The Mouseion · Ancient Worlds · Egypt & Nubia

Egypt & Nubia

For three thousand years the Nile valley made art for eternity: statues to house the spirit, painted coffins, amulets, and everyday things buried so the dead would want for nothing. Much of what survives was made for tombs, which is why it survived.

Walk inThe whole museum

On the walls this month

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  Jug Decorated with Dolphins and Birds — ca. 1750–1550 B.C., Pottery, manganese black, gypsum fill
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Stela — ca. 945–721 BCE, Pottery
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Palette in the Form of a Turtle — c. 3500–3050 BCE, graywacke
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Senwosret III as a Sphinx — ca. 1878–1840 B.C., Gneiss
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Cippus (magical stela) — ca. 300 BCE, Steatite
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Funerary Portrait of a Young Girl — c. 25–37 CE, encaustic on linden wood
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Wild Bull Hunt Scarab of Amenhotep III — c. 1391–1353 BCE, steatite
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Stela — ca. 670–650 BCE, Pottery
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Flint in the Form of a Bird — 4000–3000 BCE, tan-colored flint
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Blue-Painted Ibex Amphora from Malqata — ca. 1386–1347 BCE, pottery, white cream slip, paint
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Magical Stela with Horus the Child — 360–343 BCE, Metagraywacke
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Palette in the Form of a Fish — c. 3500–2950 BCE, graywacke
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Ceiling painting from the palace of Amenhotep III — ca. 1386–1347 BCE, Dried Mud, mud plaster, paint, gesso
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Funerary Panel of a Man — about 138–92 CE, encaustic on linen
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Votive Relief of a King — 305–246 BCE, limestone
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Stela of Nebamun — ca. 1479–1396 BCE, Limestone, paint
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Temple Relief of a Deity — 360–246 BCE, limestone
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Votive stela of Userhat — ca. 1328–1300 BCE, Limestone, paint
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Tomb Relief of the Chief Physician Amenhotep and Family — c. 1279–1257 BCE, limestone with traces of paint
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Stela — ca. 1550–1525 BCE, Limestone
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Relief of Agricultural Scenes — c. 2311–2281 BCE, painted limestone
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Stela of Senu — ca. 1386–1347 BCE, Limestone
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Stela — ca. 1427–1386 BCE, Limestone
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Double-Sided Votive Relief — 305–30 BCE, limestone
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Double-Sided Votive Relief — 305–30 BCE, limestone
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Architectural Fragment with Relief Carving — Ancient Egyptian, 5th–6th century, Wood
  Original: The Art Institute of Chicago
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  Stela of Hetepi — ca. 1981–1917 B.C., Limestone, paint
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Water Bottle from Tutankhamun's Embalming Cache — ca. 1328–1318 BCE, Pottery, hematite wash, burnished, pigment
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Estate Figure — ca. 1981–1975 B.C., Wood, gesso, paint
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Uraeus (Rearing Cobra) — 1307–1196 BCE, Silver-copper alloy with inlays (copper, feldspar, turquoise, obsidian?) and gilding
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Canopic Jar (07.226.1) with a Lid Depicting a Queen (30.8.54) — ca. 1347–1330 BCE or shortly thereafter, Travertine (Egyptian alabaster), blue glass, obsidian, unidentified stone
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Amulet of Bastet — c. 1069–715 BCE, hematite
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Tetradrachm (Coin) Portraying King Ptolemy II Philadelphos and Queen Arsinoe II — Ancient Greek, After 270 BCE, issued by King Ptolemy II, reign of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II, 285–247 BCE, Gold
  Original: The Art Institute of Chicago
• 
  Shawabty of Nectanebo II — 360–342 BCE, pale turquoise faience
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Statuette of Kary carrying a standard of Horus — ca. 1290–1224 BCE, Wood
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

More of Ancient Worlds

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• Greece & Rome — Painted vases that told the myths, portraits of emperors, and bronzes small enough to hold. Greece set the ideal of…

Where the works come from

Every work in the Mouseion is a real piece, out of copyright everywhere, shown from the open collections of the museums that hold it — each label names the original’s museum and links to its page there.

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Open Access
• The Art Institute of Chicago — public-domain collection
• The Cleveland Museum of Art — Open Access
• Wikimedia Commons — public-domain photographs of works held elsewhere