ancient

An Original Work Complete of Beauty and Femininity, The Unknown Lady from Lisht.

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The ancient Egyptians had many beautiful women, including Queen Nefertari. She was known as “the most beautiful of them all” and was one of the most beloved queens of ancient Egypt, reigning during the 19th Dynasty. At the heart of the exhibition is Queen Nefertari, who was renowned for her beauty and prominence. She was called “the one for whom the sun shines” and was the favourite wife of Pharaoh Ramesses II.

One of the most famous figures from ancient Egypt is Queen Nefertiti. Her name, “the beautiful one has come,” has solidified her status as an iconic figure from the 14th century BC. She lived alongside her husband, Pharaoh Akhenaten, during the New Kingdom. Nefertiti’s legacy is steeped in mystery and fascination, as her renowned beauty and significant cultural impact have left a lasting impression.

Likewise: Queen Cleopatra, Queen Hatshepsut, Queen Neithhotep, Queen Tiye, Queen Twosret, Queen Nitocris… and Queen Ankhesenamun. Source: Jakada

But here, we have another one of beauty who remains unknown. Let’s read the story of its discovery by the privileged Marie Grillot.💖🙏

The Fair Lady of Lisht

via égyptophile

Head of the female statue – painted wood, gold leaf – Middle Kingdom – 12th dynasty
discovered in 1907 during excavations in the area of ​​the pyramid of Amenemhat I in Lisht
by the Metropolitan Museum of Art Expedition, New York – Egyptian Museum, Cairo – JE 39390

The face is noble and perfectly symmetrical. The veins of the light wood give it a feeling of life. The general expression is gentle, calm, and peaceful.

The large almond-shaped eyes, of which only the orbits remain, are absent… and, despite this, they seem to question us… What presence did they give to the face? What did they reveal? Did the glass paste and rock crystal subtly and luminously animate their pupils? These questions remain forever unanswered.

The eyebrows are treated in relief, while the shadow line is treated in hollow. The nose is well-proportioned, and the lips are thin. The slight injury they suffered reminds us of the ravages of time.

Head of the female statue – painted wood, gold leaf – Middle Kingdom – 12th dynasty
discovered in 1907 during excavations in the area of ​​the pyramid of Amenemhat I in Lisht
by the Metropolitan Museum of Art Expedition, New York – Egyptian Museum, Cairo – JE 39390

What, obviously, impresses in this head of barely more than 10 cm is the imposing wig that generously frames it and must have reached the level of the shoulders, which have now disappeared. “The enveloping mass of the added hair is worked in a darker wood and blackened with paint; it is fixed to the head in lighter wood, using tenons”, specify Mohamed Saleh and Hourig Sourouzian in their “Official Catalogue of Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The deep black of the wig is enhanced with small squares of gold leaf, which have so many luminous touches. On the other hand, Rosanna Pirelli analyzes in “The Wonders of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo”: “The fact that the wig is particularly fine at the top, compared to the width of the lateral parts, suggests the presence of a crown or a diadem.”

Head of the female statue – painted wood, gold leaf – Middle Kingdom – 12th dynasty
discovered in 1907 during excavations carried out in the area of ​​the pyramid of Amenemhat in Lisht by the Expedition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York – Egyptian Museum in Cairo – JE 39390

Who was this beautiful lady? A queen, a princess, a prominent person at the sovereign’s court? The work’s quality and the artist’s mastery, indeed, suggest that it may have come from the pharaoh’s workshops. Unfortunately, this face, which was that of a full-length statue, does not allow us to identify it.

This head—often used as a model to illustrate the beauty of ancient Egyptian women—was discovered in 1907 in Lower Egypt, precisely in Lisht, between Daschour and Meidoum.

This female statue head – painted wood, gold leaf – Middle Kingdom – 12th dynasty
discovered in 1907 during excavations in the area of ​​the pyramid of Amenemhat I in Lisht
by the Expedition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York – Egyptian Museum in Cairo – JE 39390 – illustrates numerous works

At the beginning of his reign, Amenemhat I “left Thebes to found a new city at the entrance to the Fayoum, named ‘Amenemhat-se-seizit-des-Deux-Terres’ not far from the current site of Lisht (“Pharaonic Egypt, history, society, culture”). In “L’Egypt Restorée”, Sydney Aufrere and Jean-Claude Golvin thus analyze the reasons which led to this “relocation”: “not only to break away from Thebes and the supporters of the last Montouhotep but also to keep an eye on the north and the Asian border, the city became the main royal residence during the 12th and 13th dynasties… They add, “Today we cannot give it any other reality and archaeological dimension than those which associate it with the two funerary monuments today reduced to two mounds: the pyramids of Amenemhat I and Sesostris I.”

Excavation site of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Expedition in New York at the Lisht site in 1907
during the discovery of the head of a female statue in painted wood with gilding (JE 39390) from the 12th dynasty

In 1882, Gaston Maspero, successor to Auguste Mariette at the head of the antiquities service, undertook excavations on the site, work that allowed the identification of the pyramids. For practical reasons (there was sometimes up to 11 m of water, he relates), however, he was unable to go as far as the burial chamber. The study of the site was then taken up in 1894-1895 by the French School of Cairo (which, in 1898, became the French Institute of Oriental Archeology).

Then, in 1906, when Gaston Maspero returned to the directorship of antiquities, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York requested the concession. He obtains it and then settles in for several seasons of excavation.

Head of the female statue – painted wood, gold leaf – Middle Kingdom – 12th dynasty
discovered in 1907 during excavations in the area of ​​the pyramid of Amenemhat I in Lisht
by the Metropolitan Museum of Art Expedition, New York – Egyptian Museum, Cairo – JE 39390

Indeed, the Egyptian department of the MMA was created on October 15, 1906, and its administrators, as well as its brand new director, Albert Morton Lythgoe, saw the point of enriching their knowledge, experience, and collections.

Thus began their first campaign, financed by private funds, under the joint leadership of the director, Herbert Eustis Winlock (Harvard) and Arthur C. Mace (Oxford).

One hundred fifty workers were recruited: some, already ‘trained’ for excavations, came from Upper Egypt, others from neighbouring villages; their number will continue to increase over the years.

Head of the female statue – painted wood, gold leaf – Middle Kingdom – 12th dynasty
discovered in 1907 during excavations in the area of ​​the Amenemhat pyramid in Lisht
by the Metropolitan Museum of Art Expedition, New York – Egyptian Museum, Cairo – JE 39390
reproduced for the first time in “The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin” n° 10 – Oct. 1907

Albert M. Lythgoe does not explain the exact circumstances of the head’s discovery. In the October 1907 bulletin of the MMA, although it appears in a photo with the caption “figure 2. Head of wooden statuette from Lisht, 12th dynasty”, no details are given on the place where it was found. The author relates that the excavations concerned two sectors: the cemetery located west of the pyramid of Amenemhat, which revealed tombs of important figures of the 12th dynasty, as well as a sector situated on a promontory. Over a hundred tombs have been unearthed for most of the 12th dynasty.

As the head is illustrated opposite this paragraph, we can think that its discovery is linked to these areas where dignitaries, relatives, and ruling family members had the honour of resting not far from the pharaoh.

It should be noted that her arms were found two years later, in Situ, by Herbert Eustis Winlock…

This head is displayed at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square in Cairo under number JE 39380.

Marie Grilott

Sources:

The head of a woman surrounded with a placed hairdressing consists of two pieces of blackened wood, inlaid with gold, Musée égyptien du Caire https://egyptianmuseumcairo.eg/artefacts/head-of-a-woman/ The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol. 1, No. 12, Nov. 1906 http://www.jstor.org/stable/i3634, http://www.jstor.org/stable/i363438 A. M. Lythgoe, The Egyptian Expedition, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol. 2, No. 4, Apr. 1907 https://www.jstor.org/stable/i363442 The Egyptian Expedition, Albert M. Lythgoe, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol. 2, No. 7, Jul. 1907, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3253292 The Egyptian Expedition, Albert M. Lythgoe, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol. 2, No. 10, Oct.1907 https://www.jstor.org/stable/3253176?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Mohamed Saleh, Hourig Sourouzian, Catalogue officiel du Musée égyptien du Caire, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1987
Sydney Aufrère, Jean-Claude Golvin, L’Egypte restituée – Tome 3 – Sites, temples et pyramides de Moyenne et Basse Égypte, Editions Errance, 1997
Christiane Ziegler, L’Art égyptien au temps des pyramides, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1999
Francesco Tiradritti, Trésors d’Egypte – Les merveilles du musée égyptien du Caire, Gründ, 1999
Guide National Geographic, Les Trésors de l’Egypte ancienne au musée égyptien du Caire, 2004
Pierre Tallet, Frédéric Payraudeau, Chloé Ragazzolli, Claire Somaglino, L’Egypte pharaonique, histoire, société, culture, Armand Colin, 2019

Posted 29th October 2019 by Unknown

Holy Was The Birth in The Holy Egypt

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Of course, every holy book and religious ritual teaches that giving birth and having offspring is a highly important human act on this earth. No wonder, then, that it would go in the same way in ancient Egypt.

Most ancient Egyptian women laboured and delivered their babies on the cool roof of the house or in an arbour or confinement pavilion, a structure of papyrus-stalk columns decorated with vines.

isis_giving_birth, via Canada.inc

In the Yogi method, the best way to bear a child is in the water! I believe if we let the newborn child into the water immediately, they would feel happy and free and could more easily grasp their changing world perception.

Childbirth scene, Kom Ombo Temple, partial relief
Photo by G. Blanchard (2006)
via Visualizing Birth

The standard childbirth practice in ancient Egypt has long been known from papyrus texts. It looked more natural as the woman delivered her baby while squatting on two large bricks, each colourfully decorated with scenes to invoke the magic of gods for the health and happiness of mother and child.

Let’s read this interesting report by the brilliant Marie Grillot about an enchanting find and the story of constant upspring in Old Egypt!

On this ostracon, a maternity scene more than 3000 years old…

via égyptophile

Figured ostracon representing a mother breastfeeding her child and her servant – limestone – 19th – 20th dynasty – from Deir el-Medineh
Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre Museum – E 25333 (previously at the Fouad I Agricultural Museum in Cairo
then in the collection of Moïse Lévy de Benzion, then in that of Robert Streitz, who donated it to the Parisian Museum in 1952)
photo © 2002 Louvre Museum / Georges Poncet

Several figured ostraca* from Deir el-Medineh illustrate this extraordinary, touching moment of motherhood, more precisely of the mother breastfeeding her newborn. The gesture, the tenderness, and the concentrated attention paid to the nurturing function remain immutable across the centuries.

This scene, dating from the 19th – 20th dynasty, is reproduced on a piece of limestone 15 cm high and 11.7 cm wide. The three characters are drawn in red ocher while their complexion is painted in yellow ocher and their hair in black.

It takes place in a beautiful plant setting, under a canopy, supported by columns (only one is visible on the right, the left part being lacunar), covered with lanceolate leaves of bindweed or convolvulus. “The leaves of bindweed have a symbolic meaning with a sexual connotation: they are often present in scenes relating to love and the renewal of life”, explains Anne-Mimault-Gout (“Les artistes de Pharaon”).

Figured ostracon representing a mother breastfeeding her child and her servant – limestone – 19th – 20th dynasty – from Deir el-Medineh
Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre Museum – E 25333 (previously at the Fouad I Agricultural Museum in Cairo
then in the collection of Moïse Lévy de Benzion, then in that of Robert Streitz, who donated it to the Parisian Museum in 1952)
photo © 2002 Louvre Museum / Georges Poncet

Emma Brunner-Traut calls this kiosk “the birthing arbour” and thinks “that it was a temporary building, raised in the open air for the moment of childbirth and that the mother remained there for 14 days until her purification”…

This birth pavilion sheltered the difficult hours of suffering inherent in childbirth, just as it witnessed the intense emotion linked to the miracle of giving life… Its aim was also, most certainly, to benefit the young, give birth calmly, rest and protect her, as well as the child, from potential external risks or dangers. In “Carnets de Pierre”, Anne-Mimault Gout evokes the interesting idea that: “These pavilions were perhaps the ancestors of the mammisis of the Greco-Roman temples, the birth chapels”.

Sitting on a curved stool equipped with a comfortable cushion, the mother is shown, turned to the right and naked, adorned only with a large necklace. Her body, leaning forward, seems to envelop and protect the infant she is breastfeeding. Unfortunately, the time has partly tarnished and erased its representation…

Figured ostracon representing a mother breastfeeding her child and her servant – limestone – 19th – 20th dynasty – from Deir el-Medineh
Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre Museum – E 25333 (previously at the Fouad I Agricultural Museum in Cairo
then in the collection of Moïse Lévy de Benzion, then in that of Robert Streitz, who donated it to the Parisian Museum in 1952)
photo © 2002 Louvre Museum / Georges Poncet

Her undone, untamed hairstyle —typical of that of women giving birth in ancient Egypt—attracts the eye. The hair raised in a totally anarchic manner on the head probably reflects the fact that during these extraordinary days, all the attention was focused on the child, to the detriment of the care given to his physical appearance…

As if to remind her that her new role as the mother should not make her forget her femininity, the young servant in front of her hands her a mirror and a kohol case. These toiletry accessories are, according to Anne Mimault-Gout, “charged with an erotic connotation linked, through beauty, to rebirth”. Young, his thin, slender body is naked. Her hair is tied in a ponytail on the top of her head, falling in a pretty curl over her shoulder. For J. Vandier d’Abbadie, “this hairstyle and the pronounced elongation of the profile evoke the iconography of Syro-Palestinian divinities – in particular, Anat and Astarte -, that is to say, that these young girls with high heads would be young asian maids”…

Figured ostracon representing a mother breastfeeding her child and her servant – limestone – 19th – 20th dynasty – from Deir el-Medineh
Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre Museum – E 25333 (previously at the Fouad I Agricultural Museum in Cairo,
then in the collection of Moïse Lévy de Benzion, then in that of Robert Streitz, who donated it to the Parisian Museum in 1952)
published here in Jeanne Vandier d’Abbadie “Deux ostraca figurés”, BIFAO, 1957 (p. 21-34, p. 22-23, fig. 2)

In her fascinating study “Postpartum purification and relief rites in ancient Egypt” (all of whose rich analyses, unfortunately, cannot be cited here), Marie-Lys Arnette returns to the rites represented on these figurative ostraca of the Ramesside period representing “gynoecium scenes”, as J. Vandier d’Abbadie calls them… “The actions that these scenes depict are indeed rites since they are very close formally to the representations of offerings made to the dead or the gods and follow the same codes: The beneficiary is seated while the officiant approaches them, standing and holding the objects they are about to offer in their hands. These scenes concern the period following birth, and the rites which appear there must allow the purification and aggregation of the mother. It is a question of representing the reliefs, the sequence we can attempt to restore – in a necessarily incomplete manner because the analysis depends on scant documentation”…

These representations are very precious because they are among the only ones that allow us to understand the intimacy of women… But what was their goal? E. Brunner-Traut, in particular, “suggests seeing ex-votos there. We can indeed consider these objects as having been used, in one way or another, in cults linked to fertility, but it is impossible to specify this use further”…

Figured ostracon representing a mother breastfeeding her child and her servant – limestone – 19th – 20th dynasty – from Deir el-Medineh
Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre Museum – E 25333 (previously at the Fouad I Agricultural Museum in Cairo,
then in the collection of Moïse Lévy de Benzion, then in that of Robert Streitz, who donated it to the Parisian Museum in 1952)
published here in Jacques Vandier d’Abbadie “Catalogue of figured ostraca of Deir el Médineh” II.2, n°2256-2722, IFAO, Cairo, 1937

This ostracon, which comes from Deir el-Medineh, is described by Jacques Vandier d’Abbadie in his “Catalogue of figured ostraca, 1937” under the number 2339. It is indicated as having previously been at the Fouad I Agricultural Museum in Cairo. It was then found in the collection of Moïse Lévy de Benzion, owner of a famous store in Cairo, who then offered it at auction under number 36 of his sale on March 14, 1947, in Zamalek. Robert Streitz, a Belgian architect based in Cairo, then purchased it. He kept it for several years before donating it in 1952 to the Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre Museum. It was registered there under the inventory number E 25333.

Marie Grillot

*Ostraca (singular: ostracon): Shards, silver or fragments of limestone, or even terracotta, which were, in antiquity, used by artisans to practice. This type of “support”, which they found in abundance on the sides of the mountain, allowed them to make and redo their drawings or writings until they reached excellence and were finally admitted to work “in situ” in the residences of ‘eternity.

They are generally classified into two categories: inscribed (hieroglyph, hieratic, demotic, etc.) or figured (drawing, sculpture).

Sources:

Figured ostracon – E 25333 https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010004032 Jacques Vandier d’Abbadie, Catalog of figured ostraca of Deir el Médineh II.2, n°2256-2722, IFAO, Cairo, 1937 https://archive.org/details/DFIFAO2.2/page/n1/mode/2up Bernard Bruyère, Report on the excavations of Deir el Médineh (1934-1935). Third part. The village, public dumps, the rest station at the Valley of the Kings pass, Cairo, Printing office of the French Institute of Oriental Archeology (IFAO), (Excavations of the French Institute of Oriental Archeology = FIFAO; 16), p. 131-132, 1939 https://ia600606.us.archive.org/30/items/FIFAO16/FIFAO%2016%20Bruyère%2C%20Bernard%20-%20Le%20village%2C%20les%20discharges%20public%2C%20la%20station%20de %20rest%20du%20col%20de%20la%20valley%20des%20kings%20%281939%29%20LR.pdfEmma Brunner-Traut, Die altägyptischen Scherbenbilder (Bildostraka) der Deutschen Museen und Sammlungen, Franz Steiner, Wiesbaden, 1956 Jeanne Vandier d’Abbadie, Two figured ostraca, Bulletin of the French Institute of Oriental Archeology (BIFAO), 1957, p. 21-34, p. 22-23, fig. 2, IFAO, Cairo, 1957 https://archive.org/details/DFIFAO2.2 https://archive.org/details/DFIFAO2.2/page/n69/mode/2up Emma Brunner-Traut, Egyptian Artists’ Sketches. Figured ostraka from the Gayer-Anderson Collection in the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, Cambridge, 1979

The donors of the Louvre, Paris, Musée du Louvre, 1989

Perfumes and cosmetics in ancient Egypt, exhibition catalogue, Cairo, Marseille, Paris, 2002, p. 99, 139, ESIG, 2002

Anne Minault-Gout, Stone notebooks: the art of ostraca in ancient Egypt, p. 36-37, Hazan, 2002

Guillemette Andreu, The artists of Pharaon. Deir el-Medina and the Valley of the Kings, exhibition catalog, Paris, Turnhout, RMN, Brepols, p. 113, no. 53, 2002

Guillemette Andreu, The Art of Contour. Drawing in ancient Egypt, exhibition catalog, Somogy éditions d’Art, p. 320, ill. p. 320, no. 168, 2013

Marie-Lys Arnette, Postpartum purification and relief rites in ancient Egypt, Bulletin of the French Institute of Oriental Archeology (BIFAO), 114, 2015, p. 19-72, p. 30-31, fig. 2, IFAO, Cairo 2015

Hanane Gaber, Laure Bazin Rizzo, Frédéric Servajean, At work, we know the craftsman… of Pharaon! A century of French research in Deir el-Medina (1917-2017), exhibition catalogue, Silvana Editoriale, p. 36, 2017

Howard “Indi” Carter

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Howard Carter, a British archaeologist born on May 9, 1874, in Swaffham, Norfolk, England, is known for his significant contribution to Egyptology. In 1922, he discovered the most complete tomb of King Tutankhamun, which remains one of the most celebrated and richly endowed discoveries in the history of Egyptology. Carter passed away on March 2, 1939, in London.

Here is the story of his accidental discovery of one of the ancient heritages, as we might know it from the acts of the adventurers, with heartfelt thanks to the brilliant Marie Grillot.

The pic at the top via The Collector.

Carter finds a grave under his horse’s hoof!

The tomb called “Bab el-Hossan” discovered in 1900 by Howard Carter, is, in fact, a cenotaph of Montouhotep II: its location (pit), in front of his funerary temple, is visible in the middle-left of this photo (photo Daniel Lefèvre)

via égyptophile

It was in October 1891 that Howard Carter arrived in Egypt to work as a draftsman and copyist for Percy Edward Newberry at the Egypt Exploration Foundation. Then, from 1893, still for the EEF, but this time under the direction of Edouard Naville, he copied the bas-reliefs of Deir el-Bahari intended to illustrate the Egyptologist’s work “The Temple of Deir el-Bahari”.
In this context, the one who, in November 1922, will emerge from oblivion, Tutankhamun will make, in an entirely fortuitous manner, his first discovery…
This “adventure” will stretch over two years and is worthy of Indiana Jones! It began in November 1898, on an exceptionally grey and rainy day in the Theban necropolis and the rocky cirque of Deir el-Bahari.

Carter is concerned about the impact of these rains on the temple murals. So, he decides to go to the site “with his colleague Charles Sillem” to observe and estimate potential damage.

The tomb called “Bab el-Hossan” discovered in 1900 by Howard Carter, is, in fact, a cenotaph of Montouhotep II:
its location (pit) is visible here

While he is in front of the temple of Montouhotep, his horse’s foot sinks into a hole… and they both fall! Carter gets up and hastens to examine what caused the fall. “Looking in the small hole formed there, I saw the traces of stonework”, he relates.

He was very intrigued and then opened up to Edouard Naville. As this sector is not in the area of his concession, he attaches little importance to it and does not encourage him to carry out other investigations.

For his part, Howard Carter will not forget this place; he promises to return there to further the research.

To do this, he knows that he must wait for his professional situation to evolve, which will happen quickly. Indeed, in 1899, Gaston Maspero, back at the head of the Antiquities Service, appointed him general inspector of monuments in Upper Egypt.

The following year, finally feeling free to carry out his first “independent” excavation, Howard Carter returned to the site and saw his intuition confirmed: it was indeed a burial! The work to clear what will be known as “Bab el-Hossan” (the horse’s grave) will prove gigantic!

Portrait of a young Howard Carter (author and date unknown)

The opening, which will have to be enlarged, leads to a corridor dug into the rock, 17 meters deep, leading to a sealed door. The clearing carried out with a large team that nevertheless takes turns tirelessly takes an incredible amount of time.

Behind the door, Carter encounters a new 150-meter corridor leading to a large room. Inside, draped, wrapped, and wrapped in linen, is a giant statue!

A well leads to a second chamber located around thirty meters lower. In it, Carter finds vases, pots, and boat models. In another well, a wooden chest bears the name of a pharaoh. This inscription will allow the statue to be identified.

Statue of Montouhotep II – painted sandstone – from his cenotaph located under his temple of Deir el-Bahari
discovered in 1900 by Howard Carter in what is generally referred to as: “Bab el-Hossan.”
Egyptian Museum in Cairo – JE 36195

It is made of painted sandstone and is 1.38 m high and 0.47 m wide. It represents Montouhotep II, ruler of the 11th dynasty. He sits on his throne, wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt and the white habit of jubilee (sed). His broad face, full lips, and a false beard are black.

Its eyes are painted white with black pupils. His hands are black, and his arms are crossed on his chest in the Osiriac position. His legs, also black, are very thick, even disproportionate. In their “Official Catalog of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo,” Mohamed Saleh and Hourig Sourouzian put forward this interesting hypothesis about the colour of its complexion: “It seems that the statue was painted black before burying it.”

As for Rosanna Pirelli (“The Wonders of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo”), she analyzes this particular representation of the sovereign as follows: “This is a strong and hieratic image of the second unifier of the pharaonic state after Menes. The statue symbolizes the double nature of the pharaoh who, during his lifetime, embodies the falcon god Horus, the mighty conqueror, while in death, he is identified with Osiris, the sovereign of the deceased.

Statue of Montouhotep II – painted sandstone – from his cenotaph located under his temple of Deir el-Bahari
discovered in 1900 by Howard Carter in what is generally referred to as: “Bab el-Hossan.”
Egyptian Museum in Cairo – JE 36195 – photo of the museum

Did Howard Carter discover the tomb of the great pharaoh? Mohamed Saleh and Hourig Sourouzian say, “The statue of Montouhotep had been ritually buried in a vault under the terrace (of his temple) and which seems to have been the initial tomb of the king, before having been transformed into a cenotaph. The entrance from this vault opened into the forecourt of the funerary monument of Montouhotep.”

Montouhotep II (“may Montu be satisfied”) reigned between 2061 and 2010 BC. AD. He led an important policy of cultural and commercial restoration.

Location of the temple of Montouhotep (partly ruined today)
in the rocky cirque of Deir el-Bahari

His funerary complex located at Deir el-Bahari was, perhaps, according to the hypothesis put forward by Edouard Naville, a temple with a double terrace topped by a small pyramid. Today, it is primarily degraded and cannot be visited. However, it can be seen from the temple of Hatshepsut, or better yet, an overview of it from the path linking Deir el-Bahari to Deir el-Medineh, which overlooks it.

This statue, “found under the hoof of a horse,” is exhibited at the Cairo Museum (JE 36195). It represents a magnificent example of the renaissance of Egyptian art from the beginning of the Middle Kingdom…

It is important to point out that, in “Howard Carter, The Path to Tutankhamun”, T.G.H. James tells us that this discovery had not been up to what Howard Carter had expected… “His disappointment was deep enough in itself, but worse still, it was increased by the fact that he had committed the stupidity to inform Lord Cromer, the British Consul General, who actually held power in Egypt, suggesting that it was possible that a tomb, possibly royal, had been found. As Maspero wrote to Naville: ‘ ‘He announced his discovery too early to Lord Cromer. Lord Cromer came to witness his success and is now in despair, having been unable to show him anything of what he had predicted. I console him as best I can because “He’s a really good boy, and he does his duty very well.”

Unfortunately, this experience led Nicholas Reeves to say in “Ancient Egypt: The Great Discoveries” that Carter then decided that, for any possible future discovery, he would wait until he was absolutely sure of what he had found before making the announcement. For Tutankhamun, he adopted this strategy:”…

Marie Grillot

Sources:
Herbert Eustis Winlock, Excavations at Deir El Bahri 1911-1931, The Macmillan Company, New York, 1942 https://archive.org/details/Winlock_Deir_El_Bahari_1911-1931 Thomas Garnet Henry James, Howard Carter, The path to Tutankhamun, TPP, 1992 https://archive.org/stream/HowardCarterThePathToTutankhamunBySam/Howard+Carter+The+Path+to+Tutankhamun+By+Sam_djvu.txt

Nicholas Reeves, Richard H. Wilkinson, The Complete Valley of the Kings, The American University in Cairo Press, 1996
Mohamed Saleh, Hourig Sourouzian, Official Catalogue of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Verlag Philippe von Zabern, 1997
Francesco Tiradritti, Treasures of Egypt – The wonders of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Gründ, 1999
Nicholas Reeves, Ancient Egypt. The Great Discoveries, Thames & Hudson, 2002, The Great Discoveries of Ancient Egypt Editions du Rocher, 2001
National Geographic Guide, The Treasures of Ancient Egypt at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, 2004
The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Abeer El-Shahawy, Matḥaf al-Miṣrī, American Univ in Cairo Press, 2005
Statue of King Mentuhotep the Second http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=14914 The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Abeer El-Shahawy, Matḥaf al-Miṣrī

Rocky cirque of Deir el Bahari: on the right, the temple of Hatshepsut; set back, barely visible, the temple of Thoumosis III, and to the left, the temple of Menthouhotep in the courtyard of which Bab El-Hossan was found – photo taken from the Luxor City Facebook page.

Published June 21 2014, by Marie Grillot
Labels: bab el-hossan Carter Deir_el-Bahari hossan the tomb of the horse Montouhotep naville

Cloisonné Gold Pendant, a Timeless Lotus Flower!

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This fascinating jewel is not only a designer piece but a symbol of birth and rebirth!
Here is another brilliant article by Marie Grillot about the secret of this magical lotus jewel, which will remain forever.

This pendant comes from the treasure of Princess Mérit (Mereret), whose tomb was found in March 1894 by Jacques de Morgan in the sector of the “northern pyramid” of Dahchour.

Kha and Merit receive offerings on a painted chest from two of their children.
By Museo Egizio

Cloisonné gold pendant of a princess of Dahchour

Cloisonné gold pendant of Princess Merit (Mereret) – gold, carnelian, turquoise, lapis lazuli
Middle Kingdom – 12th Dynasty – Reigns of Sesostris III and Amenemhat III – 1878 – 1798 BC-AD
discovered in his tomb in Dahchour on March 6, 1894, during excavations carried out by Jacques de Morgan
Egyptian Museum in Cairo – CG 53070 – JE 30877 – photo of the museum

via égyptophile

This lovely pendant is made of cloisonné gold, garnished with semi-precious stones. The brilliance that the gems reflect, their perfect execution, and their exceptional state of conservation make it difficult to believe that they are almost… 4000 years old!

It takes the shape of a “convex” shell, the upper part representing an open lotus flower. Its petals, pointing downwards, are made of a delicate and luminous cloisonné composed of turquoise, lapis lazuli and carnelian.

Cloisonné gold pendant of Princess Merit (Mereret) – gold, carnelian, turquoise, lapis lazuli
Middle Kingdom – 12th Dynasty – Reigns of Sesostris III and Amenemhat III – 1878 – 1798 BC-AD
discovered in his tomb in Dahchour on March 6, 1894, during excavations carried out by Jacques de Morgan
Egyptian Museum in Cairo – CG 53070 – JE 30877
published here in “Jewelry and goldsmiths. Booklet 3”, Émile Vernier

“Under this area, the main decoration develops. The middle is occupied by a carnelian of unusual dimensions: 0 m. 021 millimetres high and 0 m. 026 millimeters wide. Its general shape is close to a circle, part of which is cut by the upper area. All around the carnelian, a decoration is developed made, in the axis, of alternating cloisonné chevrons: lapis, carnelian and turquoise, and on each side, curved serrations of turquoise, leaving between them curvilinear triangles in carnelian followed by other small triangles of lapis, then approaching the upper area, alternating bands of lapis and turquoise and ending with an ellipse in turquoise having as its middle a small ellipse of lapis is framed by a fairly wide edge where the gold is bare. The reverse is made of a concave plate of plain gold, where we see a horizontal ring in the upper part, flat and vertically striated,” explains Emile Vernier (Jewelry and goldwork. Booklet 3).

Cyril Aldred’s interpretation follows: “The pendant… is inlaid with a motif inspired by the lotus flower from which is suspended a crown of stylized flower petals, ending in a pendant of three chevrons”.

As for Nigel Fletcher-Jones (“Ancient Egyptian Jewelry”), he specifies that “The pendant was originally suspended from a chain of gold beads to which twenty-six small oyster shells were soldered at regular intervals”.

Cloisonné gold pendant of Princess Merit (Mereret) – gold, carnelian, turquoise, lapis lazuli
Middle Kingdom – 12th Dynasty – Reigns of Sesostris III and Amenemhat III – 1878 – 1798 BC-AD
discovered in his tomb in Dahchour on March 6, 1894, during excavations carried out by Jacques de Morgan
Egyptian Museum in Cairo – CG 53070 – JE 30877 – photo of the museum

This jewel is loaded with symbols and “powers”… Thus, the oyster shell was, for a short period of the Middle Kingdom, an amulet which, according to Carol Andrews (Amulets of Ancient Egypt) “, gave health” and brought well-being to the person who wore it… As for the lotus, which is very present in Pharaonic iconography, it is not only the symbol of birth but also that of rebirth.

The stones used are also loaded with symbolism. In “The Gold of the Pharaohs”, Christiane Ziegler provides these details: “The ‘méfékat’ turquoise was extracted from Sinai where the pharaohs launched mining expeditions. Its luminous colour, evoking the growth of young shoots in spring, was synonymous with vitality and joy. Its presence in the funerary equipment undoubtedly gave the dead the joy of rebirth.” Carnelian, Héréset, “possessed the invigorating virtues of blood”. As for lapis lazuli, she explains to us: “in ancient myths, it constituted the beard and hair of the gods and had virtues comparable to those of turquoise”…

Pyramid of Amenemhat III in Dahchour
Photo by Jacques de Morgan published in “Excavations at Dahshur”, 1894

This pendant comes from the treasure of Princess Mérit (Mereret), whose tomb was found in March 1894 by Jacques de Morgan in the sector of the “northern pyramid” of Dahchour.

In his work “Excavations at Dahchour”, published the same year, he relates: “The underground necropolis that I had just opened was therefore not the tomb of the king, but rather the gallery of the princesses, one of the annexes of the tomb principal. Later, I discovered among the treasures the names of the princesses Hathor-Sat and Merit and the titles of a sixth royal daughter on the worm-eaten remains of a wooden box. Then he adds, “Meticulous examination of the floor of the galleries revealed on March 6 a cavity dug in the rock at the foot of sarcophagus C. The ground was loose,e and the worker’s foot sank into the middle of the moving debris. A few blows of the pickaxe revealed its treasures: gold and silver jewels and precious stones were there, piled up in the middle of the worm-eaten fragments of a box where they had once been kept. “

Cloisonné gold pendant of Princess Merit (Mereret) – gold, carnelian, turquoise, lapis lazuli
Middle Kingdom – 12th Dynasty – Reigns of Sesostris III and Amenemhat III – 1878 – 1798 BC-AD
discovered in his tomb in Dahchour on March 6, 1894, during excavations carried out by Jacques de Morgan
Egyptian Museum in Cairo – CG 53070 – JE 30877
published here in “Excavations at Dahshur” by Jacques de Morgan

Georges Legrain, who worked alongside him, was responsible for drawing up the first jewellery catalogue and faithfully reproducing drawings and watercolours. The large number of pieces to be presented will mean that this pendant will be described in a laconic manner: “Bivalve shell decorated with multicoloured stones on its convex part. The main design represents a lotus flower supporting an indefinite red object, from which herbs escape …”

Jacques de Morgan brandishing one of the pieces of Dahchour’s treasure (Princess Khnoumit’s tiara)
during its discovery in April 1894 in the funerary complex of Amenemhat II in Dashour
(drawing published in “L’Illustration” on May 11, 1895)

We can only subscribe to the words of Pierre Tallet in his work “Sesostris III and the end of the 12th Dynasty”: “One last area where the ending 12th dynasty seems to have particularly excelled is that of jewellery. The royal necropolises of this period thus delivered the first truly important collection of Egyptian jewellery, for the most part, intended for women in the pharaoh’s entourage: jewellery and toiletries from Sat-Hathor-Iounet to El-Lahoun, Mereret… These different lots of Precious objects, where gold, silver and various fine stones such as lapis lazuli, turquoise, amethyst and carnelian abound, give an idea of the splendour in which the royal family lived.

This pendant was registered in the Journal of Entries of the Cairo Museum under the reference JE 30877 and in the General Catalogue CG 53070.

Marie Grillot

Sources:

Excavations at Dahchour, Jacques de Morgan, Berthelot, M. (Marcellin), Legrain, Georges Albert, 1865-1917; Jquier, Gustave, 1868-1946; Loret, Victor, 1859-1946; Fouquet, Daniel https://archive.org/details/fouillesdahcho01morg/page/n213/mode/2up Dahchour excavations: 1894-1895, Jacques de Morgan, Wien 1903, http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/morgan1903/0049 Jewellery and goldsmiths. Booklet 3, Number 52640-53171, by Mr. Émile Vernier http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k57740426/f96.item.r=52859.texteImage Summary list, booklet published in 1894 by M. de Morgan; Excavations at Dahchour, II; Morgan’s catalogue, 1897 by Morgan Jacques. Letter on the latest discoveries in Egypt. In: Reports of the sessions of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres, 38th year, N. 3, 1894. pp. 169-177; https://doi.org/10.3406/crai.1894.70401 https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1894_num_38_3_70401 Jewellery and goldsmiths. Booklet 3, Number 52640-53171, by Mr. Émile Vernier http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k57740426/f96.item.r=52859.texteImage The gold of the pharaohs – 2500 years of goldsmithing in ancient Egypt, Catalogue of the summer 2018 exhibition at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, Christiane Ziegler Jewels of the Pharaohs, Cyril Aldred, ed Thames & Hudson Ltd. London, 1978 Ancient Egyptian Jewelry: 50 Masterpieces of Art and Design, 2019, Fletcher-Jones, N, The American University in Cairo Press Ancient Egyptian Jewelry, Carol Andrews, Harry N. Abrams, INC., Publishers, 1991 Amulets Of Ancient Egypt, Carol Andrews, published for Trustees of the British Museum by British Museum Press https://archive.org/details/AmuletsOfAncientEgypt_201707 Treasures of Egypt – The wonders of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Francesco Tiradritti

Posted December 21 2021, by Marie Grillot

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