Sarcophagus of Psamtik-Seneb
Late Period, Dynasty 26, 664-525 B.C.E.
Egyptian
Gray schist
71.2254
Carved of stone, alabaster, or another highly durable material, the sarcophagus served as the protective outer receptacle for the mummy, with the wooden coffin (or several layers of coffins) nested inside it. Such elaborate and costly burial boxes were typically reserved for the elite.
When this sarcophagus was unearthed in a tomb near Cairo in 1931, the burial chamber contained alabaster canopic jars (to hold the deceased's organs) and numerous shabties, additional signs that the deceased had been a wealthy man in life. By then the sarcophagus had already been opened and emptied by tomb robbers.
The hieroglyphs on the sarcophagus identify the deceased as Psamtik-Seneb, "the scorpion charmer." In ancient Egypt, scorpion charmers were healers who treated scorpion stings and snakes bites, a crucial job in a land where venomous insects and animals constantly threatened men and cattle. The pharaohs themselves had scorpion charmers in their service and included them on royal expeditions to safeguard against snake and insect bites.
Sekhmet
Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep III, 1390-1353 B.C.E.
Egyptian
Diorite (stone)
71.2253
The lion-headed Sekhmet, “the Powerful,” was the deadly handmaiden of the sun god Re. Sent by Re to punish his enemies, she unleashed a massacre so bloody that the god himself had to intervene to stop it. As the goddess of vengeance and human calamity—war, disease, plague—she required appeasement to keep her powers in check.
This imposing Sekhmet was one of hundreds of similar statues of the goddess that King Amenhotep III commissioned for his funerary temple on the western shore of the Nile at Thebes. (Two towering statues of Amenhotep, known as the Colossi of Memnon, are virtually all that remain at this site, as shown in the nineteenth-century painting of them on view nearby.) Perhaps the pharaoh desired a statue for every day of the year to insure full protection against Sekhmet’s evil forces both in life and death.
As Amenhotep’s temple decayed, later kings like Sheshonq I moved many of the statues to Karnak, the principal temple of the god Amun at Thebes. This is where the Chrysler’s Sekhmet was found, its hieroglyphs recut to honor Sheshonq and his devotion to Amun. The hieroglyphs on the sculpture can be translated thus: The king of Upper and Lower Egypt, the Lord of the Two Lands, Hedjkheperre Setepenre [=Brilliantis- Re’s-Transformation, The-Chosen-of-Re] The son of Re, the Master of Appearances, Sheshonq Mery-Amun [=Sheshonq The-Beloved-of-Amun]
Shrine sculpture
Third Intermediate Period - Late Period, Dynasty 25-26, 730-525 B.C.E.
Egyptian
Limestone
71.2255
The naos, or inner chamber, was the most sacred precinct within an Egyptian temple. The main statue of the temple's god resided there, housed within a stone enclosure set with wooden doors. Only the pharaoh and the first priest were allowed to approach the naos and open its doors. This modest sculpture reproduces a naos in miniature and would likely have been placed as a votive shrine in a small, private tomb. The shrine was dedicated to Osiris, god of the dead, who is depicted within holding a whip and wearing his atef-crown set with two tall feathers.
Comments