BORN OF THE GODS

According to Egyptian mythology, the gods ruled Egypt before the pharaohs. Horus, the last divine ruler on earth, was the son of Osiris and Isis. When Osiris was murdered by his brother Seth, he became lord of the underworld. Seth then attempted to kill his nephew Horus to take the power over Egypt for himself. The figure shows Horus as an infant, fed and protected by his mother, the goddess Isis. On the intricate openwork of the spacer-bead, Isis and Horus are shown hiding from Seth in the marshes of the Nile Delta.

Renenutet was a cobra-headed goddess whose name may be translated as ‘snake who nourishes’. Her role as protector of the pharaoh is shown here by her nursing the infant Thutmose III. By drinking her milk, a liquid connected to purification and resurrection, the king was not only protected but was also directly united with her divine powers.

The divine protection and legitimation of the king took many forms and was provided by countless deities. Identified with Horus, the pharaoh was nursed by Isis and various other goddesses, such as the lioness-headed goddess, perhaps Mut-Sekhmet, shown on this amulet.

The cult of Isis as the ultimate nursing goddess spread beyond Egypt across the Roman Empire. Even within Egypt, her image was adapted and reinterpreted for the newly arrived Greek and Roman worshippers. This figure uses similar imagery to other objects displayed nearby but with new stylistic details such as the fringed shawl draping the goddess.

This spacer-bead was used as a piece of jewellery to separate several strands of beads. Its intricate design shows a pharaoh being purified with water by two gods, probably falcon-headed Horus and ibis-headed Thoth. The water is represented by small signs of ankh (life) and was (power). This scene symbolises the coronation of the pharaoh. The opposite side depicts the sun-god with a falcon head holding a bound enemy, symbolising Egypt’s control over foreign lands.

The sun-god provided the king with life, protection and power. On this fragment, Mentuhotep II is protected by a winged sun-disc flanked by two uraei (rearing cobras) and ankh (life) signs. Only the top of the king’s crown is visible, seen below the sun. The inscription at the bottom right suggests that the king was originally depicted with one of his wives.

Ra was one of the most powerful solar deities worshipped in ancient Egypt. He usually represented the sun at midday. He was also a creator god who was worshipped in the religious centre of Heliopolis, ancient Greek for ‘City of the Sun’. One of the main royal titles of the pharaoh was ‘Son of Ra’, seen on this fragment from the tomb of Sety I, stressing his divine ancestry.

Maat was both a goddess and a concept. As a goddess, she is identified by a single feather on her head. She represents notions of truth, justice and universal order. By making ritual offerings of the goddess Maat to the gods, pharaohs acknowledged their obligation to maintain universal order on earth.

This figure, probably of a king from Kush (modern Sudan), was likely part of a more complex arrangement showing the goddess Maat being presented to one or more gods. The iconography of Maat went beyond the borders of Egypt. This object was found in a region where local rulers adopted many traditional Egyptian beliefs, especially during and after the 25th Dynasty (about 747–656 BCE) when Kushite kings took control of Egypt.

To maintain cosmic stability and balance between the human and divine world, the pharaoh was depicted in most Egyptian temples as offering small figures of the goddess Maat. On the left of this lintel, Thutmose III (about 1479–1425 BCE) presents Maat, depicted sitting on a basket with a feather on her head, to four gods – Amun-Ra, Mut, Khonsu and Hathor. On the right, Amenhotep I (about 1525–1504 BCE) offers two vases to four other gods who are associated with Egypt’s southern border.

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The uraeus is a rearing and spitting cobra. It is commonly depicted on the pharaoh’s brow, protecting him and investing him with its menacing power. The gold ornament on the right, perhaps originally from a piece of furniture, depicts the uraeus with the red crown of Lower Egypt. It may represent the goddess Wadjet, also known as ‘the great enchantress’ and patron of this area.

Osiris, lord of the underworld, was one of the gods thought to have ruled Egypt before the pharaohs. As such, Egyptian kings often identified with him and adopted some of his characteristic symbols, including sceptres. The crook (heka) is a metaphor of the king as a shepherd caring for his flock, and the flail (nekhakha) may represent a fly whisk. Since early on, both were used to symbolise kingship. King Mentuhotep II can be seen holding them in the figure displayed to your right.

Mentuhotep II, who ruled from about 2055 to 2004 BCE, was famous for reuniting Egypt after a long period of trouble and internal wars. He wears the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, which conveys his control over the Two Lands. The fact that this figure was made centuries after Mentuhotep II lived demonstrates the continued respect felt for this pharaoh’s achievements. Cloaked in a white fabric and with a crook and a flail, the king is associated with Osiris, god of the underworld.

Exclusively worn by pharaohs, the nemes is not a crown as such, but a striped and pleated headcloth pulled into a tail at the back. Here, Senusret III wears a nemes with the uraeus (rearing cobra) on his brow. Although royal sculptures were symbolic rather than realistic, facial features could be meaningful. The large ears of this statue convey the king’s listening qualities.

Mentuhotep VI, who reigned two centuries after Senusret III, also wears a nemes headcloth with the uraeus (rearing cobra) on his forehead. By the time Mentuhotep VI lived, Egypt had been divided into smaller regions, each governed by a local ruler. About fifty kings are known to have ruled over 150 years. Despite the troubled period and a loss of artistic expertise, this statuette was carefully sculpted with most of the traditional stylistic features usually found in royal statuary.

These two heads belonged to statues of unidentified kings. Stylistically, one can be attributed to an Egyptian king of the New Kingdom, possibly Amenhotep II, and the other to a Greek king of the Ptolemaic Period. Despite the thousand years that separated them, both were depicted wearing the same nemes headcloth with the uraeus (rearing cobra) on their brow. Foreign kings largely adopted these traditional Egyptian symbols to appeal to local people.

Probably originally gilded, this fragment of a statue might represent Shabaqo, a pharaoh of Kushite origin. Pharaohs from Kush (in modern Sudan) ruled Egypt for several decades, after its conquest in about 747 BCE. On top of his nemes headcloth, the pharaoh wears a double uraeus, a feature adopted by the Kushite rulers. Egyptian traditions remained an important element of Kushite culture long after they ceased to control Egypt.

An ostracon is a broken fragment of stone or pottery used by draughtsmen to sketch details of a larger composition. This ostracon shows the pharaoh making a libation (a liquid offering) to the gods. The drawing has been made in red ink, which was often used for a first sketch and later amended with black ink. On the reverse is a drawing of a king’s head.

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Amenhotep III (about 1390–1352 BCE) and Queen Tiy are shown in front of food and floral offerings, seated below the rays of the sun-god Aten. Amenhotep III, commemorated after his death during the reign of his son Akhenaten, wears the blue crown and other royal regalia. This stela was found in Amarna, a city founded by Akhenaten in Middle Egypt, in the house of a man called Panehsy, and it was probably placed in his family shrine.

Each royal crown carried specific symbolism. This crown, known as khepresh, is emblematic of Amenhotep III, who is regularly represented wearing it. It was often called the blue crown after the colour found on some examples, and it would have been worn for specific ritual occasions, often appearing in depictions of military victories.

Pamy, a little-known pharaoh of the 22nd Dynasty, belonged to a family of Libyan descent. The fact that he mainly reigned over the Delta (Lower Egypt) did not prevent him from wearing the white crown, a symbol of Upper Egypt. The kneeling figure holds two pots, probably meant to contain wine or water as an offering. Perhaps they were intended for the gods Amun or Bastet, whose names are inscribed on Pamy’s shoulders.

With its colours vividly preserved, this relief shows Mentuhotep II wearing typical royal regalia. These include the red crown of Lower Egypt and a curved beard, as well as the bull’s tail, a symbol of power, strapped around his waist. A swallow, associated with the sun, is visible at the front of the kilt. The king is embraced by the god Montu, whose partial figure can be recognised from the sun-disc above his head. An unexplained puzzle is the one too many hands on the king’s shoulder: was it a mistake originally hidden under a layer of plaster?