The Final, Yet Not Least, Burial Chamber of Seti I

It has been a while since I last published a post about Egypt, and now, perhaps in the spirit of the Egyptian sense of rebirth, I have decided to give it a try.

Tomb KV17 in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings is the resting place of Pharaoh Seti I from the 19th Dynasty. It is also known as “Belzoni’s tomb,” “the Tomb of Apis,” and “the Tomb of Psammis, son of Necho.” As one of the most elaborately decorated tombs in the valley, it is now almost always closed to the public due to damage. The longest tomb in the valley, measuring 137.19 metres (450.10 feet), features well-preserved reliefs in all but two of its eleven chambers and side rooms.

Here is an excellent recount of this discovery by the esteemed Marie Grillot. I believe you will find it quite engaging.

Sources: Madain Project & Ancient Egypt Magazine

The Discovery of Seti I’s Alabaster Sarcophagus by Belzoni

via égyptophile

View of part of the collection of antiquities in Sir John Soane’s Museum from the head of the sarcophagus of Seti I
carved and incised calcite (Egyptian alabaster), with traces of ‘Egyptian blue’ filling – New Kingdom – 19th Dynasty – circa 1279 BC
discovered in October 1817 in the tomb of Seti I (KV 17) by Giovanni Battista Belzoni on behalf of Consul Henry Salt
Sir John Soane’s Museum, London – inventory no.: M470 (acquired in May 1824)
watercolour by Joseph Michael Gandy, dated September 9, 1825

On October 18, 1817, Giovanni Battista Belzoni discovered, in the Valley of the Kings, an immense tomb with walls covered in magnificent scenes. He was captivated by what lay before him… “I can call the day of this discovery one of the most fortunate of my life,” he recalled in “Travels in Egypt and Nubia.” “I judged, by the paintings on the ceiling and by the hieroglyphs in bas-relief that could be distinguished through the rubble, that we had gained access to a magnificent tomb.”

He could not have known then that this was the “first tomb to be decorated with a complete program of religious texts” (“Theban Mapping Project”), nor could he have presumed to whom it belonged…

Plan and section of the tomb of Seti I, based on plates illustrating the research and operations of G. Belzoni in Egypt and Nubia
© The Trustees of Sir John Soane’s Museum

In reference to the “carcass of a bull embalmed with asphalt” found there, it was called the “Tomb of the Apis” or, at times, the “Belzoni Tomb.” Then, due to a misinterpretation by Thomas Young, it was attributed to “Nichao and his son Psammis”; for Joseph Bonomi, it was the “Tomb of Oimeneptah I.” It was thanks to the deciphering of the hieroglyphs by Jean-François Champollion in 1822 that it could finally be identified as the tomb of Seti I. Originally from the Delta, the true founder of the 19th Dynasty, this military man, astute politician, and great builder reigned over the Two Lands for eleven years (1294 to 1279 BC). Very early on, he associated his son with the throne, who succeeded him as Ramses II.

Statue of Seti I – calcite (Egyptian alabaster) – 19th Dynasty
Discovered in March 1904 in the Karnak Cachette by Georges Legrain for the Antiquities Service directed by Gaston Maspero
Previously in the Cairo Museum – JE 36692 – CG 42139 – On display since 2007 at the Luxor Museum (Gallery J)

The hypogeum (which much later would be referenced as KV 17) descends 137 m into the Theban mountain through 7 corridors and has 10 rooms! Belzoni goes from wonder to wonder, and his admiration reaches its peak when he arrives in the sarcophagus room. “The paintings were all executed with such perfection that I felt compelled to call this room the Hall of Beauties… But what this room offered, to our eyes, was most important: a sarcophagus placed in the centre, which has no equal in the world. This magnificent tomb, measuring nine feet five inches long by three feet seven inches wide, is made of the finest oriental alabaster: being only two inches thick, it becomes transparent when a light is placed behind one of the walls; inside and out, it is covered with sculptures: these are hundreds of small figures, no more than two inches high, which represent—it seemed to me—the entire funeral procession of the deceased placed in the sarcophagus, as well as emblems, etc. Unfortunately, the lid was missing: it had been removed and broken, and we found some fragments of it during the excavations in front of the first entrance.”

View of the left side of the sarcophagus of Seti I, with the hypothetical location of the lid fragments
illustration by Joseph Michael Gandy dated 18 November 1825 – © The Trustees of Sir John Soane’s Museum

Belzoni was accustomed to perilous “manoeuvres”: it is worth recalling that, two years earlier, he had orchestrated the removal of the “Young Memnon,” which was taken from the Ramesseum and sent to the British Museum… But extricating the fragile sarcophagus from the tomb seemed an even more difficult task. He undertook it—after carefully assessing the risks—and apparently without neglecting to have his name engraved on the rim of the fragile coffin beforehand. “It was a very delicate operation because the walls of this tomb (sic) were so thin that the slightest shock could break them. However, it was removed from the underground chamber without incident and, as soon as it was outside, placed in a strong crate. The valley through which it had to be transported to reach the Nile offered more than two miles of uneven terrain, and one mile of flat ground, covered with sand and pebbles. We transported it by means of rollers, and we fortunately managed to load it,” recounts Jean-Jacques Fiechter in “The Harvest of the Gods” (quoting “epistolario”, letter no. 122).

Sarcophagus basin of Seti I – carved and incised calcite (Egyptian alabaster), with traces of ‘Egyptian blue’ filling.
New Kingdom – 19th Dynasty – circa 1279 BC – discovered in October 1817 in the tomb of Seti I (KV 17)
by Giovanni Battista Belzoni on behalf of Consul Henry Salt
Sir John Soane’s Museum, London – inventory number: M470 (acquired in May 1824) © The Trustees of Sir John Soane’s Museum

Upon his arrival in Egypt in June 1815, Belzoni, the “Titan of Padua,” had cultivated a close relationship with the French consul, Bernardino Drovetti, but ultimately entered the service of the British consul, Henry Salt, the following summer. In their quest for antiquities—the firmans they possessed granting them complete freedom in their excavations—the two “consul-collectors” were fierce rivals, and the term “War of the Consuls” is sometimes used. Henry Salt benefited from a substantial inheritance left to him by his father. This financial security allowed him to indulge his passion for ancient Egypt by building his own collection. Furthermore, he had an “official mission” to enrich the Egyptian department of the British Museum. Belzoni would become one of his most effective agents, not only in the field but also when it came to negotiating the sale of artefacts, even as far as London!

Henry Salt (Lichfield, UK – 14-6-1780 – Alexandria, Egypt – 30-10-1827)
Diplomat, British Consul in Egypt from 1816 to 1835, collector of antiquities

In 1821, after travelling down the Nile and reaching Alexandria, the alabaster sarcophagus was loaded onto the frigate HMS Diana, which sailed for Great Britain. Stored at the British Museum, it was offered to them along with the “first Salt collection.” Negotiations with the London museum, which had just acquired Lord Elgin’s Parthenon Marbles for £35,000, proved difficult. While Salt had hoped to get £8,000 from his collection, after lengthy and bitter discussions, he had to sell it to them for… £2,000! As for the sarcophagus, which he offered them for 2,000 pounds, Brian M. Fagan recalls in “The Rape of the Nile: Tomb Robbers, Tourists, and Archaeologists in Egypt”: “The administrators categorically rejected the offer of the sarcophagus, due to both legal difficulties and the excessively high price, despite protests from Salt and Belzoni that they had received higher offers from Drovetti and other buyers. Ultimately, the sarcophagus was sold for 2,000 pounds to John Soane, a wealthy London architect and art collector.”

Le sarcophage de Séthy Ier au Sir John Soane’s Museum, London © The Trustees of Sir John Soane’s Museum

This “eclectic” collector had been completely fascinated by Belzoni’s adventures, as well as by the exhibition “The Egyptian Tomb” (on the tomb of Seti I) that the latter organised, with his wife Sarah, at the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London, and which he had visited on June 8, 1821… He would have to wait until May 12, 1824, to be able to acquire the sarcophagus, the purchase of which had been stubbornly refused by the British Museum…

In “Sir John Soane’s Greatest Treasure, The Sarcophagus of Seti I”, John H. Taylor recounts the installation of the sarcophagus in Soane’s house at Lincoln’s Inn Field on May 12, 1824: “The door being too narrow to allow it to pass through, a wide opening had to be made at the rear of the house, and ropes were used to lower it to the basement, beneath the Soane Dome, into a space named ‘the sepulchral chamber’ in his honor. It made a perfect centrepiece for the ‘crypt’ of Soane’s museum, perfectly reflecting his self-proclaimed ‘melancholy and sullen’ personality.”

A curatorial note from the Sir John Soane Museum, where it is displayed under inventory number M470, states: “This sarcophagus was acquired with, according to early records, 18 pieces of the lid (see X58 and X73; one of the pieces is actually part of a canopic jar and is now catalogued as museum number X74). The museum also has a cast of another piece of the lid displayed in 1961 (X164)… The sarcophagus consists of two monolithic alabaster blocks. It is inscribed over its entire surface with religious scenes and figures, which were then filled with a substance called ‘Egyptian blue’.” Although most of the blue filling has disappeared, traces remain here and there. The effect, when complete, must have been stunning… The Museum further explains that: “The Victorian display case that now protects the sarcophagus was installed in 1866. Previously, the coffin was displayed without a case, as Soane wished, simply mounted on four fluted columns. The display case, fitted with casters, can be disassembled into two parts. It was refurbished in 2007, and the thick Victorian glass, with its strong greenish tint, was removed for safety reasons and replaced with clear safety glass. This improved the sarcophagus’s visibility. The display case is now a museum piece in its own right. It has brilliantly protected this delicate sarcophagus—whose stone scratches easily and which could also be stained by water if the skylight above leaked—for over 150 years.” A brass frame now protects it…

This magnificent and imposing mummy-like coffin, whose lid, broken in antiquity, must have borne the image of the pharaoh, is 284.5 cm long, 111.8 cm wide at the shoulders, 68.6 cm high, and its thickness varies from 2.5 to 10.2 cm. It is illustrated with funerary texts and vignettes taken from the “Book of Gates,” which is divided into twelve sections, corresponding to the twelve hours of the night…

To understand the admiration aroused by such an artifact, John H. Taylor quotes an excerpt from a newspaper article in the “Morning Post” of April 22, 1824: “We believe that there is no country in Europe which would not be proud to possess such a rarity and that the Emperor of Russia, in particular, would rejoice to obtain it, if it were possible to buy it from the liberal and patriotic individual who is its present owner”…

Giovanni Battista Belzoni (Padua, 5-11-1778 – Timbuktu, 3-12-1823)
portrait published by his wife, Sarah, in 1824

As for Belzoni, who expressed his feelings about this exceptional piece thus: “Europe has never received from Egypt an ancient artefact of such magnificence,” he would be the big financial loser in the transactions… Indeed, as Brian M. Fagan reminds us, Henry Salt had promised him “half the price the sarcophagus would fetch above the paltry sum of two thousand pounds”… Not a single pound was ever paid to him…

Marie Grillot

Sources:
Sir John Soane’s Museum, London, Sarcophagus of Pharaoh Seti (or Sety) I, resting on four fluted stone columns – c.1279 BC – XIXth Dynasty – Museum number: M470
http://collections.soane.org/object-m470
Sir John Soane’s Museum, London, Case covering the sarcophagus of Seti I – 1866 – Museum number: M470.A
https://collections.soane.org/object-m470-a
Sir John Soane’s Museum, London, Cast of a fragment of the lid of the sarcophagus of Seti I – Museum number: X164
https://collections.soane.org/object-x164
Sir John Soane’s Museum London, Fragment of the lid of the sarcophagus of Seti I – Museum number: X73.A.i (et suivants…)
https://collections.soane.org/object-x73-a-i
Brian M. Fagan, The Rape of the Nile: Tomb Robbers, Tourists, and Archaeologists in Egypt, Book Club Associates, 1975
https://books.google.fr/books?id=CI84DgAAQBAJ&pg=PT113&lpg=PT113&dq=exhibition%20Belzoni%20Seti%20Saint%20Petersburg&source=bl&ots=cpZJr4hXvf&sig=COEiL_SQlWBptDjwcsh4Hy9VOAc&hl=fr&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiBuPvggZfZAhWFzaQKHdkuDgEQ6AEIUzAH#v=onepage&q=exhibition%20Belzoni%20Seti%20Saint%20Petersburg&f=false
Giovanni Battista Belzoni, Voyage en Égypte et en Nubie, Pygmalion, 1979
Jean-Jacques Fiechter, La moisson des Dieux, Julliard, 1994
Brian M. Fagan, L’aventure archéologique en Égypte : Grandes découvertes, pionniers célèbres, chasseurs de trésors et premiers voyageurs, Pygmalion, 1997
Nicholas Reeves, Les grandes découvertes de l’Égypte ancienne, Éditions du Rocher, 2001
Nicholas Reeves, Richard H. Wilkinson, The Complete Valley of the Kings, American University in Cairo Press, 2002
Jean Vercoutter, À la recherche de l’Égypte oubliée, Découvertes Gallimard, 2007
https://books.google.fr/books?id=2IJnkBDoBBwC&pg=PA80&lpg=PA80&dq=exposition+egypte+boulevard+des+italiens+1822+paris&source=bl&ots=Sv3a4SiBkH&sig=kSl3FSh1RFMI2DB2URr9y9raz1Y&hl=fr&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9juyw15TZAhULL8AKHVFcC7wQ6AEIaTAD#v=onepage&q=exposition%20egypte%20boulevard%20des%20italiens%201822%20paris&f=false
John H. Taylor, Sir John Soane’s Greatest Treasure, The Sarcophagus of Seti I, Pimpernel Press Ltd, 2017
Pierre Tallet, Frédéric Payraudeau, Chloé Ragazzolli, Claire Somaglino, L’Égypte pharaonique, histoire, société, culture, Armand Colin, 2019
Theban Mapping Project, KV 17, Sety I
https://thebanmappingproject.com/tombs/kv-17-sety-i

Renaissance: the Pinnacle of Humanity’s Artistic and Philosophical Achievement!

Raphael’s self-portrait | Uffizi Galleries

Raffaello Sanzio, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo are legendary figures of the Renaissance, each contributing uniquely to the era’s art and thought. Raffaello is celebrated for his balanced compositions and perspective, especially in The School of Athens, embodying ideals of knowledge and beauty. Leonardo da Vinci, a true polymath, excelled in painting, science, and anatomy, with works such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper showcasing his innovative methods and deep understanding of human emotion. Michelangelo, renowned for his sculptures and paintings, created masterpieces such as the Statue of David and the Sistine Chapel ceiling, which reflect his keen insight into human anatomy and emotion. These artists collectively represented the Renaissance spirit, merging art, science, and philosophy, and their enduring legacies continue to inspire us.

But what is the most interestingly depicted in art history during the Renaissance? Two masterworks tell their own story: Raffaello’s ‘School of Athens’ and Michelangelo’s ‘Sistine Chapel ceiling.’

Indeed, Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper should not be overlooked, as it is a Renaissance masterpiece that captures the moment after Jesus reveals that one of his apostles will betray him. Raffaello’s The School of Athens also employs one-point perspective, similar to da Vinci’s method: the composition is centred on a single vanishing point with all lines converging on Jesus, highlighting him as the focal point. However, it’s a different story!

I previously covered that topic, mainly from a philosophical angle rather than focusing on developing the art self. Now, let’s explore this masterpiece creatively and artistically.

Raffaello’s masterpiece, The School of Athens, exemplifies the Renaissance by highlighting its core principles of knowledge, philosophy, and beauty. This famous fresco depicts a gathering of history’s greatest thinkers, including Plato and Aristotle, each representing distinct philosophical perspectives. Plato, resembling Leonardo da Vinci, represents idealism and the importance of ideas, while Aristotle stands for empirical observation. Figures like Socrates, Ptolemy, and Euclid enrich the discussion. Raffaello’s masterful use of perspective draws viewers into a vibrant intellectual hub of the Renaissance. The influence of Michelangelo is evident, demonstrating outstanding artistic talent. The School of Athens celebrates individual genius and the collaborative spirit of the Renaissance, a time when art, science, and humanism thrived.

Raffaello’s ‘School of Athens’ and Michelangelo’s ‘Sistine Chapel ceiling’ are iconic Renaissance masterpieces. ‘School of Athens’ portrays philosophers amidst impressive architecture, symbolising art, philosophy, and science.

Michelangelo’s ceiling is renowned for dramatic scenes like ‘Creation of Adam’, showcasing his skill and religious themes.

Both works are culturally and historically significant, reflecting Renaissance intellectual and artistic progress.

Here’s a video titled “How to read ‘The School of Athens’ – a triumph of Renaissance art” from Aeon, a recommended site.
In Great Art Explained, UK curator and video essayist James Payne explores Raphael’s The School of Athens (1509-11), a Renaissance icon. He highlights its location in the Pope’s private Vatican library, symbolising philosophy alongside theology, poetry, and law. Payne describes how Raphael’s composition merges Classical and Christian ideas, showing their interconnectedness in the quest for truth.

I hope you enjoy it and wish everyone a wonderful weekend. 🤗💖

Divine Earrings for a Truly Extraordinary Pharaoh

These earrings are the most striking of the four pairs found in Tutankhamun’s tomb. The ducks with outstretched wings create a circular shape, and their feet hold the shen symbol. The head is made of translucent blue glass, while the wing is crafted in cloisonné.

Earrings-of-Tutankhamun-with-Duck-Heads via https://egypt-museum.com/

Hanging below the duck are gold and blue glass beads, each featuring five uraei (rearing cobras). The earrings show a high level of aesthetic sophistication, and the duck held a particular erotic significance.

Let’s appreciate and enjoy Marie Grillot‘s vivid portrayal of this captivating divine gem.

(It’s clear I am not happy about naming a character in this article, but I am committed to getting the translation right; just to mention!)

Tutankhamun’s Blue Bird Earrings

via égyptophile

Bluebird Earrings – Gold, glass, quartz, travertine, faience – 18th Dynasty
From the treasure chamber of Tutankhamun’s tomb, discovered in November 1922
by Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings (KV 62)
Ref.: Carter 269a(1) – JE 61969-a – GEM 485

These “bluebird earrings,” as Christiane Desroches Noblecourt aptly called them, and these “gold-encrusted earrings in the shape of an ousekh necklace with a blue glass falcon,” as Zahi Hawass describes them, are one of five pairs found in Tutankhamun’s treasure.

The “Blue Bird” Earrings – gold, glass, quartz, travertine, faience – 18th Dynasty
In the rectangular box 269a, placed in chest 269
From the treasure chamber of Tutankhamun’s tomb, discovered in November 1922
by Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings (KV 62)
Ref.: Carter 269a(1) – JE 61969-a – GEM 485-a
The Griffith Institute – Tutankhamun: Anatomy of an Excavation
The Howard Carter Archives – Photographs by Harry Burton

They had all been deposited in a rectangular box (number 269a) placed in a charming wooden chest (number 269). Shaped like a cartouche, it is topped with a flat lid, decorated with the king’s birth name written in delicate colored hieroglyphs. It can be identified, “in situ”, in the photos taken by Harry Burton in the “Treasury Room” whose “official opening” took place on February 17, 1923.

With a height of 12.1 cm and a width of 4.4 cm, these earrings are made of “gold, glass paste, translucent blue glass and pale orange-white-blue melted glass” for Christiane Desroches Noblecourt. At the same time, Zahi Hawass sees, instead, in the gold inlays, besides the glass, quartz, travertine and earthenware…

Their heavy and imposing suspension system consists of two tubes, one sliding inside the other, which are passed through the lobe involving an extensive “perforation”. These two elements “are decorated on both sides: at the rear, a hemispherical boss (0.85 cm, diam.) of translucent quartz lined with pigment; at the front, a hemispherical boss (0.95 cm, diam.) of translucent quartz supported by a pigment, forming a solar disk, with two uraei” specify Howard Carter and Alfred Lucas.

The central element consists of a bird with outstretched wings curved inwards, which makes them meet almost forming a circle. They are, like the body, worked according to the cloisonné method… For Zahi Hawass: “The wings of the falcon, and the details at the place where they meet, form a large collar called usekh”.

The bird’s head, which does not resemble that of a falcon, cannot but raise questions, just as it raised questions for Howard Carter: “It is interesting to note that the sun falcon, Herakhtes, has, for some inexplicable reason, the head of a mallard (Anas boscas) in semi-translucent blue glass”…

The bird’s legs are almost horizontal and the talons enclose a shen sign, a symbol of eternity…

The “Blue Bird” Earrings – gold, glass, quartz, travertine, faience – 18th Dynasty – at the time of their discovery
from the treasure chamber of Tutankhamun’s tomb, discovered in November 1922
by Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings (KV 62)
ref.: carter 269a(1) – JE 61969-a – GEM 485-a
The Griffith Institute – Tutankhamun: Anatomy of an Excavation
The Howard Carter Archives – Photographs by Harry Burton

Under its tail, a slightly curved gold plate, decorated with pellets, serves as a hook for the lower part of the loops. It is composed of curious “flexible hanging appendages, composed of openwork plates with a geometric pattern interlaced by five rows of blue and gold cylindrical beads, ending in five uraei heads” (“Tutankhamun and his era”)… When discovered, as Harry Burton’s photos show, these “tassels” were fragmentary and in poor condition… A successful restoration has restored them to their original appearance.

Howard Carter noted that these ear ornaments had signs of wear, indicating that they had been worn, most likely until adolescence, by the young king… He did note, during the examination of Tutankhamun’s mummy, that his earlobes were pierced. In “The Tomb of Tutankhamun – The Annexe and Treasury”, he adds this interesting detail: “The gold mask that covered his head also had pierced earlobes, but the holes had been carefully filled with small discs of thin gold leaf, suggesting a desire to conceal this fact”…

Bluebird Earrings – Gold, glass, quartz, travertine, faience – 18th Dynasty
From the treasure chamber of Tutankhamun’s tomb, discovered in November 1922
by Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings (KV 62)
Ref.: Carter 269a(1) – JE 61969-a – GEM 485-a
The Griffith Institute – Tutankhamun: Anatomy of an Excavation
The Howard Carter Archives – Photographs by Harry Burton

This pair of earrings, Carter 269a(1), has been transferred to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, where it was recorded in the Journal of Entries under the reference JE 61969. Its new reference at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza is GEM 485-a.

It should be noted that one of the earrings was featured in the exhibition “Tutankhamun, the Pharaoh’s Treasure”, whose initial worldwide tour, which began in 2018, was reduced to Los Angeles, Paris, and London due to the pandemic.

Marie Grillot

Sources:

The Griffith Institute – Tutankhamun: Anatomy of an Excavation – The Howard Carter Archives – Description in Murray-Nuttall Handlist – Pair of ear-rings – JE 61969; Card/Transcription No.: 269a1-1
http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/gri/carter/269a(1)-c269a1-1.html
http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/gri/carter/269a(1)-p1471.html
Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, Life and Death of a Pharaoh, Hachette, 1963
Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, Tutankhamun and His Time, Petit Palais, Paris, 17 February-July 1967, Ministry of State for Cultural Affairs, 1967
Cyril Aldred, Jewels of the Pharaohs, ed. Thames & Hudson Ltd., London, 1978
Nicholas Reeves, Tutankhamun: Life, Death, and Discovery of a Pharaoh, Editions Errance, 2003
Howard Carter, The Tomb of Tutankhamun, Volume 3: The Annexe and Treasury, Bloomsbury, London, 2014
Marc Gabolde, Tutankhamun: Pygmalion, 2015
Zahi Hawass, Exhibition Catalogue “Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh,” IMG Melcher Media, 2018

In the Search for Happiness: Where are Humans Heading?

Hello everyone! Today, I want to share some thoughts that have been on my mind for a while about our world—a chaotic place—and explore the reasons behind it.

Many ideas and thoughts were swirling in my mind, and since I am not sufficiently professional to keep them all there, I hesitated to write this. However, after reading an article by The Borderline Crisis, a highly recommended blog, it encouraged me to share my thoughts.

As we watch and ponder, the world and its inhabitants hurriedly head towards an abyss filled with wars and violence, driven by an unknown purpose. The wealthy continue to grow richer, while the poor become increasingly poorer. Every compassionate person wonders about the cause and reason. That was also my question, and I realised it all comes down to money. Or, more accurately, it can be best described as capitalism. Hold on!!! Please don’t walk away; I am not a communist and have no intention of promoting such ideas. I fully agree with Bertrand Russell, who stated:

“I dislike Communism because it is undemocratic and Capitalism because it favours exploitation.“
— Bertrand Russell, Unarmed Victory (1963), p. 14

Thus, concerns regarding communism and its foundational principles have diminished, while capitalism continues to gain greater influence. Why is that? Essentially, communism has shot itself in the foot by taking on a form of dictatorship, which has contributed to its decline throughout history. On the other hand, after World War II, capitalism managed to contain communism by offering people equity capital through the conventional bourgeois approach, thereby generating a fear of communism.

They created opportunities for the lower class by enabling partial instalment payments, allowing them to own possessions, and helping to dispel the notions that deprived them of their belongings. They might be burdened with their mortgage for life, but they have some possessions, such as their own house, car, TV, washing machine, etc. This approach gained popularity worldwide, including in Europe and even in Iran before the 1979 revolution. We adopted an American-style lifestyle, characterised by luxury and instalment-based spending!

This approach has been cleverly devised to encourage pride in possessions and stimulate a desire for more. I see it as a fundamental aspect of capitalism, as it drives competition among neighbours, cities, or nations to increase their assets. Consequently, people become fixated on winning more and acquiring larger and better possessions.

I call it Greed! This trait isn’t found in nature but only among humans. I noticed it wasn’t present in the communist world, as I observed when interacting with my East German customers, whom I took to visit doctors during my daily work. They all expressed satisfaction with their lives in the former GDR. One of them, a tiny older woman, told me she lived peacefully with her neighbours, free of stress, feeling a genuine sense of community and helpfulness among friends and comrades. Even one of the younger people I met at a disco one evening, who recently escaped to the West, told me that everything wasn’t too bad there. She mentioned that travelling abroad was somewhat challenging due to restrictions, but she was eager to experience and connect with different cultures.

Nevertheless, the actual outcome of reunifying East and West Germany has shown how capitalism can significantly disrupt the peaceful life of a population, exposing them to the allure and splendour of Western society, yet leaving them in a state of longing. You may be aware that after the USSR’s withdrawal from East Germany, Western investors closed all remaining factories and manufacturing facilities. This was done to conceal from the capitalist world that factories in the communist system were still operational and that life was proceeding normally there. By the way, the education system has failed under the communist dictatorship, as shown by how individuals in East Germany can swiftly adopt fascist tendencies from a corrupt communist system.

Yes! Capitalism seeks to make you see and believe only in its world and nothing else. Accordingly, the modern bourgeoisie wields enormous power to keep people conservative and instils in them a fear of losing their possessions.

Capitalism is like a worm lurking in every part of our lives, often unnoticed. This allows it to operate while we concentrate on our own concerns, such as increasing profits! Even within the art world, artists are rarely solely focused on creating their work without also considering its sale and marketing. The traditional model, where an artist creates and a manager handles everything else, is outdated. I don’t mean to suggest that all managers are honest, but it does help artists who need a quiet life to focus on their art. You are all artists, aiming to display your work here. However, if you look around, you might realise that this way of life has consumed your thoughts so completely that you no longer feel longing or curiosity about the world’s happenings. You have been completely absorbed in your own concerns related to your personal domain.

On the other hand, the craving for increased luxury and comfort remains constant. Capitalism knows no limits and is frequently used by millionaires to display wealth, which can lead middle-class individuals to develop an excessive obsession. Since not everyone can achieve millionaire status, this seemingly out-of-reach desire often results in anger, frustration, dissatisfaction, and sometimes depression. This may lead to feelings of impatience, envy, increased sensitivity, and an abrupt loss of patience. You might have observed that people in the streets shout at each other over trivial matters, drive aggressively, and honk their horns frequently. I believe this behaviour stems from capitalism.

Here is an excellent explanation of capitalism I came across, not on X but somewhere else I can’t recall.

The key question is: what steps should we take? I believe our initial move should be to build a society rooted in accessible, high-quality education and robust, free healthcare, as many societal problems originate from these sectors. Following that, we need to develop a proper social democratic system—one that Rosa Luxemburg aimed to reinforce in the early 20th century, not the shallow versions currently promoted by some political parties.

I’m not discussing a proletariat dictatorship; a free society is the most important of all. I referenced Rosa Luxemburg to demonstrate my commitment to freedom, as Luxemburg followed a similar path:

She celebrated the Russian Revolution, but in a posthumously published manuscript, she sharply criticised the authoritarian policies of the Bolsheviks, advocating for democratic freedoms and famously stating, “Freedom is always and exclusively freedom for the one who thinks differently.”

She has been revered by many on the left as a martyr for the revolution. At the same time, her theories, particularly her emphasis on spontaneity and democracy, were strongly criticised by the Leninist and Stalinist traditions of orthodox communism.

In a genuine social democracy, we can devalue prices and quantities, thereby promoting a more quality-oriented lifestyle. In the capitalist world, we observe every day that prices are steadily rising, and I wonder why!

We don’t require a luxurious, speedy car or a mansion to live; these are just materials that our souls don’t need. If we carefully reflect on our lives, we will surely identify moments of genuine relaxation. I think those times are when we need fewer things and find happiness with less. Lao-Tzu offered some insightful thoughts on living with less:

“One who is content is rich.”
“He who accumulates much treasure has much to lose.”
“The greatest gift is contentment.”

Here is an excellent explanation I took from my esteemed teacher and friend, Jean Raffa, from her recent article, concerning the essence of our existence.:

Our culture profits from our yearning by promising surface solutions like money, power, safety, appearance, possessions, and sex. These things satisfy your instincts for the short term. But beneath the world’s cacophonous clamour, the yearning remains. Who, amidst the hubbub, can hear the quiet voices of those who would direct you to the inner world? It’s hard to believe anything there could fulfil your needs. Harder still to pull yourself away from outer demands you’re trying desperately to fulfil. You have no time. And even if you did, how would you begin? You don’t know the way. Who would guide you? It’s too humiliating to ask for help. “I was not looking for my dreams to interpret life, but rather for my life to interpret my dreams.” ~Susan Sontag

And finally, who could articulate it more eloquently than Carl Jung:

“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”

Image credit at the top; snugsomeone (Maciej) | DeviantArt

A Compact Divine Container for Deities.

The naos of Kasa in the Turin Egyptian Museum is renowned for its elegance and uniqueness. It acts as a portable chapel for Anukis and the Elephantine triad gods—Khnum and Satis—who govern the Nile flood. The inscription: “Adoring Anukis, lady of Sehel, kissing the ground for Satis, lady of Elephantine. May she grant you life, strength, ability, favour, love, and a beautiful tomb after old age, along with a burial in the district of the chosen in the great West of Thebes—the district of the just—for the servant on the Seat of Truth, Kasa, justified.

A votive naos is a small, portable shrine made of wood or stone in ancient Egyptian religion, housing statues of gods. These miniature temples were placed at sacred sites, such as temples and tombs, for votive offerings—objects dedicated to gods as prayers or expressions of gratitude.

The image at the top: Votive naos of Kasa, via Wikimedia Commons

Let’s enjoy the incredible story about this magic box, thanks to the brilliant Marie Grillot.

The votive naos (shrine) of the House.

via égyptophile

Votive naos of Kasa – painted wood – 19th dynasty – 1292 – 1190 BC BC – from Deir el-Medineh
Egyptian Museum of Turin – Cat. 2446 (by acquisition from the Drovetti Collection in 1822) – museum photo

Dating from the 19th Dynasty (1292 – 1190 BC) and coming from Deir el-Medineh, the charming “naos of Kasa” is 33.5 cm high, 18 cm wide and 33 cm deep. Made of stuccoed and painted wood, its façade takes the form of a temple with a portico with two columns. Inscribed with hieroglyphs, their “hathoric” capital offers a charming face of the goddess with large eyes surrounded by kohol and an imposing black wig. On her head is an abacus serving partly as a support for a coved cornice decorated with a series of vertical blue-green, blue-red bands. The “body” of the chapel is rectangular in shape: its lower part rests on a sledge while the upper part also takes the form of a coved cornice with painted bands.

The front reveals a charming double door painted in red ochre with black frames. The door is closed by two round black knobs located in the upper third. Above each knob is a “frame” containing four columns of hieroglyphs. The interior consists of two compartments of unequal height.

Both sides and the back of the chapel are covered with scenes painted in several registers. The majority of them are dedicated to the “Triad of the First Cataract,” or “Elephantine Triad,” associating the god Khnum with the goddesses Satis and Anuket (Anoukis). The latter is generally presented as “the daughter of the divine couple” or “the wife of the god.” In “Ancient Egypt and its Gods”, Jean-Pierre Corteggiani specifies that one of her titles is: “Mistress of To-Seti, that is to say of Nubia; she is sometimes called the Nubian, although there is no proof that she is really from this region, one of her functions is to guard the southern border of Egypt”… And he adds “If it is up to Satis, assimilated to Sothis, to make the beneficial flow rise, it falls to Anoukis the equally essential task of making it decrease and thus to allow, after the flood recedes, seeds to germinate and vegetation to grow on the land freed by the waters”.

Anouket’s primary attribute, which makes her immediately identifiable, is her tall and generous headdress made of ostrich feathers… As for Satis, she wears the white crown adorned with two antelope or gazelle horns…

On this chapel is inscribed this powerful prayer: “Worship Anouket, mistress of Sehel, kiss the earth of Satis, mistress of Elephantine. May she grant life, strength, skill, favour, love, and a beautiful burial after old age and burial in the district of the praised in the great West of Thebes, the district of the righteous, to the servant of the Place of Truth, Kasa, justified.”

The back of the naos reveals Kasa, kneeling, arms raised in worship, a prevalent iconography in Deir el-Medineh… “The texts inscribed on this small chapel also cite the name of the god Amun, ‘the beloved god who listens to prayers, who helps the orphan, who saves from shipwreck'” specifies Marcella Trapani, in the “Catalogue of the Museo Egizio”. And she adds: “In all likelihood, this naos was originally placed in Kasa’s house”…

The question, of course, arises as to what it contained. In the study she devotes to it in BIFAO 72, Dominique Valbelle offers this analysis: “The original contents of this naos are also mysterious. The interior, as we have seen, is divided into two unequal compartments by a small shelf. There is therefore very little space left above to house a statuette or some other ‘ex voto’…”

Was Kasa originally from the First Cataract region? In any case, he was a member of the royal institution of “Set Maât her imenty Ouaset” (“the Place of Truth to the west of Thebes”, present-day Deir el-Medineh). Founded at the beginning of the 18th Dynasty under the reign of Thutmose I, this “corporation” brought together architects, scribes, painters, sculptors, quarrymen, etc., responsible for digging and decorating the eternal dwellings of the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, and even more distant necropolises. They lived as a family in this “fortified” village, composed of stone houses with palm-leaf roofs, places of worship, and a hillside necropolis. “The fact that we often refer to them as ‘workers’ sometimes tends to give credence to the misconception that the community of the village of Deir el-Medineh was at the lowest level of Egyptian society. In fact, these men were artisans, most of them highly skilled and distinguished for their expertise,” explains Pierre Grandet in “The Artists of Pharaoh, Deir el-Medineh and the Valley of the Kings”…

From its creation to its decline at the end of the Ramesside period, this “microcosm” left a wealth of evidence of considerable importance… It is expressed at various levels: daily life, society, architecture, art, writing, or even in the “intimacy” of the “repertoire” of their eternal homes and in the funerary trousseaux rich in lessons that they contained…

This naos, which is an exceptional piece, arrived at the Egyptian Museum in Turin in 1822, through the acquisition of the Drovetti Collection: it was registered under the inventory number Cat. 2446. In the work cited above, Marcella Trapani indicates that it came from tomb no. 10 of Deir el-Medineh, which “Porter & Moss” actually attributes to “Penbuy and Kasa” and dates from the reign of Ramses II…

Marie Grillot

Sources:

Votive naos of Kasa
https://collezioni.museoegizio.it/it-IT/material/Cat_2446/?description=Naos+votivo+di+Kasa&inventoryNumber=&title=&cgt=&yearFrom=&yearTo=&materials=&provenance=&acquisition=&epoch=&dynasty=&pharaoh=
Bertha Porter, Rosalind L. B. Moss, Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, And Paintings – I. The Theban Necropolis Part 1. Private Tombs, Second edition revised and augmented – Griffith Institute Ashmolean Museum Oxford, 1960, pp.19-21
http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/topbib/pdf/pm1-1.pdf
Ernest Scamuzzi, Egyptian art at the Turin Museum, Hachette, 1966
Dominique Valbelle, The Naos of Kasa at the Turin Museum, Bulletin of the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology 72, 1972, pp. 179-194
The Egyptian Museum, Turin, Federico Garolla Editore, 1988
Isabelle Franco, Dictionary of Egyptian Mythology, Pygmalion, 1999
Guillemette Andreu, The Pharaoh’s Artists, Deir el-Medina and the Valley of the Kings, exhibition catalogue, Turnhout, RMN, Brepols, 2002
Guillemette Andreu, Florence Gombert, Deir el-Medina: The Pharaoh’s Craftsmen, RMN, Hazan, 2002
Eleni Vassilika, Art Treasures from the Egyptian Museum, Allemandi & Co, 2006
Jean-Pierre Corteggiani, Ancient Egypt and its Gods, Fayard, 2007
Egyptian Museum Guide, Franco Cosimo Panini Editions, 2015
Hanane Gaber, Laure Bazin Rizzo, Frédéric Servajean, At work we know the artisan… of Pharaoh! – A century of French research in Deir el-Medina (1917-2017), 2018, Silvana Editoriale
Guillemette Andreu, Dominique Valbelle, Guide to Deir el-Medina. A village of artists, Cairo, French Institute of Oriental Archaeology, IFAO Cairo, 2022

An Incredible Discovery! The Journey of a Clear and Radiant Stele, Unveiling the Beauty of Princess Nefertiabet.

This relief stele from Princess Nefertiabet’s tomb (G 1225) in Giza depicts her and other relatives of the king, including Nefertiabet, daughter of Khufu. She is shown seated, facing to the right, depicted with a long wig and a panther-skin garment.

An offering table before her holds customary reeds and various food items. Below are linen and ointment on the left, and bread, beer, oryx, and bull on the right. A linen list is displayed beside the slab.

Stele of Princess Nefertiabet and her food offerings
Egypt Museum

Now, I would like to share an excellent description of the discovery of this beautiful ancient artwork by the brilliant Marie Grillot.

The stele of Nefertiabet: from its mastaba in Giza to the Louvre Museum

via égyptophile

Stele depicting Princess Nefertiabet before her funeral meal – painted limestone – reign of Khufu (4th Dynasty)
Discovered by Montague Ballard in 1902 in mastaba G 1225 at Giza
Entered into the Louvre Museum in 1938 by the gift of L., I. and A. Curtis – E 15591

In 1901-1902, Montague Ballard, a British brewer, obtained an excavation permit at the Giza site. He stayed there for only a very short time, but it was long enough to make some interesting discoveries. In 1902, in the western cemetery, he discovered a mastaba, which would be referenced as G 1225, that notably contained the “Stele of Nefertiabet,” named after its “owner.”

Most of the artefacts discovered during his mission were subsequently dispersed. Three pieces from the mastaba ended up in Arthur Sambon’s collection. They were then put up for sale on May 25, 1914, in Paris by the expert Jacob Hirsch. The stele seems to correspond to the object presented under No. 2 of the “Stone Sculptures of Egyptian Art.” Did it then pass into other hands? In any case, it was later found in the possession of an aesthete and art lover: Atherton Curtis.

Born in New York in 1863, he settled in Paris in 1904, where he “brought and continually increased his collection.” In “La Grande Nubiade,” Christiane Desroches Noblecourt recalls: “Among the most prestigious donors (to the Louvre), not only for the Egyptian department but for all the others, was Atherton Curtis. He wanted to add to his name that of Louise, his first wife, who died prematurely, and that of the second, who was also passionate about all antiquities, Ingeborg.” The stele entered the Louvre in 1938 through the “Curtis Bequest.” It was during the November 8, 1938 meeting of the Council of National Museums that Charles Boreux, Curator of the Department of Egyptian Antiquities, informed “the Council of the immediate gift, by Mr. and Mrs. Atherton Curtis, of three magnificent pieces of sculpture included in the donation subject to usufruct that they made to the Louvre a few months earlier. These are a painted limestone group representing King Amenhotep and Queen Nofertiti, a group from the Old Kingdom, and finally a polychrome bas-relief in the name of Princess Nofritabtj.” He died in 1943, and the stele was then permanently housed at the Louvre, registered under the reference E 15591.

Measuring 37.70 cm high, 52.50 cm wide, and 8.30 cm thick, it is made of painted limestone. It belongs to the category known as “slab stelae,” which are in fact “slabs embedded in the walls of funerary chapels” and which represent the oldest reliefs in Giza.

Stele depicting Princess Nefertiabet before her funeral meal – reign of Khufu (4th Dynasty), painted limestone
discovered by Montague Ballard in 1902 in mastaba G 1225 at Giza
entered the Louvre Museum in 1938 by the Donation of L., I. and A. Curtis – E 15591 – photo © 2013 Musée du Louvre / Christian Décamps

While the scene depicted is relatively common in Old Kingdom funerary iconography, its quality and the finesse of its execution remain exceptional. This suggests that it was likely executed in the workshops of Pharaoh Khufu. This could also be explained by the fact that Nefertiabet was either “the daughter or sister of the great pharaoh” or, according to another interpretation, “probably a sister of King Khufu and a daughter of Snefru.”

The rectangular surface is surrounded by a plain band standing out in slight relief. Nefertiabet is depicted alone facing her eternal meal. She is on the left side, seated on a delightful bull-legged stool, the back of which is decorated with a papyrus umbel.

Slim, fine, slender, her “yellow skin colour is well preserved,” and she is particularly elegant. Her panther-skin dress is held together, on the left, by “seven red shoulder knots, all applied with paint,” while on the right, the shoulder is bare. The garment stops above the ankles, revealing the bracelets that adorn them, while her bare feet rest flat on the ground.

Her perfectly profiled face is highlighted by a long, black, tripartite wig, which covers a large part of her forehead but leaves her ears visible. Her large eyes are rimmed with kohl, and her nose and mouth are of ideal proportions; only her neck, adorned with a necklace, appears a little short. “The face expresses the ideal of feminine beauty at the time of the pyramids: slightly rounded forehead, fine, straight nose, delicately contoured lips and nostrils, and a rounded throat” (Christiane Ziegler, “Egypt at the Louvre”).

Her left arm rests, hand flat, on her right breast, while her right arm is held alongside her body, hand outstretched towards “a white stone footed tray, placed on a cylindrical terracotta support, and covered with slices of cake with a golden crust and white crumb”.

The quality of the carved and painted hieroglyphs that “document” the stele is of total perfection, as proven by the precision of execution of the libation ewer, the animal heads, and even the birds,…

Above Nefertiabet’s head, “an inscription in large hieroglyphs enhanced with colour specifies her name and title; one will particularly admire the reed and the duck, meaning respectively ‘king’ and ‘daughter’… All around (the pedestal table) hieroglyphic signs and images immortalise the offerings necessary for her survival that the inscription wishes her thousands of: duck with its head cut off; head, foreleg and rib of beef; jug of wine. Above the table, two lines of hieroglyphs, arranged in a frame, list the products of the funerary ritual (incense, ointment, green and black makeup) as well as fruits and drinks: figs, jujubes, carobs, beer, and wine. The entire right-hand side is occupied by lists listing thousands of pieces of fabric, undoubtedly necessary for mummification, with their quality and length, as specified by Christiane Ziegler in the work cited above.

One might rightly wonder how this stele, which dates from 2590-2565 BC and is therefore more than 4,500 years old, has reached us in such a well-preserved state. Here is part of the explanation: “This stele was sealed on the outer wall of its tomb in Giza, at the foot of the Great Pyramid. Later walled up, it was protected from the wear and tear of time and men.

In his study “Slab Stelae of the Giza Necropolis” published in 2003, Peter Der Manuelian specifies however that: “The remains of the original mud-brick chapel have not been preserved and the exact location of the slab stela could not be determined due to the destruction of this part of the mastaba wall by Ballard”…

But at the Louvre, in the heart of the prestigious Parisian museum – precisely on the first floor of the Sully wing, in room 635 dedicated to the Old Kingdom – Nefertiabet remains very much alive, adorned with everything fundamental to ensure her a long, very long eternity…

Marie Grillot

Sources:

Stele of Nefertiabet
https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010005261
Jacob Hirsch, Expert, Catalogue of Works of Art and High Curiosities…, Faience…, Saxon Porcelain,… Egyptian and Greek Sculptures…, Persian Manuscripts…, Old Paintings… Forming the Collection of Mr. Arthur Sambon… Sale: May 25-28, 1914, Imprimerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1914
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k12478139/f12.item.r=tombeau
Charles Boreux, The Atherton Curtis Donation, Bulletin des musées de France, November 1938
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k58649569/f8.image.r=curtis?rk=21459;2
Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, The Great Nubian or the Journey of an Egyptologist, Stock, 1992
Guillemette Andreu, Marie-Hélène Rutschowscaya, Christiane Ziegler, Ancient Egypt at the Louvre, Hachette, 1997
Christiane Ziegler, Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1999, p. 20, 207-208, notice no. 54.
Peter Der Manuelian, Slab Stelae of the Giza Necropolis, The Peabody Museum of Natural History of Yale University, The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, New Haven and Philadelphia, 2003
http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/search-results/?q=1225
Morris L. Bierbrier, Who Was Who in Egyptology, London, Egypt Exploration Society, 2012
Campbell Price, Ancient Egypt, Pocket Museum, Thames & Hudson, 2018

To A Lost Father Love!

And yet, for the first time, I share an anniversary celebration of my father’s aniverssary. Of course, this Thursday is Good Friday, and in Germany, it is also recognised as Father’s Day. Therefore, I shall seize this opportunity to share something about him.

I must admit that I have few memories of my father’s life, as I was only seven when he passed away. However, some scenes remain in my mind—some joyful and a few burdensome. He was a dedicated writer who prioritised his work above all else, even above his love for family. I would say something between Charles Dickens and Dostoevsky!

Of course, I don’t want to say he didn’t love us. He was deeply in love with my mother and generally friendly toward his sons, although he was often preoccupied with work internally. Still, his books were the dearest things in his mind, and he enjoyed travelling extensively in Iran and Europe. Therefore, despite his fame and wealth, he was always broke! One of his colleagues at the newspaper where he worked told us that one day he came in and said he had sold his children! Of course, he meant he sold the rights to his best-selling books!!

I once lost his ID after I had it in my possession, and I don’t know where I left it. Therefore, I searched the Web and found something about him: he was famous then! Although I didn’t find his birthday, only his birth year, and he would be over a century old this year.

Here we go:

FAZEL, Javad (Moḥammad-Javād Fāżel Lārijāni; b. Lārijān, 1914; d. Tehran, August 19 1961), noted serial writer and a pioneering figure in simplifying and popularising religious texts. His father, Mirza Abu’l-Ḥasan Fāżel Lārijāni, was an eminent preacher in Āmol (q.v.), in northern Iran, and died when Javad was nine years old. Javad was brought up in a religious environment. His father introduced him to religious studies while attending Pahlavi Primary School in Āmol. In 1932, after finishing secondary education in Tehran, Fazel pursued religious studies at Islamic seminaries under Sheikh Moḥammad Aštiāni. He worked for the Ministry of Education in 1938, teaching literature and educational psychology at the Teachers’ Training School in Āmol for one year. Fazel graduated from Tehran University’s Faculty of Theology and Jurisprudence in 1945 and later became a translator at the Ministry of Agriculture until his death at 47 (M. Fāżel, p. 21). He also taught Persian literature in various secondary schools (M. Fāżel, p. 98).

In 1942, he joined Eṭṭelāʿāt-e Haftegi, a weekly journal of the oldest Tehran daily newspaper, Eṭṭelāʿāt, founded by ʿAbbās Masʿudi in 1923. He published most of his serialised stories there and also contributed to Badiʿ, a magazine established by Jamāl-al-Din Badiʿzāda in March 1943. That same year, Fazel became a member of the pro-German Paykār Party, founded by Ḵosrow Eqbāl, and wrote for its official publication, Nabard, edited by Jahāngir Tafażżoli. However, his affiliation with Paykār only lasted four months.

And here is something for my pride: Fazel’s straightforward literary style earned him a broad audience. His accessible translations of religious texts were utilised by politically active theologians and laypeople, such as Mortażā Moṭahari and ʿAli Šariʿati, who sought to engage Iranians with modern interpretations of Islamic teachings (Saʿid-Elāhi, p. 75). However, Fazel’s ‘free’ translations were criticised for lacking accuracy and fidelity to the original texts (Šahidi, p. 5).

Some are to be disappointed! But who cares? He wasn’t a devout Muslim, yet he believed in a mystical Islam. This perspective influenced his translations, incorporating his own thoughts and feelings.

With the advent of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Fazel’s romantic stories were no longer in demand, but his religious texts gained vast popularity and were reprinted several times. Even his scattered articles were collected and published in quick succession, notable among them Zendegi-e por-mājarā-ye Moḵtār (Mokhtar’s adventurous life, 2000) and Qeṣaṣ-al anbiāʾ (Stories of the prophets, 2001).

Regrettably, my father has sold all or most of the rights to his best-selling books to publishers. Consequently, I have no claim to those rights.

His final hours at a cousin’s wedding, with Al beside him.

In addition to religious texts, Fazel also translated several European novels into Persian, notable among them Ḵun o Šaraf (Blood and Honour, 1949), by Maurice Dekobra (1885-1973), Yek qalb-e āšofta (A Broken Heart, 1956), by Stefan Zweig (1881-1942), and Jāsusa (Spy, 1958) by Paul Bourget (1852-1935).

Fazel married in 1950. His wife, Mozayyan (Mosstofi) Fazel, depicted their life story together in Dāstān-e yek zendegi (A life story, 1964), which includes several of Fazel’s love letters to her. (And here is what I once wrote about their love story!). They had two sons: ʿAlaʾ-al-Din and Abu’l-Ḥasan. Javad Fazel died of cerebral thrombosis on August 19, 1961, and was buried in the Ebn Bābawayh (q.v.) cemetery near Tehran.

And yes, this passage is from the Encyclopaedia Iranica website, where you can read the full report. He passed away while Al and I were asleep. The next day, my mother made a mistake and lied to us, saying he had gone on a journey abroad. Alas, she ought to reveal the truth about his journey beyond the other side. It caused significant trauma for both of us in our lives of youth, but that is another story!

Here are some images of his Persian romans.

The Golden Face of an Egyptian General

The burial chamber was below ground and housed and protected the body and spirit. The mortuary chapel was above ground and was accessible to visitors who would perform rites and make offerings of food and drink for the dead person.

Egyptian burial chambers resembled secret galleries meant to remain unseen, filled with stunning artwork for an elite audience—the gods. Art could transport individuals, connecting the mortal and the immortal, freeing them from the silence of death.

Tomb art was sacred and magical, controlling chaotic forces threatening universal order. Whether mass-produced or commissioned, painting, sculpture, carving, and writing upheld order by invoking the gods to ensure safe passage and eternal sustenance for the deceased in the afterlife. Tombs in ancient Egypt

However, despite all this, here is a brilliant article by Marie Grillot about an undamaged treasure of ancient Egypt.

The Golden Mask of General Oundebaounded

via: égyptophile

Mask of General Oundebaounded – gold – 21st Dynasty
Discovered in his tomb (NRT III) in Tanis in 1946 by Pierre Montet and his team
Egyptian Museum, Cairo – JE 87753

The untouched tomb of General Oundebaounded was discovered in Tanis in 1946 by the team of Pierre Montet, known as “The Man from Tanis. “

It was Pierre Lézine, an architect newly arrived on the mission, who noticed a particular spot in the tomb of Psusennes I where the thickness of a wall appeared abnormal.

Under the initially sceptical eye of his colleagues, he undertook additional surveys that confirmed his intuitions.

In “The Discovery of the Treasures of Tanis”, Georges Goyon recounts: “It was then that a tiny room appeared, with no exit, containing, intact, as if embedded in its socket, a beautiful pink granite sarcophagus. The limestone walls were covered with brightly coloured paintings depicting ritual scenes and inscriptions.” This sarcophagus would turn out to be a ‘re-use’: having initially been dedicated to a priest of Amun of Thebes, it had been modified for its new ‘occupant’…

Detail of the east wall of the Oundebaounded burial chamber (NRT III) – Montet Archives, 1946

Pierre Montet explains: “The Oundebaounded vault contained only the sarcophagus and the four canopic jars. Everything was in the sarcophagus. The mummy, dressed in its finery, was first enclosed in a silver coffin, and this in a gilded wooden coffin. When the gilded wooden coffin had been introduced into the granite basin, three paterae and a cup were placed on the lid, as well as a sword, a sceptre, and several walking sticks. The extreme humidity that reigns throughout the necropolis caused the complete destruction of everything made of wood. The gilded wooden coffin was nothing more than a pile of dead leaves. The silver coffin itself was partly eaten away.”

The pink granite sarcophagus of Oundebaounded (left), on display outside the French Mission house in Tanis

On his face was this magnificent mask, reminiscent of Sheshonq II’s. 22 cm high, it is carved from a thick sheet of gold and decorated with glass paste inlays. In ancient Egypt, gold was imbued with power: this metal was not only assimilated to the flesh of the gods, but it was also supposed to ensure the protection of the deceased.

In “The Wonders of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo,” Silvia Einaudi gives this beautiful description: “The mask covered the face, neck, and ears of the sovereign, and stopped at the forehead where six perforated tabs allowed it to be attached to the mummy’s head. The eyes, miraculously intact, are made of glass paste of different colours inserted into the metal cavities: white for the eyeball and black for the pupil. The eyebrows and the outline of the eyes were made using the same technique. The nose is almost perfectly shaped. The lips are narrow and full. The ears are not symmetrical, and the left is more prominent than the right. The mask is an idealised portrait of Oundebaounded, depicted as a young man with a serene and tranquil expression, underlined by a barely marked smile.

Examination of the General’s mummy revealed that he had joined the Ialou Fields when he was about fifty years old. Georges Goyon specifies that he was: “of slender build, perhaps of Nubian race, as evidenced by the long bones and relatively small head.”

General Oundebaounded’s swimming hook – silver and gold – 21st Dynasty
Discovered in his tomb (NRT III) in Tanis in 1946 by Pierre Montet and his team
Exhibited at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo – JE 87742

For eternity, he was surrounded by gold jewellery, amulets, precious dishes (among them the magnificent patera with swimmers), statuettes, … all of an extreme quality and a wealth worthy of a pharaoh… Who was he to enjoy such recognition?

The name of this close government associate was not unknown to the mission members, as several of his funerary statuettes, made of bronze and earthenware, had been found, as early as 1939, near the sarcophagus of the Pharaoh Sheshonq. Furthermore, a sword bearing his name had also been deposited near Psusennes.

Georges Goyon presents him to us thus: “He was not a person of royal blood, but a high priest of Khonsu and Chief of the Archers of Pharaoh. He was also invested with the important title of Superior of the Prophets-of-all-the-gods, which seemed to correspond to that of minister of worship. It was King Psusennes I who had elevated him to these high functions…. One of his most curious titles was that of “Sole-appointed-to-the-praise-of-the-great”, whose duty was to present the holders to the king during the reward ceremonies.”

One can imagine the aura Oundebaounded must have held at court, and thus understand why he was buried so close to the sovereigns…

The entire treasure contained in his tomb was sent shortly after, under police escort, to the Cairo Museum. The funerary mask was recorded in the Journal of Entries under reference JE 87753.

It is interesting to note that Pierre Montet reports that statuettes – ushabtis – bearing the General’s name were found on the antiques market. “Sixteen servants were nevertheless soon recovered in the trade… In total, we currently know of around forty listed in other Institutes and private collections.”

Marie Grillot

Sources:

Georges Goyon, The Discovery of the Treasures of Tanis, 1987
Tanis: Gold of the Pharaohs, exhibition catalogue, Paris, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, March 26 – July 20, 1987
Francesco Tiradritti, Treasures of Egypt – The Wonders of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo
National Geographic, Treasures of Ancient Egypt at the Cairo Museum

Posted on 23rd May 2017 by Unknown

It Could Not Merely Be A Divine Touch!

I must confess I dream of such an encounter with a divine goddess, and I should not be a king!

This relief adorns the well-preserved tomb of King Seti I (KV17) in the Valley of the Kings. Hathor, Lady of the West, welcomes Seti and presents her menat necklace as a symbol of protection. Her wig is adorned with cow horns, her sacred animal, and a solar disk indicating her status as Ra’s daughter. The hieroglyphic text above identifies her using a falcon symbol in a temple, reading Hwt-Hr, meaning ‘House of Horus’.

The Goddess Hathor and Seti I painted reliefs on a pillar in Seti I’s tomb, Thebes, New Kingdom, Dynasty XIX, Egypt.

We read a splendid description of this enchanting and divine encounter by the exceptional Marie Grillot. Enjoy!

Hathor and Seti I: a divine and royal face-to-face!

via Egyptophile

Bas-relief de Séthi Ier et Hathor – calcaire peint – Nouvel Empire – XIXe dynastie (1294 -1279 av. J.-C.) – provenant de sa tombe – KV 17
découverte le 18 octobre 1817 dans la Vallée des Rois par Giovanni Battista Belzoni
Département des Antiquités égyptiennes du Musée du Louvre – Champollion n°1 – B 7 – N 124 – CC 243 – rapporté par Jean-François Champollion
lors de l’Expédition franco-toscane (1828-1829) – © 2017 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Christian Décamps

What intensity, what symbiosis in this divine and royal face-to-face! This “painting” of fine painted limestone, 226.5 cm high and 105 cm wide, brings together the goddess Hathor and Seti I under the sign of the sky – and elegance. As Christiane Ziegler so aptly points out in “Ancient Egypt at the Louvre”: “The scene is treated with the refinement characteristic of the time of Seti I: careful bas-relief, the richness of warm colours, transparency of pleats, the perfection of details for the stone-encrusted front or the pearl net adorning the divine tunic whose motifs take up the names of Seti I.”

This dress, punctuated with geometric patterns and bordered with alternating-coloured rectangular braid, magnificently highlights the slender body of Hathor, “patron saint of the Theban necropolis.” Ravishing finery adorns her neck and limbs: a gorget, bracelets, armillae, periscelides, all in perfect taste. Her earring caresses her cheek in the shape of an upright serpent (not without announcing the one Nefertari wore in several representations of her tomb). Her face, of absolute purity, is illuminated by a stretched eye, surrounded by kohol and surmounted by an eyebrow which corresponds precisely to the stretching of the line of eyeshadow… Her “ruffled” vertically striated wig is available in two tones. It is enhanced with a gold-coloured headband above the forehead and, a little lower down, with this red ribbon tied on the nape of the neck so particular to goddesses. Her head is surmounted by a simple mortar in the centre, which is stuck in two cow horns enclosing the solar disk. On the other side stretches a cobra, whose head can be seen on the front and the tail on the back.

Bas-relief of Seti I and Hathor – painted limestone – New Kingdom – 19th Dynasty (1294-1279 BC) – from his tomb – KV 17
discovered on October 18, 1817, in the Valley of the Kings by Giovanni Battista Belzoni
Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre Museum – Champollion No. 1 – B 7 – N 124 – CC 243 – brought back by Jean-François Champollion
during the Franco-Tuscan Expedition (1828-1829) – © 2017 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Christian Décamps

Seti I, son of Ramses I, the second king of the 19th Dynasty, who reigned over the Dual Land for eleven years, is depicted in full ceremonial dress. His magnificent black wig is encircled by the rearing cobra with its coiled body. His feet are shod with gold sandals. His clothing is made of the finest linen, and his loincloth features a superb front. Bordered with ribbons are composed of vertical bands with a herringbone pattern and ends with a frieze surrounded by two cobras.

His right arm is stretched along his body, and his hand clasps the goddess’s left hand. “One will notice the very Egyptian symmetry of the composition and the unusual gesture of the joining hands” (Christiane Ziegler, “Ancient Egypt at the Louvre”). His left arm is bent, and his hand thus reaches the height of Hathor’s, who, making the same gesture, extends her menat necklace towards him as a sign of protection.

“The menat is a necklace with a counterweight, both an ornament and a musical instrument. Specific to the goddess Hathor, it served to transmit her fluid. The counterweight is clearly associated with the idea of rebirth and transition rites, while the gesture is clearly jubilee,” analyze Christiane Ziegler and Jean-Luc Bovot in “Art and Archaeology, Ancient Egypt.” This magnificent relief comes from the entrance to the fourth corridor (the transition point to the underworld) of the pharaoh’s tomb. Giovanni Battista Belzoni unearthed it in the Valley of the Kings on October 18, 1817. It extends 137 m into the Theban mountain via seven long corridors serving 10 rooms! It is certainly one of the most beautiful and “completely” decorated in the royal necropolis. C’est aussi l’une de celles où la qualité des peintures atteint la plus haute perfection… Le découvreur est subjugué par la beauté de ce qui s’offre à ses yeux : “Je jugeai, par les peintures du plafond et par les hiéroglyphes en bas-relief que l’on distinguait à travers les décombres que nous étions maîtres de l’entrée d’une tombe magnifique”. La clé de lecture des hiéroglyphes n’étant pas encore résolue, il est alors impossible de savoir à qui appartient cette demeure d’éternité. Ainsi, dans un premier temps sera-t-elle appelée “tombe Belzoni” ou encore “tombe de l’Apis”, en référence à la “carcasse de taureau embaumé avec de l’asphalte” qui y fut trouvée. C’est bien plus tard qu’elle sera attribuée au père de Ramsès II puis référencée KV 17.

With the invaluable help of Alessandro Ricci, Giovanni Battista Belzoni documented the most beautiful scenes from the hypogeum. He exhibited them, starting in May 1821, at the Egyptian Hall Piccadilly in London and then 1822 at the Chinese Baths in Paris.

Jean-François Champollion, who was among the visitors, was apparently left “speechless with admiration” when he visited the “larger-than-life main room”… It was at about the same time, on September 14, 1822, that the brilliant code-breaker exclaimed, “I HAVE MY CASE”! After years of work, he had just understood the extremely complex principle of Egyptian writing, which was at once ideographic, alphabetic and phonetic… On September 27, in his famous “Letter to Mr. Ironside”, he presented the results of his research to the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres.

Seven years later, in 1829, while he was in the Valley of the Kings with the Franco-Tuscan Expedition, he could finally enter the tomb… “In the tomb of Sety I, J.-Fr. Champollion and I. Rosellini could not resist, faced with the beauty but also the risk of seeing them amputated or destroyed, to have two painted bas-reliefs detached from the embrasures of a corridor door, which would be shared, upon their return, by the Louvre (B7/N124) and Florence (inv. no. 2468) museums. These panels, of extraordinary finesse, represent the king standing in the company of the goddess Hathor,” specifies Christian Leblanc in his “Regards croisés sur la civilisation égyptienne”. In her “Champollion”, Karine Madrigal recalls that: “To justify this act, Champollion explains to his friend Dubois that he ‘dared, in the interest of art, to carry a profane saw into the coolest of all the royal tombs of Thebes'”…

Jean-François Champollion, “The Younger,” decipherer of hieroglyphs, founder of Egyptology
(Figeac, December 23, 1790 – Paris, March 4, 1832)
Portrait depicting him in Egyptian dress, painted by Salvatore Cherubini in Medinet Habu, July 1829
Acquired by the Champollion Museum in Vif in June 2022

This is how this bas-relief will take the “path” to France. Jean-François Champollion will personally oversee its transport and loading in Alexandria. “On November 8, the twenty or so crates of antiquities and the sarcophagus intended for the Charles X Museum were placed in a safe place in the holds of the Astrolabe” (Alain Faure, “Le savant déchiffré”). Under the command of Verninac de Saint Maur, the corvette left the port on December 6, 1829, to sail towards the French coast. It docked in Toulon on December 23. The corvette transported the precious objects to Le Havre, where a barge finally took them to the great Parisian museum via the Seine.

Marie Grillot

Sources:

Relief of Seti I and Hathor https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010009693 Jean-François Champollion, Monuments of Egypt and Nubia: plates / based on drawings executed on site under the direction of Champollion the Younger, and the handwritten descriptions he wrote, published under the auspices of Mr Guizot and Mr Thiers, Ministers of Public Instruction and the Interior, by a special commission composed of Messrs. Silvestre de Sacy, Letronne, Biot, Champollion-Figeac, Paris, Didot, 1845, plate 251 Champollion the Younger, Letters Written from Egypt and Nubia in 1828 and 1829, Publisher Didier, Paris, 1868 http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k103771z/f345.item.r=septembre%201829.texteImage Jacques Vandier, Summary Guide to the Louvre Museum, The Department of Egyptian Antiquities, Éditions des Musées Nationaux, Paris, 1961, p. 20
Bertha Porter, Rosalind L.B. Moss, Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings, 1.2, The Theban Necropolis. Royal Tombs and Smaller Cemeteries, Oxford, At the Clarendon Press, 1964, p. 539 http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/topbib/pdf/pm1-2.pdf Giovanni Battista Belzoni, Journey to Egypt and Nubia, Pygmalion, 1979
Jean Lacouture, Champollion, A Life of Enlightenment, Grasset, 1988
Jean-Jacques Fiechter, Harvest of the Gods, Julliard, 1994
Guillemette Andreu, Marie-Hélène Rutschowscaya, Christiane Ziegler, Ancient Egypt at the Louvre, Louvre Museum, Hachette, Paris, 1997, p. 137-140
Guillemette Andreu, Patricia Rigault, Claude Traunecker, The ABCs of Ancient Egypt, Paris, Flammarion, 1999, p. 51
Christiane Ziegler, Sophie Labbé-Toutée, Pharaoh, Exhibition Catalogue, Paris, Arab World Institute, 15-10-2004 – 10-4-2005, Paris, Flammarion, 2004, p. 261
Alain Faure, Champollion, the Scholar Deciphered, Fayard, 2004
Christiane Ziegler, Jean-Luc Bovot, Small Manuals from the École du Louvre, Art and Archaeology, Ancient Egypt, École du Louvre, Réunion des Musées Nationaux – Grand Palais, 2011, p. 227
Sylvie Guichard, Jean-François Champollion, Descriptive Notice of the Egyptian Monuments of the Charles X Museum, Paris, Louvre Editions – Editions Khéops, Paris, 2013, p. 51
Christian Leblanc, Crossed Perspectives on Egyptian Civilization, Selected Pages of Archaeology and History, L’Harmattan, Paris, 2024 https://www.editions-harmattan.fr/catalogue/livre/regards-croises-sur-la-civilisation-egyptienne/76432 Karine Madrigal, Champollion, Ellipses, 2024
Theban Mapping Project – KV 17 – Sety I https://thebanmappingproject.com/tombs/kv-17-sety-i

The (Wel)coming of Christian Copt;The Chapel of Peace.

“When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod the Great, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt I called My Son” (Matthew 2:12-23). The Bible identifies Egypt as the refuge the Holy Family sought while fleeing Judea.

According to Coptic tradition, St. Mark is believed to have brought Christianity to Egypt around 50 CE. A small Christian community began to form in Alexandria during the late first century and expanded significantly by the end of the second century. Certain similarities in beliefs aided the acceptance of Christianity among Egyptians, including the dual nature of the Egyptian god Osiris as both human and divine, the resurrection of Osiris, and the divine triad consisting of Osiris, Isis, and Horus.

The ancient Egyptians, classical Greeks, and Romans primarily shaped the Coptic period in Egypt. This influence is evident in Coptic art, particularly in textiles that often feature ancient Egyptian symbols and motifs, such as the ankh, representing life. The ankh served as an alternative to the Christian cross; certain textiles display both symbols. Nevertheless, Coptic art predominantly reflects the more substantial impact of Greek and Roman traditions.

I’ve been unwell and facing difficulties lately (wearing out my apparatus and equipment in old age!), so I haven’t been able to post regularly. However, now that my illness is in a stillstand modus, I’m giving it a try!

Here, I present Marie Grillot‘s captivating account of the Christian Copts’ arrival in Egypt, their artistry, and their harmonious, peaceful way of life.

The Christian Necropolis of Bagawat

via égyptophile

Mary, Noah’s Ark and Jacob, depicted on the dome of the Chapel of Peace in Bagawat.
“The central image shows the patriarch and his family in the ark. Two doves overlap between the praying Mary and the ship.
The alliance with Noah finds its fulfilment with the Annunciation” – Christian necropolis of Bagawat – Kharga Oasis – 5th – 6th centuries.

A little over a kilometre northwest of the temple of Hibis, in the oasis of Kharga, stretches a ridge about twenty meters high on the edge of the desert. It is the remains of a site from the very beginning of Christianity in Egypt.

This is the Bagawat necropolis, which was active from the 2nd to the 7th century. It is so unique that it is sometimes referred to as Coptic, Roman, Byzantine, or even Greco-Coptic or Romano-Byzantine.

Christian necropolis of Bagawat – Kharga Oasis – 2nd – 7th centuries

The middle of the first century of our era witnessed the arrival of Christianity, which caused proselytism to spread along the Nile… The edicts of Theodosius I, promulgated in 380 and then 391, led to the banning of pagan rites and the official closure of temples. The Copts, the first Christians in Egypt, affirmed their new faith and beliefs, engendering a new iconography and architecture… From its beginnings, Coptic art would draw inspiration from different cultures: Roman, Byzantine, Greek, and even Pharaonic.

During its 500 years of “activity,” in addition to digging hundreds of scattered pit tombs, the necropolis will see the construction of 263 chapels, examples of proto-Coptic art, surrounding a church built around the 4th century. As in Roman and Byzantine cemeteries, they are arranged along streets. Although they differ in size and specific details of their architectural structure, they restore an extremely harmonious overall unity.

“The funerary chapels are built of mud brick, in most cases originally covered with white plaster on the outside and inside. Externally, they present an architectural mixture of classical and ancient Egyptian motifs, often with a “cavetto” type cornice and classical forms of engaged columns with Corinthian capitals. They are generally square and covered with domes on pendentives or, less frequently, rectangular with barrel vaults. In a few cases, the remains of wooden roofs are visible. On each of the three walls of the Chapel, except the entrance wall, there is usually a niche, while a few chapels have a projecting apse at the eastern end. These apsidal ends are either circular or octagonal. Some of the larger buildings consist of a double Chapel of two square compartments, while a few have front courts surrounded by a wall of columns and engaged arches,” analyzes Albert M. Lythgoe in “The Oasis of Kharga”.

In “Enciclopedia dell’ Arte Antica” (1973), H. Torp describes “two basic types of construction. The first is very simple, with a square or rectangular plan and with a roof of wooden beams. The other type is square, covered with a dome. Of the first type, there are a little over a hundred tombs; of the second, a little less. The other mausoleums are variants or combinations of these two types, except for a limited number of circular or rectangular mausoleums with a barrel vault, as well as five large structures composed of several rooms, partially covered with vaults or a roof”.

The painters who worked in Bagawat were the vectors of diverse influences, which they combined, adapted and enriched, thus making this necropolis an exceptional place.

In “The Necropolis of el-Bagawat in Kharga Oasis”, A. Fakhry indicates that twenty-two of these chapels have “painted decorations, but only seven contain figurative art, the others showing only painted crosses or the like”.

Three chapels are particularly notable for their paintings.

The Chapel of Peace – Christian Necropolis of Bagawat – Kharga Oasis – 5th-6th centuries

The Chapel of Peace (No. 30) dates from the 5th and 6th centuries. For experts, its decoration is unique in early Christian art. The biblical themes, with characters (from the front!), are treated in shades of ochre, purple and red while respecting the perspectives the dome-shaped structure certainly made difficult to execute. This is a “unique register of sophisticated representations of biblical figures ‘labelled’ Greco-Coptic which includes allegorical images of peace, prayers and rigour alongside Daniel, Jacob, Noah, Mary, …”

The style and quality of the paintings “reflect a level of technical skill far superior to that of other surviving decorations from the necropolis. The artist who painted them appears to have had formal training” (Matthew Martin).

The Chapel of the Exodus Christian necropolis of Bagawat – Kharga Oasis – 5th-6th centuries

The Chapel of the Exodus (No. 80), whose centre of the dome is decorated with vine branches and filled with birds and naive trees, owes its name to its representations linked to the Hebrews’ departure from Egypt. It is declined in several scenes, such as Noah’s Ark, Daniel in the lion’s den, the three Jews in the furnace, the martyrdom of Isaiah, and episodes from the stories of Jonah and Job…

Chapel No. 25 – Christian Necropolis of Bagawat – Kharga Oasis – 5th-6th centuries

As for chapel no. 25, it offers magnificent white birds “standing on globes which support with their outstretched wings a solar disk covering the dome raised in the centre of the room.”

Thus, the domes and apses of the tombs and chapels contain “some masterpieces of Coptic painting, illustrating themes from the Old Testament and early Christianity, in a Hellenistic and Roman style. Wealthy Greeks certainly commissioned the paintings represented. Most of the frescoes are painted in red and purple tones, in a naive style but executed with great detail” (Hervé Beaumont, “The Necropolis of El-Bagawat” – Egypt: the guide to Egyptian civilizations, from the pharaohs to Islam).

Bagawat is an exceptional place, both architecturally and pictorially. It turns out to be, in a way, at the confluence of influences from the beginning of the Christian era…

It once again proves that religion is an immense source of inspiration for artists: to magnify their faith, they draw from the depths of themselves treasures of imagination and creativity to honour and glorify what is highest…

Marie Grillot

Sources:
Albert M. Lythgoe, The Oasis of Kharga, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 1908-11-01 https://archive.org/details/jstor-3253214/page/n1/mode/2up W. Hauser, The Christian Necropolis in the Khargeh Oasis, BMMA 27, March 1932, The Metropolitan Museum of Art https://www.metmuseum.org/pubs/bulletins/1/pdf/3255361.pdf.bannered.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1p4UODOMBAj8dYj_p9nCPa2fj6m7fZrNc7OXTinm8mJES3Tjgtr5fPp7s H. Torp, el BAGAWAT, Enciclopedia dell’Arte Antica, 1973 http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/el-bagawat_%28Enciclopedia-dell%27-Arte-Antica%29/ Hervé Beaumont, The Necropolis of El-Bagawat, Egypt: the guide to Egyptian civilizations, the pharaohs to Islam, Gallimard, 2000 Matthew Martin, Observations on the Paintings of the Exodus Chapel, Bagawat Necropolis, Kharga Oasis, Egypt, Byzantine Narrative, Papers in Honour of Roger Scott, Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, Byzantina Australiensia 16, John Burke, Ursula Betka, Penelope Buckley, Kathleen Hay, Roger Scott & Andrew Stephenson, Melbourne, 2006 https://www.academia.edu/364953/Observations_on_the_Paintings_of_the_Exodus_Chapel_Bagawat_Necropolis_Kharga_Oasis_Egypt

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The Discovery of Seti I’s Alabaster Sarcophagus by Belzoni

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Tutankhamun’s Blue Bird Earrings

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The votive naos (shrine) of the House.

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The stele of Nefertiabet: from its mastaba in Giza to the Louvre Museum

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The Golden Mask of General Oundebaounded

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Hathor and Seti I: a divine and royal face-to-face!

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The Christian Necropolis of Bagawat

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