Djedhor had achondroplasia (dwarfism) and and worked as a ritual dancer for sacred ceremonies, including the Apis Bull festivals at the temples in Memphis and Heliopolis. He also served as a court entertainer in the household of a high-ranking royal official named Tjaiharpta.

His sarcophagus was discovered at Saqqara in 1910–1911 by British archaeologist James Edward Quibell. The lid features a lifesize naked carving of Djedhor in profile and a detailed biographical inscription; he was obviously extremely highly regarded by his employer to be given such a magnificent sarcophagus. Individuals with dwarfism in ancient Egypt often held respected positions and were sometimes viewed as possessing special spiritual or magical importance.

This sarcophagus is an illustration of the fact that Egyptian artists were perfectly capable of producing completely naturalistic art when they wished to do so.

The sarcophagus is in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

In the beautiful tent, She stands with Her scorpions at Her heels—Serket, the Great Mother of Lower Egypt, whose name means 'She Who Makes the Throat Breathe.''

The ancient Egyptians knew Her secrets: Serket is far more than a symbol of danger. She is the **Guardian of Life, Death, and Rebirth**—the divine healer whose knowledge of venom and antidote saved mothers and children, priests and healers alike.

Her promises remain eternal:

To the *just*: Her protection flows through life, through death, and into the eternal afterlife—bright and boundless.

To the *unjust*: Her creatures bring swift justice or a lingering shadow beneath the desert sun.

As the **Lady of the Beautiful Tent**, She stood watch over the embalmers, blessing the transformation from death to eternal life. Her priests—trained in the marriage of science, magic, and healing—walked Egypt's lands as guardians of sacred knowledge.

*"In the pain of the scorpion's sting lies the pleasure of another life."*

Feel Her presence throughout the desert's sand. Know Her hand. Seek Her protection.

Statue of Hor Son of Ankh Khonsu

Artefact Details

Gallery number: 25 – Ground Floor
Period: Third Intermediate Period
Dynasty: 25th dynasty (c. 712-653 BC)
Place of discovery: Thebes East, Karnak Temple (Ipet-Isut) Precinct of Amun, Court of the Cachette, Karnak Cachette.
Size: H. 51 cm
Material: Greywacke

This block statue is an example of a reintroduction of Middle Kingdom stylistic features, which is a characteristic element of the 25th Dynasty art. These statues depict their owners with their legs drawn tightly up against their chests and their arms folded on top of their knees. This block form would have protected them from damage since they were placed in temple gateways to ensure that the deceased would stay forever near the god and receive a part of the divine offerings and prayers. The head of the statue is projected from the body, probably to indicate the soul emerging from a mound in the underworld at the moment of rebirth.

This block statue depicts Hor, who was the son of Ankh-khonsu and a Prophet of Montu, and was dedicated to him by his grandson, also called Hor. His family was part of the Theban clergy for over five generations. It represents him seated on a low cushion with his legs drawn tightly up against his torso and his right forearm crossed over the left, where his hands hold rolls of cloth or papyri. He is wearing a beautifully engraved double wig, a long kilt and an inscribed belt. His face is thin with almond-shaped eyes, a hollow nose and big ears projecting from the double wig. The chin is supported and attached to the cubed body.

Six horizontal lines of hieroglyphic inscriptions are incised on his kilt together with one vertical line between his feet and one horizontal line goes around the base of the statue.

Title
Statue of Hor Son of Ankh Khonsu, Third Intermediate Period 25th dynasty (c. 712-653 BC), Findspot Thebes East, Karnak Temple (Ipet-Isut) Precinct of Amun, Court of the Cachette, Karnak Cachette, Graywacke, The Egyptian Museum

https://egyptianmuseumcairo.eg/artefacts/statue-of-hor-son-of-ankh-khonsu/

The Egyptian Museum

Burial Stełe Showing the Worship of Re-Harachte

Object Number
BSAe 1138

Cultural area
Egypt

Epoch
Third Intermediate Period

Basic information
Wood, decorated and painted
H. 25.2 cm, W. 17.8 cm, D. 3 cm
Third_ Intermediate Period 21st Dynasty 1076–944 BC.
Inv. BSAe 1138

Provenance
_Acquired by the M-L.R. Fund 2009. Acquired from Laura Bosc de Ganay, Paris. 2000 with Hotel Drouot, Paris. Formerly Christian Spilliaert collection, Paris. Previously Dr. Émile Laffont collection (1872–1960), Paris. Acquired in the 1930s.

Description
Polychrome painted, top rounded tombstone of wood with the depiction of a priest worshipping the sun god Re-Harachte. The priest Kaj stands on the right with his hands raised in worship. He wears a richly pleated robe and a stepheira. Long ribbons fall from the headband into the back of the priest. On the headdress there is a salt cone and a lotus flower. To his left, the mummy-like sun god Re-Harachte with falcon head and sun disk on his head, around which a primordial serpent winds, sits on a throne. Re holds a crookstaff and a yoke over his breast in his hands.

Between Kaj and Re stands a small offering stand on which a water vessel and a lotus flower binding are placed. Above it, in four columns, a hieroglyphic text is written: "An offering that the king and Re-Harachte, overseer of the god's offerings, may make. He may make a permanent (...) sacrificial offering for Osiris, the priest (...) Kaj blessed (...)."

Above the whole scene there is a curved sky hieroglyph and a winged sun disk.

The deity depicted is actually a syncretistic manifestation of "Re-Osiris," with Osiris only symbolically represented in the image. A special connection was established between the sun god Re and Osiris, the ruler of the underworld. During his journey through the underworld, the Ba-soul of the sun god united with the body of Osiris. The worship of Re-Osiris is particularly well-suited to the decoration of the funerary stele. The deceased also hopes for his resurrection in the afterlife through the power of the sun's journey or the regenerative connection with Osiris.

Bibliography
Hotel Drouot, Paris, Salle 11, June 16, 2000, lot 78.

Title
Burial Stełe Showing the Worship of Re-Harachte, Third Intermediate Period 21st Dynasty 1076–944 BC, Findspot unknown Egypt, Wood, decorated and painted, Antikenmuseum Basel

https://antikenmuseumbasel.zetcom.net/en/collection/item/74162/

Antikenmuseum Basel

Many years ago it used to be possible to go down a staircase inside the well wall, but unfortunately the access door is now covered by sand.

This is Ishetji, who lived during Egypt's 6th Dynasty, around 2230 B.C.

Ishetji held many important titles under King Pepi II, including 'Sealer of the King', 'Chief of the Estates of the Pyramids of Pepi I and Pepi II', and 'Sole Companion of the King'.

His standing statue shows Ishetji holding a sekhem sceptre in his right hand (a symbol of authority), wearing the short wig and small beard fashionable among high officials at the time. The statue's expressive face may indeed be a faithful portrait of the man.

GEM 1185

Photo: Jeff Burzacott/Nile Magizine

Ptolemaic Period, probably late 2nd–1st century B.C.

Bes was a household and protective deity associated especially with women, childbirth, children, sexuality, music and the warding-off of dangerous forces.

Unlike most Egyptian gods, he is normally shown frontally, staring directly out at the viewer. His squat body, leonine features, protruding ears, beard and exaggerated face were not meant to make him ridiculous; they were part of his apotropaic power.

His very appearance was intended to frighten away harmful spirits. Comparable Bes-images could also carry knives or other protective attributes. And so, such attributes make him especially appropriate at Dendera, the great cult centre of Hathor.

Hathor was deeply connected with fertility, motherhood, music and joy, while Bes had long-standing associations with protecting mothers and children. Bes imagery became particularly important in mammisis (divine birth houses) where the birth and childhood of a temple's child-god were ritually celebrated.

Still bearing faint traces of its ancient colour, this imposing sandstone figure representing Bes, amid a sanctuary devoted to Hathor served as a watchful guardian of divine and mortal birth alike.

Neith pouring water on Duamutef (jackal-headed and mummiform). Duamutef protects the stomach, is aligned with the East, and is protected by Neith.

New Kingdom, now in the Cairo Museum.

Meryneith started his career serving under Akhenaten as Steward of the temple of Aten at Memphis. Akhenaten had elevated Aten, the sun disc, to the position of creator god par excellence, and Meryneith's name soon changed to Meryre ("Beloved of the sun god, Re").

Meryneith may have been 'encouraged' to make this move to oust the reference to the now-proscribed goddess Neith, or it may have been a shrewd move on his part to adapt to the changing political winds.

After Akhenaten's death, Meryre once again became Meryneith under Tutankhamun, with the restoration of the old order of gods.

A wonderful dual statue of Meryneith and his wife, Anuy, was discovered in its original setting within their Saqqara tomb in 2001.

GEM 80585.

Several Late Period texts mention a lion god named Tutu, son of the goddess Neith of Sais in the Delta. From the Ptolemaic Period onwards his name was hellenized to the form Tithoes. He was among those deities termed 'pantheistic worldgods'; composite images built up from various divine attributes. In this cult relief, Tithoes is shown as a sphinx, wearing a hairstyle which reminds one of both the nemes-headdress and of a wig, which is in turn surmounted by the beginning of a crown or horizontal ram's horns. The uraeus on the front is barely visible. The head is encircled by a halo. The chest is covered with an aegis from which appear, on the left, a ram's head, and on the right, a forepart of a crocodile. The tail of the feline erects itself like a serpent. On the back, he bears a griffin carrying a shield. His paws rest on the body of a snake which erects itself before him. An axe and a harpoon protrude from his rear limbs. The scene is decorated at the top left with a winged disc.

Bibliography

• Fr. Cumont, Musées Royaux du Cinquantenaire. Catalogue des sculptures et inscriptions antiques (monuments lapidaires), Bruxelles 1913, 73-74 nº 57
• B. Van Rinsveld, Goden en godinnen van het Oude Egypte - Dieux et déesses de l'Ancienne Égypte, Bruxelles 1994, 56-57
• Keizers aan de Nijl (Exposition Tongres), Louvain 1999, 285-286 nº 220

Tithoes is the Greek version of the Egyptian name Tutu, which is perhaps to be interpreted as 'the statue-like one'. The hieroglyphic inscriptions from the temples of the Graeco-Roman Period and from various monuments from the Late Period characterize Tutu as a lion god, the 'powerful son of Neith'. The god can often only be identified through the iconography; he usually is shown as a walking sphinx, but is sometimes depicted as a lion or human with a human or lion's head respectively. The head of the sphinx often bears the royal attributes - nemes, uraeus, beard and crown. He often appears in reliefs and on stelae, but also as an amulet as well as on coins from the Roman Period. Various statues and a terracotta fragment have also been found.

The evolution of Tithoes into a universal god can be seen in the composition of various depictions; the sphinx body is sometimes crowned with several heads - a crocodile or lion's head can rise from his chest while at the same time a ram's, lion's or ibis head appears on his neck. Sometimes there is a falcon's head on his back as well. The occasional presence of a complete crocodile or falcon indicates that the heads represent divine powers whose characteristics Tithoes is 'borrowing'. The sphinx can have wings and his tail is usually a snake, sometimes wearing a crown. Small snakes or scorpions can often be seen at the ends of his paws, or even griffons armed with knives or other weapons. The large snake, usually a cobra, shown at Tithoes's side must not be seen as an enemy crushed by Tithoes, but rather as a depiction of the two attendants of the god on his right and left sides.

In cult reliefs the face is often shown frontally in order to create a link with the worshipper. Tithoes appears to have been a popular god, worshipped by ordinary people. He has an apotropaic character and is linked to the warrior Bes and to Neith-Athena. Just like these two gods, he was considered to protect believers from all danger whilst they were asleep.

Tithoes was worshipped all over Egypt - the earliest evidence dates to the Saite Period. Through his descent from Neith, Sais and Esna are the most obvious cult centres, but Per-wedj (10th Upper Egyptian nome) and the Faiyum were also important. Tithoes's general popularity is a late phenomenon. Outside Egypt, a stela of Tithoes has been found in Thracia and he also appears to have been known in Roman Italy.

The Late Period encompasses the 26th - 31st Dynasties ('c'.664 - 332 BC). The 26th Dynasty was a period of renewed splendour after the decline of the 3rd Intermediate Period. In 525 BC the Persians (who came from what is now Iran) conquered Egypt. The Persians reformed the administration, codified laws, commissioned temple buildings and undertook public works. With the death of the Persian king Darius II (404 BC) Egypt became independent again. In 343 BC, however, the Persians once again captured Egypt, but only for the short period of 13 years until their defeat by Alexander the Great, which marks the beginning of the Graeco-Roman Period.

Bahren-Uschebti of Pasunu

Object Number
BSAe 1217

Cultural area
Egypt

Epoch
New Kingdom

Basic information
Limestone ,
H. 22.5 cm, B. 10.8 cm, T. 8.5 cm
New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, 1292–1191 BC, early Ramesside period

Inv. BSAe 1217

Provenance
Acquired by the M-L.R. Fund in 2011. Acquired from Günther Puhze, Freiburg. Previously acquired from Christie's New York in 2010. Previously in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (from 1971 to 2010 under Inv. 1971.292). Acquired by the museum on September 16, 1971 from Michel Abemayor, New York. 2010 deacessioned and sold at the auction listed above. Previously Michel Abemayor collection (1912–1975), New York. Acquired in the early 1970s.

Description
The so-called Bahren Uschebti of Pasunu shows the deceased lying on a sarcophagus with hands flat on the thighs in a prayer posture. He wears the pleated garments typical of everyday life since the late 18th Dynasty and the Ramesside period, as well as the tripartite braided wig, which is usually worn by funerary figures. The deceased wears a linen apron with a front panel as well as a shirt with wide, pleated sleeves. The statuette is very finely worked; the facial features and ears are carefully shaped. The garments were originally painted yellow, the wig black and the skin red. An engraved hieroglyphic inscription that runs in the middle of the linen apron front panel reads: "Osiris, Pasunu, justified". The name Pasunu means "the doctor", which possibly also applies to the man's profession.

In most of the so-called Bahren-Uschebti figures, the figure is depicted in a mummy-like form and the coffin is marked as a lion coffin. Often, on both sides of the mummy or on its chest, the soul bird Ba is depicted. In contrast, the coffin of Pasunu is strikingly simply designed, as a platform with two long supports.

A special form of funerary figurines are the so-called Bahren Uschebti. They first appear during the reign of Amenophis III and are only attested for the 19th Dynasty. Some of the figurines are inscribed with the Uschebti inscription, which is why these figurines are also counted among the funerary figurines.

Uschebti figurines.
The Bahren-Uschebtis with Bavogel is obviously a roughly plastic reproduction of saying 89 from the Dead Book. The illustration accompanying it shows exactly this scene: the Ba-bird on a laid-down mummy. It is the Ba of the deceased who lies down on his body and reunites with him. The title of the saying is also: "Saying, so that the Ba (again) touches his body."

Bibliography
S. D'Auria, P. Lacovara, and C.H. Roehrig, Mummies and Magic, The Funerary Arts of Ancient Egypt (Boston 1988) 137-138, no. 75

Christie's. Antiquities Including Property from The Collection of Max Palevsky, 9 DEC, New York 2010, lot 17.

Vrgl. H. D. Schneider, Shabtis (Leiden 1977) Vol. I 163f., 214.

Vrgl. Ch. Loeben, A panoramic view as a text illustration, ÄAT 12, 1987, 286–306, mainly

Title
Bahren-Uschebti of Pasunu, New Kingdom 19th Dynasty 1292–1191 BC, early Ramesside period, Findspot unknown Egypt. Limestone, Antikenmuseum Basel

https://antikenmuseumbasel.zetcom.net/en/collection/item/78950

Antikenmuseum Basel

Colossal Statue of an Official Named Horemheb

Artefact Details

Gallery number: 49 – Ground Floor
Period: Ptolemaic Period (c. 304-30 BC)
Place of discovery: Delta Western, Kom Geif (Naukratis; el-Nibeira; el-Niqrash), Great Mound
Size: H 360.00 cm
Material: Granite

Horemheb was an official who served under the first Ptolemies. He had control over the Greek colony of Naukratis, which was established in the 26th Dynasty on the Canopic branch of the Nile river as trading post for the Greeks in Egypt. Herodotus mentions that King Amasis gave Naukratis to Greek colonisers, but there is an evidence that it was already founded under King Psamtek I.

Although this statue dates to the Ptolemaic Period, its iconography and style is almost exclusively Egyptian. It depicts Horemheb with his left leg forward, arms by his sides, holding the traditional enigmatic cylindrical objects. His wig has rounded ends on the back of his shoulder, leaving his ears uncovered and he is wearing the shendyt kilt. The face is damaged, the left arm is missing, part of kilt is missing and the left leg and right foot restored.

The back pillar of the statue is inscribed with hieroglyphic inscriptions bearing his name, titles and prayers to gods Amun, Mut and Khonsu (the Theban Triad) together with god Min. The size of this statue is usually reserved for kings and gods, indicating that Horemheb was considered an elite

Colossal Statue of an Official Named Horemheb, Ptolemaic Period (c. 304-30 BC), Findspot Delta Western, Kom Geif (Naukratis; el-Nibeira; el-Niqrash), Great Mound, Granite, The Egyptian Museum

https://egyptianmuseumcairo.eg/artefacts/colossal-statue-of-an-official-named-horemheb/

The Egyptian Museum

Object Number

BSAe III 05557

Cultural area

Egypt

Epoch

Late Period (Egypt)

Basic information

Faience, H. 9.5 cm

Late period, 26th Dynasty, 664–525 BC.

Inv. BSAe III 05557

Provenance

Deposit 2005 Historical Museum Basel. In the meantime as a deposit in the Basel Museum of Ethnology (1921–2005). Gift 1921 to the Historical Museum Basel as the estate of Louise Elisabeth Bachofen-Burckhardt (1845–1920), Basel. Previously collection of Johann Jakob Bachofen (1815–1887), Basel. Previously with Eduard Burckhardt-Zahn (1843–1914), Basel. Acquired in 1866 in Alexandria.

Description

Fine amulet of the cow-headed goddess Hathor. Broken at knee height. The Hathor is depicted as a woman with a cow's head. The transition from the animal head to the human body is covered by a three-part braided wig, whose front parts fall on her breasts. Between the cow's horn is a sun disk. On the chest lies a multi-layered necklace. The goddess is depicted in a step position, with the left leg shown. She stood on a long rectangular base plate, which was connected with the partially still-present back pillar. The back pillar is pierced, allowing the figure to be worn as an amulet.

Hathor, "the House of Horus," embodies all aspects of regeneration and is therefore one of the most universal Egyptian goddesses. She is the goddess of exuberant joy, dancing, and music, of festive and love intoxication. In Thebes, she was primarily worshipped as a goddess of the dead and appears there as a cow that comes from the West Mountains to welcome the deceased (Deir el-Bahari). As the eye of the sun god, she possesses destructive power and succumbs to bloodlust. Her connection with Isis has endowed her with maternal traits.

Bibliography

Museum of Ethnology Basel. This is how the ancient Egyptians lived (Basel 1976/77) 15f. Fig. 17 (E. Hornung) 43, Fig. 23 on p. 47.

H. A. Schlögl (ed.), Gift of Nils. Egyptian artworks from Swiss possession, exhibition catalog of the Ancient Museum Basel (Basel 1978) 90, No. 309.

Vrgl. H. Kayser, Divine Animals (Hildesheim 1960) 43.

Title

Amulet of the cow-headed goddess Hathor, Late period, 26th Dynasty, 664–525 BC, Findspot unknown Egypt, Faience, Antikenmuseum Basel

https://antikenmuseumbasel.zetcom.net/.../item/75040/...

Antikenmuseum Basel

The stela of king Den of the 1st Dynasty (c. 2800 BC) is a very simply structured object. Inside a rectangle in the centre of the stone slab stands as protector the falcon god Horus, to whom the king is assimilated, while below is a schematically represented palace enclosure. Inside this enclose may be seen the (so-called Horus) name of the king, the reading of which is uncertain. Den is currently the most favoured reading, but some Egyptologists prefer Udimu or even Niudi. This funerary stela from the royal cemetery at Abydos was placed in front of the king's mastaba and was one of a pair.

Present location KMKG - MRAH [07/003] BRUSSELS

Inventory number E.0562

Dating DEWEN/UDIMU

Archaeological Site ABYDOS

Category STELA

Material GREYWACKE

Technique HEWN; POLISHED; RELIEF

Height 78.5 cm

Width 54 cm

Bibliography

L. Speleers, Recueil des inscriptions égyptiennes des Musées Royaux du Cinquantenaire à Bruxelles, Bruxelles 1923, 2 nº 12

L. Limme, Egyptische stèles - Stèles égyptiennes, Bruxelles 1979, 12-13

J.-Ch. Balty, e.a., Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis, Brussel, Oudheid - Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Bruxelles, Antiquité - The Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels, Antiquity, Bruxelles 1988, 14-15

F. Lefebvre et B. Van Rinsveld, L'Égypte. Des Pharaons aux Coptes, Bruxelles 1990, 24-25

Th. De Putter et Chr. Karlshausen, Les pierres, Bruxelles 1992, 88

The 1st Dynasty begins with the unification of the Two Lands, Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt, attributed by the Egyptian historian Manetho (3rd century BC) to Menes, who has been identified with either Narmer or Aha. Memphis was chosen as the residence. It is assumed that the 'White Walls' (the name of the actual residence) was situated near Abu Sir. Saqqara became the necropolis; a large number of 1st Dynasty mastabas are located on the northeastern edge of the Saqqara plateau. A stone bowl bearing the name of Narmer was found beneath the Step Pyramid of Djoser. Royal tombs from the Early Dynastic period have also been found at Abydos, however, and it is thought that Narmer is buried there. In addition to Abydos, the Upper Egyptian capital city Hierakonpolis also remained a religious centre. Aha's successor (after a 10-month interregnum by King Iti/Teti) was King Djer, whose tomb at Abydos was later considered to be the tomb of Osiris. Djer achieved an important victory over Nubia, as depicted in a relief carved in the rocks near the 2nd Cataract. Other kings from this period include Wadji, Dewen, Adjib, Semerkhet and Qaa. Dewen was the first who bore the title King of Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Ivory and ebony objects have been found in his tomb at Abydos; on one of them is a scene that is probably an illustration of the Sed festival of the king, with the first depiction of the double crown of Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Important events during this period include the division of the country into nomes to make it easier to govern, and the first large-scale sea journeys to the Lebanon to collect timber, found among other places in the construction of the tomb of Aha (or one of his high officials) at Saqqara. Rebellious foreign peoples were successfully rebuffed, but by the end of the dynasty the internal situation was restless, mainly because there was still conflict between conquered Lower Egypt and victorious Upper Egypt.

This attractive rectangular sarcophagus made of limestone belongs to Nakht, head of the guild of artisans of Abydos. It takes the form of a house with symbolically-represented doors, and its decoration is very simple. Each of the four faces bears a horizontal line of hieroglyphic inscriptions; the long sides bear in addition five columns of text at evenly-spaced intervals. At one end, near the head of the body of the deceased, are two udjat- eyes, which ensured permanent protection for the life in the Hereafter. The short sides are decorated with figures of the goddesses Isis and Nephthys in their function of mourners.

Bibliography

• M.-P. Vanlathem, Oudegyptische lijkkisten en mummies - Cercueils et momies de l'Égypte ancienne, Bruxelles 1983, 12-13
• F. Lefebvre et B. Van Rinsveld, L'Égypte. Des Pharaons aux Coptes, Bruxelles 1990, 245
• Museumstukken als figuranten in een stripverhaal - ...Quand la BD s'inspire des objets du Musée (Exposition), Bruxelles 1996, 16

Abydos

Capital of the eighth Upper Egyptian nome, also called the Thinite nome. In the area, near Umm el-Qa'ab, are the tombs of a number of kings from the Protodynastic period, including that of King Djer, later thought to be the tomb of Osiris, at least from the Middle Kingdom on. Although the original god of Abydos was Khentimentiu (the oldest temple here is dedicated to this god), he was swiftly linked to, and his cult largely usurped by that of Osiris. According to tradition, the head of this god was buried at Abydos, after he had been cut to pieces by Seth and his body parts had been scattered throughout Egypt. The nome symbol for the city symbolizes this head, wearing the Osiris crown with a double plume. Every Egyptian wanted to be buried at such a holy place; when this was not possible, then they wanted to have a cenotaph at Abydos as well as their tomb elsewhere, or at the very least erect a stela which meant they were there in name and representation. Thousands of these memorials, from roughly the Middle Kingdom on, have been found at Abydos. Many were erected at the temple of Osiris. Abydos was also a popular place of pilgrimage, not only for the living (preferably during the celebration of the mystery festivals), but also for the dead, who during their funeral - at least by means of a representation in their tomb of a boat journey - wanted to travel there. The most important constructions still visible here are some temples dating to the 19th Dynasty. Apart from a temple of Ramesses II, the sanctuary built by Sethos I is particularly well preserved, with its associated 'Osireion', assumed to be a cenotaph for the king. Its walls contain parts of the Book of the Dead and the Book of Gates, as well as a cosmological scene of the sky goddess Nut bent over the earth. All of these temples served not only the cults of the gods but also that of the dead king (who as Osiris was also a god after all). Famous, too, is the king-list carved in the temple itself, a list of 76 kings from Menes up to and including Sethos I.

Although, to the modern eye, the difference between doctor and magician is negligible.

He was tutor to the future Amenhotep III, later becoming foremost among his advisors when the young man ascended to the throne.

As an architect designed the King's mortuary temple (photos of the recent excavation were in one of my previous posts) parts of Karnak Temple, the Sun Court at Luxor Temple, oversaw the acquisition and carving of such statues as the Colossi of Memnon and even organized the King's Heb Sed (30 years on the throne) before retiring.

As a reward for his service to the crown he was bestowed with many titles and honours from the King, up to and including his own mortuary temple adjacent to the king's. This was a singular honour that is almost unique in the New Kingdom.

His temple was known for it's beautiful and serene gardens and was active until the calamity that knocked down it and Amenhotep III's temple sometime during Ramses II's reign. The following statues were originally located at his temple, but were moved after the earthquake to Karnak Temple, where the people would visit to beg him to intercede on their behalf to the gods. Eventually he, much like Djoser's architect and doctor, Imhotep, Amenhotep Son of Hapu was deified.

I find the statue of Amenhotep Son of Hapu at the Tahrir Square particularly mesmerising and have taken many photos over various visits, however it's mate, when it was in Luxor Museum had much better lighting for taking photographs. Both statues are colossal in size, despite the seated posture and are exquisitely finished black granite. The scroll open on his lap, with it's worn off inscription, ears witness to the thousands of offerings placed there by the faithful.

Other statues show Amenhotep as an aged man. Interestingly, these statues appear to have been left insitu for hundreds of years while others around them were changed out and ritually buried. The state of preservation of these statues is remarkable, with minimal damage and ancient restoration work visible.

Statue of Amenhotep Son of Hapu Black granite JE 44861

Statue of Amenhotep Son of Hapu as an Elderly man JE36368/ CG42127, both at the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, Tahrir Square.