Amenhotep III’s reign saw the production of over 200 commemorative scarabs, much larger than the ones we associate with mummies or as amulets. There are various categories of scarab  and theycan be classified  under five headings as follows: 1)The lion hunt (capturing 102 lions) 2)The queen and her parents (sometimes called the ‘limits of the Egyptian Empire’) 3)The

“That, like an engine, wrench’d my frame of nature” King Lear Act 1 scene IV It was perhaps inevitable that Isambard Kingdom Brunel (after IKB) would visit Egypt,  after all, that is where, somewhere around 60CE in Alexandria  a certain Greek called Hero or Heron invented the steam engine (Fig 1)  to open temple doors

This blog is dedicated to fellow travellers in the Kemet Klub Hieroglyphs group.  ‘The dead cannot tell us that we have misunderstood them …’ (Richard Parkinson) The “puzzle” I explore is why the ancient Egyptians had two words for ‘heart’ – ib and HAty – and why it is often implied an individual had both. 

This centenary of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb has given us fine illustrations and analysis of what we regard as its most remarkable artefacts.  Tutankhamun’s gold mask and gilded coffins are fabulous and breathtaking to our sensibilities.  But our own cultural awe at the extensive use of gold in these iconic objects overshadows the presence

Sometimes tiny objects pack an outsized punch, and that is the case with this intricately modeled glass finial that anciently menaced from the end of a flywhisk/whip. Whip/whisk handle of pharaonic lion subjugating a Nubian Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Accession Number: 1989.281.92 A prestige item of this type would have

Among the 5000 or so objects found by Howard Carter in Tutankhamun’s tomb there are two that I find to be somewhat interesting and puzzling. The photographs below (figures 1 to 3) were part of a collection taken by Harry Burton as a record of all the items found in the tomb together with hand-written

A press release from the Supreme Council of Antiquities on 17th March 2022 announced the discovery of 5 tombs dating to the Old Kingdom/First Intermediate period. The tombs were discovered by a team of Egyptian archaeologists who were personally thanked by Dr Khaled Anani when he was guided around the site by head of mission, Dr