Medieval History
Could Cleopatra have used these ancient glass bottles? Were these 3,000 year old figures ?servants? in the afterlife? Questions which excited staff at Swansea University Egypt Centre are hoping to solve when they study a valuable collection of over 30 ancient Egyptian objects which has travelled from Surrey to Swansea, and arrived at the centre today.
The artefacts, donated by Woking College, includes two glass bottles (perhaps for scent or make-up) from late in Egyptian history (c100BC-AD200), around the time of Cleopatra and several shabtis (servant figurines) which the ancient Egyptians believed would do work for their deceased owners in the afterlife. One of the shabtis is an ?overseer shabti?. Shabtis, mirroring real life work teams, were organised in gangs of 10. Each gang would be overseen by a foreman, or overseer. The shabtis are around 3,000 years old.
Other objects include amulets, including an amulet of Sekhmet (a fiery, female goddess with a feline head) and another amulet of Shu (who separated heaven and earth); a head of the god Bes (protector of children and women in childbirth); a pendant in the shape of a lotus or papyrus sceptre; several pottery vessels and a Sokar hawk (Sokar was a god associated with rebirth).
Click here to read this article from Swansea University
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Medieval History
Message in ancient bottle?
The artefacts, donated by Woking College, includes two glass bottles (perhaps for scent or make-up) from late in Egyptian history (c100BC-AD200), around the time of Cleopatra and several shabtis (servant figurines) which the ancient Egyptians believed would do work for their deceased owners in the afterlife. One of the shabtis is an ?overseer shabti?. Shabtis, mirroring real life work teams, were organised in gangs of 10. Each gang would be overseen by a foreman, or overseer. The shabtis are around 3,000 years old.
Other objects include amulets, including an amulet of Sekhmet (a fiery, female goddess with a feline head) and another amulet of Shu (who separated heaven and earth); a head of the god Bes (protector of children and women in childbirth); a pendant in the shape of a lotus or papyrus sceptre; several pottery vessels and a Sokar hawk (Sokar was a god associated with rebirth).
Click here to read this article from Swansea University
- Ancient Hieroglyphics Meet Cutting-edge Technology At Loughborough University
Engineers from Loughborough University have used the latest cutting-edge technology to bring to life an ancient Egyptian inscribed tablet. Working with The Manchester Museum, Loughborough?s Professor John Tyrer has created a high-tech interactive display...
- New Dictionary On Ancient Egyptian Language Completes 37-year Project
A dictionary of thousands of words chronicling the everyday lives of people in ancient Egypt ? including what taxes they paid, what they expected in a marriage and how much work they had to do for the government ? has been completed by scholars at the...
- Ancient Egyptians Recorded Algol's Variable Magnitude 3000 Years Before Western Astronomers
A statistical analysis of a 3000-year old calendar reveals that astronomers in ancient Egyptian must have known the period of the eclipsing binary Algol. The Ancient Egyptians were meticulous astronomers and recorded the passage of the heavens in extraordinary...
- Welsh Castle Set To Reopen After 50 Years
The secrets of Swansea Castle are set to be revealed for the first time in nearly 50 years this week. More than 700 people will enter the historic landmark in the city centre on Friday and Saturday as part of the nationwide Open Door scheme. Visitors...
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Is this the face of Cleopatra's half sister, Princess Arsinöe IV? Based on the bones of one of the most controversial archaeological finds in Egyptian history, some specialists claim that it is. In 1926, archaeologists found a young woman's...