![]() In ‘The Great Hymn to the Aten’, from the reign of the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten (c.1350-35 BC), the pharaoh’s wife Nefertiti is described as ‘living and youthful for ever and ever’. They desiccated their bodies for use in the afterlife and built pyramids – ‘resurrection machines’ – that would ensure the pharaoh had eternal life by transfiguring him into a star, living on in the night sky forever.Īncient Egyptian literature often suggests a similar ethos. The lone and level sands stretch far away.Īncient Egyptian religion is, in these terms, a naive and narcissistic effort to deny the inexorable predation of time, which strives instead for immortality. Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare ![]() Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! Shelley’s Ozymandias, describing an inscription on a shattered, ancient statue, captures this in its coda: Condition: Some chips and scratches basically good.Ancient Egypt is commonly believed to have been a society enthralled by the notion of eternal life. ![]() 4 gods of Dead, 2 with panels on feet with jackals. Shrine with boat of Sokar Clairis 6 small panels on lower legs: 2 with winged crowned vultures, 2 cont. Ded symbol of Osiris with human head and arms (before him headdress of Amon-Re?) with Horus flanked by winged genii and sacred eyes. At foot is Anubis also with his symbol - 4 sons of Horus seated in corners with knives. Isis and Nephthys kneel on stools of similar patterns placed at head and feet. Mummy with beard on a bris under a catafalque both elaborately decorated. by clocked borders with 3 rows of imitation of stone inlay of wedge shaped units that sometimes adorned expensive coffins, at ends of which are either 4 gods of Dead or 2 winged genii Center - the symbol of Abydos - a primitive fetish who originally was composed of a wig up on a pole with 2 feathers on top as a headdress, flanked on both sides by winged uraei, 2 figures of Osiris and Isis, 4 sons of Horus standing, 2 on either side. Inner coffin: Small panels with gods - minor spirits, some unnamed - and demons, some of them accompanied by symbols for identification - separated by bands of conventional clocked pattern. Decorated with figures of various deities, etc. ![]() PROVENANCE Archaeological provenance not yet documented, probably from Thebes, Egypt by 1852, collected in Egypt by Henry Abbott of Cairo, Egypt and New York, NY 1859, purchased from Henry Abbott by the New-York Historical Society, New York, NY 1937, loaned by the New-York Historical Society to the Brooklyn Museum 1948, purchased from the New-York Historical Society by the Brooklyn Museum.ĬATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Cartonnage, with mummy, of a man. MEDIUM Linen, pigment, gesso, human remainsĭIMENSIONS 69 1/2 x 18 x 13 in. ![]() For instance, among the animal-headed deities depicted in a vertical line on either side of this mummy case, the falcon head symbolizes swiftness and keen eyesight, while the cow-headed deity is nurturing and protective. The role of each god in protecting the mummified individual and facilitating rebirth is exemplified by the animal head used to illustrate them. Various gods represented on a mummy case (or cartonnage) assisted in the transition to the afterlife. The ancient Egyptians believed that preserving a human body through mummification allowed the person’s spirit to enter the afterlife. ![]()
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