the hidden life of
ancient Egypt
decoding the secrets of a lost world
clare gibson
96 The Ancient Egyptian World
Throne from the Tomb of Tutankhamun c.1370–52 bc (Eighteenth Dynasty, New Kingdom) Gold, Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Cairo, Egypt
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number of exquisitely made pieces of furniture were discovered in Tutankhamun’s tomb, including this ornate throne, whose back—seen here—explicitly links it with the young pharaoh (and see pages 40 to 42 for another). Its gilded surfaces and colorful inlays of semiprecious stones and glass attest to its preciousness even during the king’s lifetime, but perhaps of even greater significance to us today is the languorous, relaxed style in which Tutankhamun and his wife, Ankhesenamun, are depicted. This style is in marked contrast to the rigid representations of most earlier and later pharaohs, but is similar to portrayals of Pharaoh Akhenaten and his family. The erstwhile Amenhotep IV was responsible for many revolutionary changes during the period of his kingship, most notably the decree that the Aten, the divine sun disk, should be the only god worshiped in Egypt (and the pharaoh accordingly changed his name to Akhenaten, or “Beneficial to the Aten”). Another must have been concerned with how the royal person was depicted, but scholars can only speculate about the reasons why Akhenaten demanded these rather radical readjustments (radical, that is, in the context of typically extremely formal Egyptian artistic convention). His brother ruled briefly after Akhenaten’s death, followed by Tutankhamun, who was about eight when he became pharaoh, and who died in his late teens. Tutankhamun was probably Akhenaten’s son by his wife Kiya, and while Ankhesenamun had the same father, her mother was Nefertiti, making the royal couple half-siblings. Tutankhamun reversed Akhenaten’s religious reforms before his untimely death, returning Egypt to polytheism, but certain details of the gilded throne—not least the central Aten —suggest that it was made either when Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun were still called Tutankhaten and Ankhesenpaaten (“Her Life is Aten”), in deference to their father’s wishes, or when Egypt was still in a transitional, Akhenaten-influenced period. This naturalistically rendered, intimate scene is also typical of the Amarna style established by Akhenaten (Amarna equating to Akhetaten, “Horizon of the Aten,” the city founded by Akhenaten), as are the rather feminine-looking proportions of Tutankhamun’s body. See also Relief of Aten, Akhenaten and Nefertiti (pages 72 to 75).
The disk-and-bird and beeand-sedge hieroglyphs above the two cartouches by the seated figure indicate that this is Tutankhamun, and that the cartouches respectively contain his nomen, or birth name, and prenomen, or throne name.
The young king’s original birth name was Tutankhaten, which means “The Living Image of Aten,” before being changed to Tutankhamun, or “The Living Image of Amun,” while his throne name can be translated as “Lord of the Manifestations of Re” (see also page 42 and page 65).
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Six uraei, each distinguished by a sun disk, are stationed protectively on Tutankhamun’s triple-atef (or hemhem) crown.
The crown would have been adorned with six sun disks, had one not been lost, giving this elaborate headdress powerful solar connotations.
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Although partially obscured, the decorative pattern that can be seen beneath Tutankhamun’s seat and between the chair legs is based on the sematawy symbol that proclaims the “unity of the two lands,” or the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the pharaoh’s rule (see page 81). This symbol was often included at the base of royal or divine thrones in Egyptian art (for another example, see page 53). The king’s right hand has been depicted with the thumb on the wrong side, effectively giving him two left hands. Egyptologists do not believe that Tutankhamun’s right hand was like this in life, and, indeed, this anomaly is not that unusual in portrayals of ancient Egyptian pharaohs, although it is not clear why this was the case, or whether it had any symbolic significance. That said, it may have had something to do with the feminized, Amarna style, and with the passive part that the king plays in this charming scene, for the right hand was thought to embody the active, masculine principle, and the left hand, the reverse.
The Aten is defended by its own uraeus. The hands that can be seen at the end of the sun rays emanating from the Aten symbolically bestow sunshine, life, and divine blessings upon the royal couple below. It is not clear exactly what the ornamental object displayed on a stand next to the queen is, but it may be a flattenedout jeweled collar similar to the magnificent examples worn by the king and queen. It may also be significant that its shape echoes that of the shen ring, a symbol of eternity and protection. The inclusion of a lotus here is probably a largely symbolic touch, for the lotus represented birth (and resurrection), as well as beauty.
Ankhesenamun’s crown consists of a pair of ostrich plumes, at the base of which is a large solar disk. The tall cow’s horns that enclose this stately confection are a symbolic link between the queen and such great mother goddesses as Hathor and Isis.
The shape of the vessel (a symbol of femininity) held by Ankhesenamun echoes that of the lotus flower to the right of her left shoulder. It seems that the bowl contains an unguent—sweetly perfumed, no doubt —and that the queen is in the process of tenderly anointing her husband’s skin with it. Ankhesenamun’s legs are visible through the almost transparent pleats of her fine linen gown.
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Detail of the Second Mummiform Coffin of Tutankhamun c.1370–52 bc (Eighteenth Dynasty, New Kingdom) Wood with sheet gold inlaid with semiprecious stones, Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Cairo, Egypt
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lthough elements of this striking representation of Pharaoh Tutankhamun are symbolically concerned with his death, the portrait of the king that stares out at us from one of his coffins gives us an excellent idea of what the ruler of Egypt would have looked like in life, that is, when arrayed in full ceremonial finery. For in this upper-body section of the coffin we can see many items ––such as the crook-and-flail scepters and the nemes headdress––that recur time and time again in images of Egyptian pharaohs, but never in depictions of ordinary mortals. And while the king’s stiff pose can be partly attributed to a coffin’s requirements and limitations, this representation’s similarity to equally formally posed portrayals of other pharaohs in nonfunerary contexts, along with the king’s finely modeled, lifelike features, enable us to be reasonably certain that Tutankhamun would have looked much like this while the focus of an ancient Egyptian sacred ritual. That said, even though this particular king died in his late teens, his features will have been idealized, adding to the sense that we are looking at a royal figurehead rather than an individual personality, an impression that is reinforced when we compare this image with the more informal, throne-back portrayal of Tutankhamun and his wife (see pages 96 to 98). This is the second of a nest of three coffins that was discovered inside the stone sarcophagus in Tutankhamun’s tomb. All are mummiform, or anthropoid, in shape, in reference to the mummified body of Osiris, the divine ruler of the underworld, and it is the dead pharaoh’s identification with the god that explains his curved beard and his crossed and tightly swaddled arms. While this, the middle coffin, and the larger one that enveloped it are made of wood covered in gold foil and inlaid with semiprecious stones, glass, and faience, the coffin that it in turn enclosed is made of pure, hammered gold, and it is this that came into direct contact with the young king’s mummified corpse, and with the golden mask that covered his face. See also Breastplate Depicting Osiris, God of the Afterworld (pages 58 to 61).
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The pharaoh is wearing a nemes headdress, one of the royal headdresses. It was made of striped, stiffened linen, the ends being entwined at the back to form a neat bulge. The overall effect rather resembled a lion’s mane.
A vulture’s head and rearing cobra (uraeus) are positioned side by side above the king’s forehead, gazing out at the viewer. The vulture represents the goddess Nekhbet, and Upper Egypt, while the uraeus is equated with the goddess Wadjet, and Lower Egypt. As well as being the pharaoh’s personal protectors, these “two ladies” together symbolize the unity of Egypt’s “two lands.” (See also pages 58 to 61.) False, strap-on beards were worn by living pharaohs on ceremonial occasions. The curved end of the plaited beard that adorns Tutankhamun’s effigy signals that he has become a god like Osiris.
Eye makeup was worn by the members of both sexes in ancient Egypt. The lavish layer of kohl outlining the king’s eyes would therefore not have been untypical, ground green malachite also being a popular eyeenhancer. As well as looking eye-catchingly attractive, wearing makeup was thought to protect the eyes from potential damage caused by both the sun’s glare and ocular infections (see also page 133).
There are a number of reasons why gold was used to encase the pharaoh’s mummy. Firstly, its beauty, rarity, and costliness reflected the king’s exalted status at the pinnacle of the Egyptian social structure. Secondly, because it was considered to be indestructible, its practical and symbolic use in the king’s burial was appropriate, for the pharaoh, it was believed, would be reborn after death and would then live on for eternity. And, thirdly, gold proclaimed the king’s perceived divinity, for the flesh of the sun god Re was thought to consist of this shining, golden metal.
The crook and flail were important components of the Egyptian royal regalia.
Dating back to the days when the ancient Egyptians were nomads who drove their cattle and other livestock ahead of them, the crook symbolized control and rulership, while the flail denoted power and authority.
A pair of decorative, outspread wings stretches protectively from one of the king’s upper arms to the other. The wings that adorn this coffin (some of which are out of sight in this image) belong to Nekhbet and Wadjet, who may in turn be symbolically linked with the goddess Isis, who played a vital part in resurrecting her husband Osiris from the dead, and their sister Nephthys (see pages 58 to 61).
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Nefertari Playing Senet c.1297–1185 bc (Nineteenth Dynasty, New Kingdom) Detail of a wall painting from the tomb of Queen Nefertari, Valley of the Queens, Thebes, Egypt
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he hieroglyphic inscription to the right of the elegant lady in this detail informs us that she is “Osiris the Great Royal Wife, Mistress of the Two Lands Nefertari, justified before Osiris the great god.” The scene is painted on a wall of her tomb, Nefertari’s name being linked with that of Osiris in a phrase hopefully implying that the wife of Pharaoh Ramesses II had passed muster in the god’s hall of judgment to become one with Osiris in the next world. Like many tomb paintings, the vignette shown here may ultimately be concerned with ensuring that Nefertari lived on after death, but in the process it also gives us a fascinating insight into how this New Kingdom Egyptian queen looked and lived during her lifetime. Nefertari is depicted apparently at leisure, playing senet, the most popular board game in ancient Egypt. In many respects, senet resembled the game of checkers that we still play today, with two players vying with one another to be the first to advance one of their five or seven pieces from one end to the other across a checkerboard (in senet’s case, a long, rectangular one comprising three rows of ten squares). Senet seems to have been similar to snakes and ladders, too, in that the throwing of knucklebones or sticks—the ancient Egyptian equivalent of dice—determined how many squares could be crossed at a time, with certain squares incorporating elements of good or bad luck. That Nefertari is apparently without an opponent, the links between the scenes in her tomb and Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead (in which senet is mentioned), that the word senet means “passing,” and the common inclusion of senet boards and pieces in ancient Egyptian tombs together make a compelling case for the game also having profound symbolic significance in representing the passage of the deceased through the underworld, the prize for reaching the “other side” being immortality. See also The Gods Osiris and Atum (pages 52 to 55).
A golden vulture appears to cover Nefertari’s head with its body. The bird represents Mut, a goddess of motherhood who was worshiped in Thebes as the wife of the creator god Amun and the mother of Khons (or Khonsu), a moon god.
This headdress—which supports a pair of tall plumes and a sun disk in portrayals of Nefertari elsewhere in her tomb (see, for example, pages 66 to 68)—therefore explicitly links the queen with Mut and the principle of divine motherhood, and consequently also with the goddesses Nekhbet (see pages 58 to 61) and Isis.
Although it is important to remember that ancient Egyptians were presented as idealized versions of their actual selves in tomb portraits, the honors that her husband showered upon his favorite wife—including a temple dedicated to her in Abu Simbel—lead us to believe that Nefertari must have been a spectacularly beautiful woman.
And she certainly presents an attractive sight here, with her svelte, long-legged figure being visible through the transparent folds of her pleated gown, and her luxurious golden adornments drawing attention to her black hair and smooth skin. The staff that Nefertari holds in her right hand is a sekhem scepter. This symbolizes her authority and importance as a queen of Egypt (sekhem means “might” or “power”).
The pattern that decorates the side of Nefertari’s throne is reminiscent of the serekh, or palace, hieroglyph, signaling that this is a royal seat (see also page 42).
Ancient Egyptian inscriptions should be read from top to bottom, and from either the left or the right, depending on the direction in which the hieroglyphic figures are pointing.
In this case, they are facing toward the right, which means that this eye (the first of three hieroglyphs representing “Osiris”) is the starting point. Nefertari’s hand hovers over the senet board as she considers her next move in her quest to pass over safely into the afterlife. It may be that certain gods are on her side, and that her opponents are the demons that make the underworld such a perilous place.
The vulture hieroglyph in the cartouche (shenu) proclaiming the queen’s name and epithet— “Nefertari, Beloved of Mut”— emphasizes the special connection that was believed to exist between Nefertari and Mut. The suggestion that the queen’s excellent qualities as a mother had earned her Mut’s affection may also be inferred, not least because the vulture hieroglyph forms the basis of words that spell out both “Mut” and “mother.”
That the birdlike figure on the right is Nefertari’s ba (or the spiritual essence of her personality that has been liberated by death from her body, see page 44) is confirmed by their identical facial features and by the vulture-skin crown that the ba is wearing.