummy in 1968 revealed possible evidence of a fatal blow to the skull behind the left ear.

Sacred Udjat Amulet:


Charms fashioned from stone, gold, glass, or faience, amulets were cherished possessions believed to provide magical protection. Often worn as jewelry, they were buried with the dead, usually wrapped within the bandages of the mummy. These talismanic objects took the form of hieroglyphs, emblems, figurines, and even vessels, however the 2 most favored forms were the scarab and the udjat (“that which is in a good state”). In the shape of a human eye (adorned with kohl) resting on a sign which represents the markings on a falcon’s head, this amulet was identified with the magical protection of Horus, the falcon-headed son of Osiris. Symbolizing the eye lost by Horus while avenging his father’s murder, the sacred image was widely associated with filial devotion.

Scarab Amulet:


To the ancient Egyptians the ubiquitous sight of the scarab beetle rolling a ball of dung along the ground suggested the routine journey of the sun globe across the sky, thus it was adopted as the sacred symbol of their god Khepri, the rising sun. The word kheper, which meant both scarab and existence, provided 1 of the 3 hieroglyphic symbols for the pharaoh’s prenomen, Nebkheprure. Decorated with inlay of lapis lazuli, this traditional scarab amulet bears the same ornate design as a magnificent personal bracelet of the pharaoh’s found in the cartouche-shaped box.

Statue of Tutankhamun on a Leopard:


This mysterious image of the pharaoh, wearing the hedjet white crown of Upper Egypt and riding on the back of a leopard represents his passage through the dark Netherworld. That these figures, as Howard Carter observed, “were supposed to have some form of magic inherent in them is evident, although their exact meaning in this burial is unclear to us.” On his funerary pilgrimage the dead pharaoh would be transported on the head of a goddess, carried through the swamps on a papyrus barque to battle a demon god, and borne above his adversaries on the back of a guardian leopard. Having crossed the various thresholds of his journey he would emerge along with the rising sun, reborn as the new pharaoh. Discovered in the Treasury, draped in a linen shawl and sealed beside its twin in a black varnished wooden shrine, the ritual statue portrays the pharaoh walking with a long staff in one hand and a flail in the other.

The God Ptah:


During the Old Kingdom when the pyramids were built, Memphis was the royal capitol of the pharaohs. Long before Amun-Re became the local tribal god of Thebes, the patron deity of Memphis was Ptah. Among the oldest of Egyptian gods, Ptah was traditionally the protector of artisans and craftsmen. By proclaiming the names of everything that exists, this most ancient and supreme divinity conjured the universe and the gods into being. Predating the ingenious creation concept of a solar deity issuing forth from the primordial lotus, the enduring Ptah encompassed the other gods within his divine essence. Found in the Treasury, this gilded wooden figure is shrouded in feathers and holding a staff bearing the hieroglyphic symbols for life and stability.

Tutankhamen Treasures (Part 4)

Cartouche Box: 


Of the dozens of wooden boxes and chests of various sizes buried in the tomb, none escaped ransacking by the grave robbers in antiquity. Containing everything from linens and sandals to trinkets and cosmetics, 4 of these boxes were designed in the shape of a royal cartouche, representing a knotted loop of rope (a symbol of eternity) encircling the name of an exalted figure. The cartouche applied in ebony and ivory on the gilded wooden lid of this jewelry box signifies the pharaoh's nomen and titular: Tutankhamun, Ruler of Heliopolis of upper Egypt. As with most of his coffers, the box was originally secured with a cord which was wound around the 2 adjacent knobs and stamped with a seal. Hastily repacked by the necropolis staff after the ancient robbery, it was believed by Howard Carter to have once held some of the pharaoh's sacred coronation regalia. Found in the Treasury, the case contained a number of pieces of jewelry including a pair of large gold earrings, ornaments typically abandoned by young princes upon reaching manhood.

Alabaster Flask:


The traditional art of carving fine stone vessels, which declined after the Old Kingdom, enjoyed a revival during the 18th Dynasty. Whereas the opulent sepulchers of other pharaoh's included thousands of such vessels, Tutankhamun's burial in an unfinished, borrowed tomb was comparatively humble. Among the 80 vessels entombed with hi, 2 elegant vases of this rare, elongated style (found in the Annex) were distinguished by their utter simplicity. Although they did retain residual traces of their long vanished contents, these proved unidentifiable. Made of the finest native alabaster (calcite), this lovely flask was decorated with bands of inlaid faience lotus petals representing the festive garlands customarily strung around pottery wine vessels at royal banquets and celebrations.

Alabaster Wedding Chest:


In the Antechamber, this exquisite coffer was found lying open with its treasured personal contents undisturbed. Carved from a single block of calcite, it was engraved with the cartouches of both the pharaoh and the Great Royal Wife along with wishes for eternal life and fruitfulness. Inside the chest, wrapped in linen, were 2 balls of hair thought by Howard Carter to signify the royal marriage contract between the young Tutankhamun and his half-sister Ankhesenamun, which ensured his accession to the throne.

Papyrus Vignette of Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun:


Portrayed early in their reign, the young pharaoh and his wife are strolling in an arbor of floral columns. Her gesture of lovingly offering him bouquets of papyrus and lotus decorated with mandrakes (the fruit of love) suggest that it may have been a wedding portrait.

Golden Ankh:


Part of the pharaoh's ceremonial regalia was this gilded wooden ankh, the hieroglyphic symbol for life. Ancient in Tutankhamun's time, the ankh was represented in the form of a sandal, the archaic word for which was similar in pronunciation. When held in the pharaoh's hand in the presence of his subjects, this traditional amulet would have identified him with Horus, the sun god.

The Golden Throne and Ceremonial Footrest:


Majestically flanked by 2 leonine heads (representing the sacred mountains of the eastern and western horizons) and with armrests of winged uraeus serpents wearing the pschent double crown, the pharaoh's marvelous golden throne was found in the Antechamber underneath one of the bestial couches. Before it lays the sovereign's ceremonial footrest of inlaid wood, decorated with representations of the chieftains of conquered enemy lands who are “under his feet.” The feline legs were originally joined by an ornamental grille of solid gold, fashioned in the heraldic sma-tawy motif of intertwined lotus and papyrus (the age-old emblem of the union of Upper and Lower Egypt), which was torn away in antiquity by the grave robbers. Cartouches on the armrests bear Tutankhamun's name in its earlier form, Tutankhaton, suggesting that it may have been his coronation throne.

Royal Scepter:


Among the pharaoh's awesome ceremonial regalia was this precious insignia of his supreme authority, the Aba (“the commander”), fashioned on a wooden core overlaid with beaten sheet gold and decorated with cloisonné inlay of faience, lapis lazuli, turquoise, and carnelian. Ritual offerings were consecrated by the touch of this scepter, which symbolically imparted its sacred essence. It was found in the Annex where the grave robbers of antiquity apparently left it after removing it from the treasury. The staff represents a flowering papyrus stem surmounted by a blade embossed on one face with 5 sacrificial bulls in repousse, the other face bearing the inscription: The benevolent God, the beloved, dazzling of face like the Aton when he shines, son of Amun, Nebkheprure, living forever. Nebkheprure (“The Royal Manifestation of Re”) was the pharaoh's prenomen, or coronation name. The hieroglyphic inscription on the scepter, as Howard Carter noted with interest, “suggests a compromise between the Aton and the Amun creeds.”

The Crook and Flail:


Sacred emblems of the god Osiris, the heqa scepter and nekhakha, also known as the crook and flail, symbolized the divinity of the pharaohs and were a crucial part of their ceremonial regalia. Found in the Treasury along with a smaller pair suitable for a child to carry, they are the only surviving examples of this classic Pharaonic equipment so widely depicted in paintings and sculptures. The staffs are made of heavy bronze covered with alternating sleeves of blue glass and gold, while the beads of the flail were wooden. Traditionally crossed over the chest when held, they appear to represent the ruler as a shepherd whose beneficence is formidably tempered with might.

Ebony Child's Chair:


Of similar design to that of the golden throne, this small, uninscribed chair was found in the Antechamber. Elegantly constructed of African ebony joined with gold capped rivets and decorated with ivory inlay and gilt side panels depicting a pair of ibexes, it had a curved seat and short, feline legs. A typical piece of 18th Dynasty furniture, its presence I the pharaoh's tomb suggests that it was made for Tutankhamun as a child.

Royal Sailing Vessel:


Typical of royal burials, the pharaoh's tomb included a fleet of 35 model boats associated with his mystic pilgrimages in the afterlife and representing both practical and ceremonial vessels, the finest of which were found in the Treasury. This picturesque sailboat appears to be a funerary model of the majestic craft that carried the pharaoh up and down the Nile.

Royal Barge:


Lacking oars and a sail, this delightful wooden model is probably a likeness of a ceremonial barge, traditionally reserved for festivals and ritual events in which fleets of such boats were towed in royal processions, usually carrying exalted passengers.

Pommel Statuette of Tutankhamun:


Inheriting a kingdom left in political turmoil by his heretic predecessors, the little pharaoh was vulnerable to manipulation by the very factions that his  father  Akhenaton  had so  ambitiously overthrown. With Tutankhamun's  accession, the priesthood of Amun was quickly reestablished and the royal capitol was returned to Thebes, signaling the close of the Amarna experiment.  A puppet ruler from the time of his boyhood, if the pharaoh, like his heretic father before him, developed a will of his own as he matured, it may have cost him his life.

Statue of Tutankhamun with a Harpoon: 


Wearing the red deshret crown of Lower Egypt, Tutankhamun is ritually depicted in this gilded hardwood statue as the god Horus, standing on a papyrus raft with his arm upraised to harpoon the evil, scheming god Seth in the form of an invisible hippopotamus (an image considered too dangerous for inclusion in the tomb). Discovered in the Treasury as a pair, sealed together inside a black wooden shrine and draped in linen shawls dating from the 3rd year of Akhenaton's reign, the statues may have been left over from a prior burial and reworked for Tutankhamun's. Sculpted in the graceful, animated Amarna style, the pharaoh is dressed in a pleated kilt with sandals and a beaded collar. In his left hand he holds a symbolic coil of rope for hauling in his prey. The statue is an allegorical representation of the innocence vanquishing evil in the form of the swamp demon. In actuality Tutankhamun's foes may have included his revered vizier and trusted Master of Horse, the “Divine Father” Ay. Father of the late Queen Nefertiti and the brother of the late Queen Tiye (Akhenaton's Nubian mother), Ay was the grandfather of Ankhesenamun, whose useful marriage to the pharaoh (his grandnephew) he probably arranged.

Golden State Chariot: 


Constructed of bent wood and leather to be both sturdy and lightweight, the chariot was introduced to the Egyptians by the Asiatic Hyksosduring the early 18th Dynasty. Overlaid with gold foil and decorated with cloisonné inlay, 3 magnificent ceremonial state chariots were found tangled together in the Antechamber along with the first of the pharaoh's 3 undecorated hunting chariots, the rest of which were found in the Treasury. All were dismantled and their axles swan in half to accommodate the narrow corridor leading into the tomb. Among the most splendid and sophisticated examples of an ancient vehicle, this lavish ceremonial chariot was reserved for state parades and royal processions. Its decorated inner panels are covered with gilded reliefs depicting bound Asian and Nubian captives and the elaborate wheels of strong, imported elm were originally fitted with rawhide tires. From its first appearance in Egypt in the 16 Century B.C., the chariot was associated with the majesty of the pharaoh.

Golden Perfume Flask: 


Surmounted by a tall, plumbed lid embellished with cloisonné work, this ornate flask was fashioned in the form of a double cartouche enclosing images of the pharaoh himself rather than his name. According to Howard Carter the ritual object (made of gold plated wood inlaid with glass, turquoise, red jasper, and quartz) was found in the Burial Chamber within the sarcophagus, although it now appears to have been discovered inside the doorway of the outermost shrine. Traces of residue in the 2 separate chambers confirmed that it was used as a container for unguents. Reliefs illustrating flasks of this design as offerings to the divine solar globe from the hands of the pharaoh Akhenaton (Tutankhamun's father) suggest its sacred function. On one face Tutankhamun is portrayed wearing the traditional pleated side lock of a young prince, while on the opposite face he is represented as pharaoh wearing the blue khepresh crown, his head traditionally inlaid in black, a skin color associated with the gods and regeneration as well as with the Nubian ancestors of the Amarnan royal family. The sides of the flask are decorated with identical images of Heh, the god of infinity, incorporated into multiple representations of the pharaoh's throne name along with customary wish for his reign to last for 100,000 years times infinity. The different images within the cartouches reveal Tutankhamun's progression from royal prince to immortal pharaoh.
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