Sceptre

Sceptre

Place of origin:

Egypt (made)

Date:

ca. 1425 BC (made)

Materials and Techniques:

Turquoise-glazed crushed quartz composition known as faience. This same term is used for much later French tin-glazed earthenware but it is not at all the same material. The quartz composition is best-suited to modelling and moulding, and was invented in Egypt or Mesopotamia. It was probably a by-product of stone-working rather than potting. First used to make beads from about 4000 B.C., it was later used for amulets, figures of various sizes, vessels, tiles and other object types. Faience was glazed long before glaze was used on pottery - the latter only developed about 1600BC. Faience glaze is transparent and formed of alkali silicates (silica, soda, potash lime). It was first coloured only with copper oxide to form blues and greens emulating semi-precious stones such as turquoise, lapis lazuli and azurite but under the New Kingdom, other mineral oxides such as antimony, lead and cobalt were sometimes added to give other colours.

Credit Line:

Given by H.M. Kennard, Esq. (through Prof. Flinders Petrie, University College, London)

Museum number:

437-1895

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O131268/sceptre/

Uas (ritual sceptre or staff) of turquoise-glazed composition or faience. Decoration consists of vertical bands, pear-shaped dots and diaper ornament on the arms, all in manganese, and a central vertical inscription in hieroglyphics which is the full titulary of Amenhotep II (Greek: Amenophis II, reigned 1427-1400 B.C.). Two cartouches also bear his name. The animal head probably represents the god Seth as the uas was found in a temple dedicated to him. The arms are broken off at the elbows but their acute angle suggests that they might originally have held a standard or have been raised in adoration. The stem terminates in vestigial legs.

Materials and Techniques

Turquoise-glazed crushed quartz composition known as faience. This same term is used for much later French tin-glazed earthenware but it is not at all the same material. The quartz composition is best-suited to modelling and moulding, and was invented in Egypt or Mesopotamia. It was probably a by-product of stone-working rather than potting. First used to make beads from about 4000 B.C., it was later used for amulets, figures of various sizes, vessels, tiles and other object types. Faience was glazed long before glaze was used on pottery - the latter only developed about 1600BC. Faience glaze is transparent and formed of alkali silicates (silica, soda, potash lime). It was first coloured only with copper oxide to form blues and greens emulating semi-precious stones such as turquoise, lapis lazuli and azurite but under the New Kingdom, other mineral oxides such as antimony, lead and cobalt were sometimes added to give other colours.

Marks and inscriptions

Aa.kheperu.ra, Amenhetep (Cartouche I). Neter.heq.uast (Cartouche II). Horus, Strong Bull, Possessor of Might, Heir of the Two Ladies i.e. the patron goddesses of the north and south, crowned in Thebes…King of the North and South, Ankheperura Son of the Sun, Amenhotep, Divine Ruler of Thebes, May he live like Ra for ever! (central vertical inscription, translated

Relief from a private tomb at Saqqara

Relief from a private tomb at Saqqara, reused in the Serapeum. A jubilation scene, probably from a funeral procession, it depicts a group of women dancing and drumming opposite rows of soldiers, priests, and dignitaries. Country of Origin: Egypt. Culture: Ancient Egyptian. Date/Period: New Kingdom,19th dynasty,c.1290 BC. Material Size: Limestone l = 1.05 m. Credit Line: Werner Forman Archive/ Egyptian Museum, Cairo . Location: 82.

The scepter of Egypt

The scepter of Egypt


Preface
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Chronological Table
I. The Land of Egypt
II. Prehistoric Egypt
Periods, Cultures, and Principal Sites of Egyptian Prehistory
1. Palaeolithic Man in the Nile Valley
2. The Mesolithic Period, or Middle Stone Age
3. The Neolithic Period, or Late Stone Age
4. The Cultures of the Chalcolithic Period
5. The Badarian Civilization
6. The Predynastic Culture of Upper Egypt
7. The Predynastic Culture of Lower Egypt
8. The Cultural Domination of the North during the Middle Predynastic Period
9. The Political and Religious Development of Egypt in the Predynastic Period
10. The Late Predynastic Period
III. The Early Dynastic Period
Kings of the Early Dynastic Period
1. Sources, Chronology, and Periods of Ancient Egyptian History
2. The Written Language of Ancient Egypt
3. Inscribed Monuments of the Early Dynastic Period
4. Seals and Seal Impressions
5. The Calendars and the Methods of Dating
6. Arts and Crafts under the Early Dynasties
IV. The Architecture of Ancient Egypt
Its Origins and Early Developments
1. Dwellings
2. Temples
3. Tombs
4. Military Architecture
V. The Old Kingdom
Kings of the Old Kingdom
1. King Djoser, the Sage I-em-hotep, and the Third Dynasty
2. The Fourth Dynasty
3. The Pyramid Builders
4. Royal Monuments of the Fourth Dynasty
5. The Fifth Dynasty
VI. The Religion and Funerary Beliefs of Ancient Egypt
1. Religion
2. Funerary Beliefs and Funerary Literature
VII. Courtiers, Officials, and Priests of the Old Kingdom
1. Their Tombs and Tomb Reliefs
2. The Priestess of Hat-Hor Ny-Óonekhy-Udôt
3. The Chamberlain Pery-nêb
4. Prince R&eactue;-em-kuy
5. The Judge Ny-kû-Hor and His Wife, Sekhem-Hat-Hor
6. The Overseer of the Granary Kuy-em-snêwy and the Judge Wer-djed-Ptah
7. Upper Egyptian Notables: Provincial Tomb Reliefs of the Late Old Kingdom
8. Tomb Statues and Statuettes
9. Tomb and Household Equipment
10. Biographical Inscriptions and Didactic Treatises
VII. The Sixth Dynasty and the End of the Old Kingdom
IX. The First Intermediate Period
Kings of the First Intermediate Period
1. The State of the Land
2. The Dynasties of Memphis
3. Seals and Seal Amulets of the First Intermediate Period
4. Scarab Seals
5. The Dynasties of Herakleopolis
6. Tomb Reliefs and Pottery Vessels of the Herakleopolian Period
7. The Nomarchs of Thebes
X. The Middle Kingdom: I. The Eleventh Dynasty
Kings of the Middle Kingdom: I
1. The Early Kings
2. Montu-hopte II and the Supremacy of Thebes
3. The Tomb and Mortuary Temple of the King
4. The Harîm of King Neb-hepet-Rê:' Montu-hotpe
5. The Court of King Neb-hepet-Rê:' Montu-hotpe
6. King Se'ankh-ku-Rê' Montu-hotpe III and His Chancellor, Meket-Rê'
7. The end of the Eleventh Dynasty
XI. The Middle Kingdom: II. The Twelfth Dynasty
Kings of the Middle Kingdom: II
1. King Sehetep-yeb-Rê' Amun-em-hêt I
2. King Kheper-ku-Rê' Se'n-Wosret I
3. The Pyramid and Funerary Enclosure of Se'n-Wosret I at el Lisht
4. The Successors of Se'n-Wosret I
5. Thebes during the Twelfth Dynasty
XII. The People of the Middle Kingdom and Their Personal Possessions
1. The Nature of the Material
2. Men and Women of the Middle Kingdom: Statues and Statuettes
3. Concubines, Dwarfs, Peasants, Servants, and Animals: Small Figures of Wood, Faience, Ivory, Stone, and Other Materials
4. Jewelry
5. Dress, Coiffure, and Make-up
6. Musical Instruments of the Middle Kingdom
7. Knife-Shaped Amulets of Ivory
8. Games
XIII. The Home, the Farm, and the River
1. The House and Its Furnishings
2. The Country Estate and Its Activities
3. Boating on the Nile and on the Rivers of the Hereafter
XIV. Professions and Crafts of the Middle Kingdom
1. The Soldier and His Weapons
2. Slaves and Scepters
3. Tools of the Middle Kingdom Craftsmen
4. Writing Materials: The Equipment of the Egyptian Scribe
5. Weights and Measures
6. The Autobiography of an Egyptian Official
XV. Burial Customs and Funerary Art
1. The Burial of the Estate Manager Wah
2. The Tomb of the House Mistress Senebtîsy
3. Funerary Jewelry
4. Mummy Masks and Anthropoid Coffins
5. Rectangular Coffins and Sarcophagi of the Eleventh and Twelfth Dynasties
6. Canopic Equipment
7. Mummiform Statuettes ("Shawabtys")
8. Funerary Stelae of the Eleventh and Twelfth Dynasties
9. Offering Tables and Related Objects
XVI. The Decline and Fall of the Middle Kingdom
Kings of the Late Middle Kingdom
1. The Thirteenth Dynasty
2. Stelae, Coffins, and Other Works of Art and Craftsmanship Produced during the Thirteenth Dynasty
3. The Fourteenth Dynasty
4. The End of the Middle Kingdom
Bibliography
Indexes of Proper Names
A. Egyptian Kings
B. Egyptian Personal Names (Other Than Those of Kings)
C. Divinities
D. Geographic and Ethnic Names

http://www.metmuseum.org/…/the_scepter_of_egypt_vol_1_from_…

Glazed composition amulet

Museum number

EA54412

Description

Full: Front

Glazed composition amulet: this mould-made amulet is in the shape of an 'ankh'-sign. Superimposed in raised relief on its front are three other hieroglyphic symbols: a 'was'-sceptre placed on the pillar-like 'djed'-sign, and the kneeling figure of the heh

© The Trustees of the British Museum

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?assetId=1476758001&objectId=116250&partId=1

Rishi coffins -Louvre

Rishi coffins of two 17th Dynasty pharaohs, Sekhemre-Heruhirmaat Intef (left) and Sekhemre-Wepmaat Intef (right).

Couvercle et cercueil d'un roi Antef (Sékhemrê Hérouhermaât). 17e dynastie

Louvre

Glass snake-thread flask shaped like a mouse

Glass snake-thread flask shaped like a mouse

Period:Late ImperialDate:3rd century A.D.Culture:RomanMedium:Glass, blue; blown, tooled, and trailedDimensions:Other: 2 1/2 x 2 x 5 3/4 in. (6.3 x 5.1 x 14.6 cm) Diameter: 1 1/16 in. (2.7 cm)Classification:Glass

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/257875

Translucent cobalt blue, with same color added head, ears, eyes, feet, and snake-thread decoration.

Rounded and thickened rim; funnel-shaped, elongated neck with tooling marks around base; misshapen piriform body, with separate large blob of glass (solid?) applied to rounded bottom of body.

The neck has been turned upwards to appear like the mouse’s tail; added to the body of the vessel to create the animal are four separate tooled trails for the feet and for the head a large blob that has been drawn out to make a pointed nose; ears and eyes have also been added to the head; the body is further decorated with snake-thread trails, all flattened and notched, in the form of two long-necked, thin-legged birds, one on the animal’s back, the other on his belly between his feet, interspersed with foliage comprising tendrils and ivy leaves; a plain spiral trail is wound twice around the lower part of the neck.

Broken and repaired, with small losses to body below head and part of spiral trail on neck is missing. Dulling and iridescent weathering.

Snake-thread is a term used by modern scholars to describe the distinctive type of trailed decoration that is found on this mouse-shaped flask. The trails have been applied in an irregular pattern and then tooled with hatching. Both the shape and the deep blue color of the flask are most unusual.