This beautiful ??? piece, called a “Miniature Mask for a Canopic Bundle” has a lot of contradictory information about it – the MET website and books both have different information about it! The MET website dates this piece to the reign of Amenhotep II ?????? (18th Dynasty) and this piece is in Gallery 119, which is not where it should be based on the books!  The “Miniature Mask for a Canopic Bundle” on display at the MET The books I have talk about how this piece was found in the Embalming Cache of Tutankhamun ??????????. An embalming cache is a collection of the supplies and materials t ..read more

Today ???? we are going to look at some Early Dynastic art which is dated to c. 3100 – 2650 B.C.E. Both of these pieces represent turtles ?????! I want to give a shoutout to my friend Matt (@archaeoresearch on Instagram) for inspiring me to look at these pieces more closely!  While not as popular as some iconography, throughout Egyptian history, in the early dynastic periods turtles ????? took the form of vessels, palettes ?????, and even game boards ??????! I love how the ancient Egyptians adopted the natural shape of the animal and incorporated it into their objects!  The “Turtle F ..read more

It’s time for a geology lesson! Today we are going to look at the significance of the red granite ???? used by the ancient Egyptians!  After limestone ???? and sandstone ??????, “Aswan Granite” was the third most used rock ???? by the ancient Egyptians! “Aswan Granite” is actually a collective term used to describe all of the intrusive igneous rocks in the Aswan ?????? area, even though they aren’t all granitic!  Intrusive igneous rocks ????? are rocks that form when magma solidifies deep under ground over long periods of time. This long period of cooling allows for crystallization ..read more

Yesterday ??? was quite the interesting day in NY as we experienced an earthquake ???? in the morning and an aftershock in the evening! We don’t have earthquakes ????? in NY very often so it was quite the experience for many of us!  The ancient Egyptians believed that Geb’s ??? laughter is what caused earthquakes ????? to happen! Geb ??? is the god ? of the Earth’s ?? surface, which the ancient Egyptians called the Upper Earth. Anything that occurred on the Earth’s ?? surface was considered to be Geb’s ??? domain!  The deity Tatanen ? is often associated with things that come from th ..read more

This limestone ???? sculpture of the head of the goddess ?? Hathor ? is one of my favorite pieces that I saw in the Louvre because the intricate details are just striking. This piece is dated to the Ptolemaic Period, and used to be part of a column.  Head of Hathor at the Louvre Hathor ? is one of the most prominent goddesses ???? of the Egyptian pantheon. Along with Isis ???, she is regarded as the “God’s mother ???” of the pharaoh ??, but is also the goddess ?? of love ??, joy ???, music ???, and dance ???- basically the fun things in life!  Hathor ? is usually associated with cows ..read more

At the MET, many walk past this fragment of a statue ???? not knowing who it represents! I have always loved this particular piece because it is the head of Pharaoh Tutankhamun ?????????? who is arguably the most famous pharaoh in the world today! As a kid, seeing King Tut in the MET was just SO COOL because all of the artifacts from his tomb are located in Egypt. I still think it’s cool – even though I’m an adult, I still can’t shake the child-like fascination I have with Tutankhamun ??????????. The Head of Pharaoh Tutankhamun on display at the MET This limestone ???? statue ???? was made dur ..read more

Did you know that the first mention of any “Tree of Life ????” is actually from ancient Egypt ?????! The “Tree of Life ????” appears in some versions of the creation myth and is said to have grown out of the primordial mound! The Tree of Life ???? is an idea that is still around today and one is located in the Happiest Place on Earth – Disney World! William the Hippo with the Tree of Life at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Disney’s Animal Kingdom is an incredibly beautiful ??? park and I love it there – the atmosphere and theming is incredible! The symbol for the park is the Tree of Life ???? and ..read more

The Tower of Terror was one of my Nonno’s absolute favorite rides at Disney World and he was always the oldest person on the ride! The queue for the ride is incredible as are the pre-show rooms because there’s so many cool things to look at, including ancient Egyptian themed things!  Do you spot some familiar statues ?????? William and I found our friend Tutu ????! I was honestly so surprised to see a replica of this statue ???? from the MET in the pre-show room (this was the room on the left) because not only is Tutu ???? an obscure deity, but this isn’t a popular or well-known statue ..read more

While this looks like a small ???? sphinx ???? statue ???? this isn’t just any sphinx ????: his name ?? is Tutu ????! The word “Tutu” in Egyptian can be translated as “Image ???” or “One ??.” The reason I am using the “?” instead of the “?” to write the “w/u” sound is because “?” was used more for Middle/New Egyptian while “?” was used in Late Egyptian! A front view of the limestone statue of Tutu. His inlaid eyes are missing, probably lost in antiquity. Tutu ???? was a late addition to the Egyptian pantheon as his first appearance is around 600 B.C.E., and he became a very popular deity in th ..read more

William and I were lucky enough to attend the Flower and Garden Festival at EPCOT where we got to see all of the beautiful ??? flowers ???? and topiaries! The pictures I am posting are some of my favorites that we saw! We are also going to use this as an opportunity to examine the significance of flowers ???? in ancient Egypt! William with the Winnie the Pooh topiary at EPCOT! When we envision Egypt ????, we usually think of an arid and desert ??? environment. However, flowers ???? were very popular in ancient Egypt ???? and it did have its own beautiful ??? plants ???? that were definite ..read more