Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre

Crypt of the Sphinx, Room 1 of the Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre

The Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre of Paris, comprising over 50,000 pieces,[1] includes artifacts from the Nile civilizations which date from 4,000 BC to the 4th century.[2] The collection, among the world's largest, overviews Egyptian life spanning Ancient Egypt, the Middle Kingdom, the New Kingdom, Coptic art, and the Roman, Ptolemaic, and Byzantine periods.[2]

History

The department's origins lie in the royal collection, but it was augmented by Napoleon's 1798 expeditionary trip with Dominique Vivant, the future director of the Louvre.[1] After Jean-François Champollion translated the Rosetta Stone, Charles X decreed that an Egyptian Antiquities department be created. Champollion advised the purchase of three collections, formed by Edmé-Antoine Durand, Henry Salt and Bernardino Drovet; these additions added 7,000 works. Growth continued via acquisitions by Auguste Mariette, founder of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Mariette, after excavations at Memphis, sent back crates of archaeological finds including The Seated Scribe.[1][3]

Rooms of the Egyptian Antiquities Department

Guarded by the Large Sphinx (c. 2000 BC), the collection is housed in around 30  rooms. Holdings include art, papyrus scrolls, mummies, tools, clothing, jewelry, games, musical instruments, and weapons.[1][2] Pieces from the ancient period include the Gebel el-Arak Knife from 3400 BC, The Seated Scribe, and the Head of King Djedefre. Middle Kingdom art, "known for its gold work and statues", moved from realism to idealization; this is exemplified by the schist statue of Amenemhatankh and the wooden Offering Bearer. The New Kingdom and Coptic Egyptian sections are deep, but the statue of the goddess Nephthys and the limestone depiction of the goddess Hathor demonstrate New Kingdom sentiment and wealth.[2][3]

Rooms of the department are as follows:

  • 1. Crypt of the sphinx.
  • 2. Vestibule.
  • 3. The Nile River.
  • 4. Field labour. The mastaba.
  • 5. Animal husbandry, hunting and fishing.
  • 6. Writing and scribes.
  • 7. Materials and techniques.
  • 8. The home and furniture.
  • 9. Jewels, clothing, and body care.
  • 10. Leisure: Music and games.
  • 11. The forecourt of the temple.
  • 12. The temple.
  • 13. Crypt of Osiris. The royal tomb.
  • 14. Sarcophagi.
  • 15. The mummy. Embalming and burial.
  • 16. Tombs.
  • 17. The Book of dead. L'équipement funéraire.
  • 18. Gods and magic.
  • 19. Animals and the gods.
  • 20. Naqaqa period. The end of prehistory
  • 21. Thinite period. The first two dynasties.
  • 22. The Old Kingdom. Seated Scribe.
  • 23. The Middle Kingdom.
  • 24. The New Kingdom.
  • 25. The New Kingdom: the period of Akhenaton and Nefertiti.
  • 26. The New Kingdom: Tutankhamun and his successors.
  • 27. The New Kingdom: The period of Ramses.
  • 28. The New Kingdom: The period of Ramses. Princes and courtisans.
  • 29. The Third Intermediate Period. The Saite period. The beginnings of Persian domination.
  • 30. From the last Egyptian Pharaohs to Cleopatra. The Nectenebos, Alexander the Great, and the Ptolemy dynasty. A: Roman Egypt. B: Coptic Egypt. C: The room Baouit.

Notable artifacts

Notable artifacts are as follows:[4]

  • Akhenaton and Nefertiti sculpture
  • Amenophis IV sculpture
  • Amulet belonging to Paser
  • Angle harp
  • Annals of Thutmosis III
  • Aphrodite Anadyomene
  • Bas-relief of Prince Khaemwaset
  • Apis Bull
  • Bas-reliefs from the Temple of Satet at Elephantine
  • Base and feet of a colossus of Amenophis III
  • Bastet
  • Bead net for a mummy
  • Beaker from a cemetery on Sai Island
  • Body of a Woman sculpture (probably Nefertiti)
  • Book of mythological images
  • Bowl of General Djehuty
  • Byzantine chandelier
  • Cartonnage of Ankhpakhered
  • Cat sculpture
  • A chair from the 18th or 19th dynasty
  • Chapel of the Tomb of Akhethotep
  • Chelidona's Coffin
  • Christ and Abbot Mena
  • Coffin lid of King Antef
  • Colossal statue of Rameses II
  • Comb
  • Cosmetic spoon
  • Couple in Wood
  • Cubit rod
  • Cupids Picking Grapes
  • Dagger from Gebel el-Arak
  • Detachable headrest
  • Divine standard
  • Door lintel
  • Drinking cup in the form of a lotus flower
  • Eagle censer
  • False door on the Stele of Sheshi
  • Female Nude statue
  • Figurine of a naked woman
  • Figurine of a seated woman
  • Foundation deposit from the Temple of Deir el-Bahri
  • Four baboons adoring the rising sun
  • Four Ramesses II vases
  • Fragment of a funerary shroud, known as "Portrait of Ammonios"
  • Fragment of a votive monument
  • Fragment of the Book of the Dead
  • Fragment of the Hunting Palette
  • "Frog" oil lamp
  • Funerary figurine of Ramesses IV
  • Funerary furniture of Chancellor Nakhti
  • Funerary hanging
  • Funerary statue of a Priestess of Isis
  • Funerary stele
  • Funerary stele of a father
  • Funerary stele with two orant figures
  • Furniture legs in the form of a nude woman
  • Gaia with Cupids
  • Game board in the form of a hippo
  • Game box in the name of Imenmes
  • Gilded cartonnage of the lady Tasheret-pa-ankh
  • Great Sphinx of Tanis
  • Guarded Lion of the Chapel of the Serapeum of Saqqara
  • Head of a colossal statue of Amenophis III
  • Head of a sphinx of King Djedefre
  • Hippo figurine
  • Hoe
  • Horus sculpture
  • Horus on horseback sculpture
  • Hypocephalus of Irethorrou
  • Imhotep the Wise Deified
  • Inventory and accounts from a temple of Abusir
  • Jar with portrait
  • Jonah wall-hanging
  • Khabekhent's funerary servant and ushabti chest
  • Knucklebones
  • Kohl pot in the form of a Nubian porter *Kohl Recipient:the god Bes
  • Krater
  • Large bottle with vine-leaf decoration
  • Large statue of Chancellor Nakht
  • Legging
  • Lintel from the tomb of Pairkep
  • Mask of a Woman of the 1st century
  • Mortuary Mask of Khaemwaset
  • Mummy in painted shroud
  • Mummy label
  • Mummy Mask of the early 12th Dynasty
  • Mummy mask of a boy
  • Mummy mask of a man with headrest
  • Mummy mask of a woman
  • Mummy of a man
  • Mummy of a woman with portrait
  • Mummy shroud and mask
  • Mummy's head
  • Necklace with fish pendants
  • Nile fishing scene
  • Nude male statuette
  • Offering table found at Meroe
  • Offering-bearer of the 12st Dynasty
  • Ostrakon with a royal profile
  • Paintings from the tomb of Metjetji
  • Paintings from the tomb of Unsu
  • Pair of clappers
  • Pair of sandals
  • Palm column of King Unas
  • Panel of the Virgin Annunciate
  • Panel portrait of a man
  • Patera
  • Pendant of King Osorkon II
  • Pendant falcon of Ramesses II
  • Pilgrim flasks
  • Pillar believed to be from Bawit
  • Pinudjem's necklace
  • Portraits of men and women
  • Processional way of sphinxes
  • Pyxis or pyx
  • Queen Ahmose Nefertari figure
  • Queen Cleoptrat Making an Offering
  • Queen Khenemet-Nefer-Hedjet figurine
  • Queen Tiye
  • Ram Pendant
  • Ramesses II breastplate
  • Recipient with bowls
  • Reconstruction of a tomb of the cemetery of Deir el-Medina
  • Red terracotta canopic jars
  • Relief from the Temple of Monthu at Tod
  • Ring of Horemheb
  • Ring with horses
  • Royal and divine triad
  • Royal Sphinx of Pharaoh Achoris
  • Sarcophagus box of Ramesses III
  • Sarcophagus of Abu Roash
  • Sarcophagus of Dioscorides
  • Sarcophagus of Iniuia
  • Scene in the Nile marshes
  • Scribe's palette
  • Sennerfer's necklace
  • Sennefer, the king's head
  • Senusret, chief of the treasury
  • Shabti of Amenophis III
  • Shroud of a child's mummy
  • Sistreum of Henuttawy
  • Sobek-Re
  • Southern Church of Bawit
  • Spoon in the form of a bound ibex
  • Spoon in the form of a young girl
  • Sprang cap
  • Square of fabric
  • St. Menas
  • Statue of a priest of Bastet
  • Statue of Amenemhetankh
  • Statue of Karomana
  • Statue of King Nectanebo II
  • Statue of Nakhthorheb
  • Statue of Osiris
  • Statue of Pendua and his father
  • Statue of Rakherka
  • Statue of the god Bes
  • Statue of the goddess Sekhmet
  • Statue of Wahibre
  • Statue of Sepa and Nesa
  • Statuette de femme nue
  • Statueette of a young boy
  • Statuette pf King Ammenemes III
  • Statuette of Taharqa
  • Statuette of the crocodile-headed god Sobek
  • Statuette of Tuy
  • Statuette of Isis nursing Horus
  • Stele dated to Ramesses II
  • Stele of the master craftsman of the 11th Dynasty
  • Stele of the Serpent King of the 1st Dynasty
  • Stele of Princess Nefertiabet eating of the 4th dynasty
  • Tablet of an apprentice scribe
  • Tamutnefret's coffins
  • The four canopic jars of Horesmsaf
  • The god Amun protecting Tutankhamun
  • The goddess Hathor welcomes Sethos
  • The harpist's stele
  • The sarcophagus of Madja
  • The Scribe Nebmeretef
  • The Seated Scribe
  • The Tod Treasure
  • The Tyre of Constantinople
  • The Zodiac of Dendera
  • Three cups from the Tod treasure
  • Three throwsticks
  • Torso of a Ptolemaic King
  • Toy
  • Tunic of Pleated Linen
  • "Twenty Squares" game board
  • Two-sided stele of Dedia
  • Vase in the form of an ibex
  • Vase in the form of the god Bes
  • Vase with the name of King Wenis
  • Wall from a temple of Ramessus II
  • Wall of the tomb of Akhetaa
  • Wall tile from the 20th Dynasty
  • Water jars and stand
  • Water pot in the name of the vizier Paser
  • Woman in a Cloak statue
  • Woman's shroud

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Egyptian antiquities in the Louvre.
  1. 1 2 3 4 Mignot, pp 76, 77
  2. 1 2 3 4 Nave, pp.42–43
  3. 1 2 "Egyptian Antiquities". Musée du Louvre. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  4. ↑ "Egyptian antiquities". Louvre.fr. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
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