/r/Cowofgold_Essays
A place for Luka-the-Pooka's wiki on ancient Egypt - suggestions, pictures, resources, or any knowledge welcome!
/r/Cowofgold_Essays
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Questions and Resources!
Howdy again! I am still incredibly busy, and will be for a while. A bunch of people have asked about where to find more about certain topics or images. The best resources that I can point you in the direction of are -
and
Both are excellent places to browse through scholarly articles, which is where I have done a great deal of my research.
07:45 UTC
Still here!
I am still alive, and will start answering comments soon.
05:40 UTC
Still not dead, still on hiatus
00:22 UTC
Howdy, I'm not dead!
Hello all, I'm not abandoning my little wiki, just taking a break. The new reddit format is very hard for my eyes, and difficult to edit with. I'll hopefully be posting again soon.
00:04 UTC
Dua Bes!!
04:12 UTC
Jewelry in Ancient Egypt
Bracelets and Anklets
Broad Collars
Earrings
Girdles
Hair Rings and Other Decorations
Necklaces
Pectorals
Pendants
Rings
One element was available to every Egyptian, regardless of age, gender, or societal class - jewelry. From Predynastic through Roman times, a wide variety of jewelry was worn by the ancient Egyptians, usually every day. So important was jewelry that even the very poorest wore some form of adornment, even if it consisted of mere seashell bracelets and necklaces made of clay beads.
Jewelry was used as a way to adorn and beautify the body, a signifier of wealth and status, and as a magical means of protection. It was offered at temples, buried with the dead, given as gifts, and bestowed as military honors.
The materials chosen and the quality of workmanship marked the status of the wearer. The types of metals and gems used to make jewelry were magically important, as were the colors of the materials and the exact positioning of all the elements in a design.
Gold was the metal of choice for jewelry – gold itself was represented by the hieroglyph of a necklace. The most important gems used for jewelry were lapis lazuli, turquoise, and carnelian, known to Egyptologists as the “big three.”
These gemstones had important symbolic and magical significance, tied to their colors. The dark blue of lapis lazuli represented the all-embracing and protective night sky; the blue-green of turquoise signified rebirth, water, and lush vegetation; and the red of carnelian connoted life-sustaining blood, vitality, and the sun.
Red, green, and blue glass was widely used to imitate these expensive gemstones beginning in the 18th Dynasty. This practice became so prevalent that ancient texts mentioning some of the more valuable gemstones sometimes appended the word maa ("true") to indicate their authenticity.
The color of a material was, nevertheless, often more important than its preciousness, as is evidenced by the combination of cheap glass and costly gemstones in much of the royal and elite jewelry from the Middle Kingdom onward. Faience was another inexpensive substitute, as was clear rock crystal over a colored paste.
Common motifs seen in jewelry were flowers, stars, leaves, seashells, fruit, various magical symbols, and deities. Animals were also a popular choice – birds, reptiles, antelope, felines, hippos, fish, hares, insects, livestock, frogs, monkeys, canines, scorpions, hedgehogs, and baboons.
Finds of Egyptian jewelry are relatively rare – something so valuable was often the first thing stolen from tombs. Only a few burials that were overlooked or incompletely plundered by thieves give us insight into Egyptian jewelry.
A few Egyptian jewelry workshops have been excavated, but most of what we know about ancient craftsmen and their techniques comes from tomb scenes. Workers can be seen grinding, drilling, polishing, and stringing jewelry.
There are many depictions of jewelry on tomb and temple walls, mummy coffins, and statues. Some ancient Egyptian jewelry types have never been found and are known only from these depictions.
Egyptian jewelry can reveal a great deal, especially if the archaeological context is known. A vast amount of knowledge can be gleaned from studying even a single bead. The material it was made from - ceramic, metal, stone, gems - can potentially be tracked to the exact ancient gemstone quarry or the precise location of the type of Nile clay.
For Egyptian jewelry, the styles, material choices, production, object types, and the meanings of decorations changed over time. Thus burial trends, ritual practices, manufacturing skills, and resource and material availability can all be traced through jewelry.
Some locally available materials were only used during certain periods - amethyst was very popular during the Middle Kingdom, while glass was common in 18th Dynasty royal and elite jewelry, such as King Tutankhamen's mummy mask.
Gemstones such as lapis and turquoise were imported and rare during unstable political periods. Jewelry found in Egyptian tombs featuring non-Egyptian motifs support evidence of trade between cultures. Coral and pearl was only available during Roman Egypt.
Kings bestowed favor and military honors through jewelry – the Golden Fly of Valor and the shebyu. Jewelry, especially amulets, were believed to guard against disease and danger. An amulet of the god Bes guarded women during childbirth, while a child wearing a fish amulet was protected from drowning.
Every day or personal jewelry can be distinguished from funerary jewelry, which was often made strictly for burial. Funerary jewelry tended to be made without fasteners or holes, as it was simply laid on mummies. Wrapped within the mummy’s bandages, it guarded the deceased for eternity.
The Book of the Dead prescribed specific materials for certain amulets, and often detailed where on the body to place them. Most funerary jewelry was required to be made from gold, such as the ankh, shen ring, and aegis.
A red jasper tyet and a green amazonite papyrus amulet were supposed to be placed on the throat of the mummy. A green jasper scarab and a heart amulet made of carnelian were to be placed over the heart. The two-finger amulet had to be made of obsidian, the akhet and serpent head out of carnelian, and the headrest amulet out of hematite.
Substitutions, however, were extremely common – red jasper and garnet for carnelian, green jasper for amazonite, faience for turquoise and lapis lazuli, and copper for gold. The colors themselves were often switched around as well. For instance, scarabs have been found in any color, as have ankhs and and the djed.
Egyptian craftsmanship was unparalleled in the ancient world. The styles and designs of their jewelry were mimicked by neighboring cultures, and even by the Victorians upon the discovery of King Tut’s tomb.
So important was jewelry that gold itself was represented by the hieroglyph of a necklace.
23:18 UTC
WFT Happened to Reddit on Desktop?!?
It's so . . . different looking. I can no longer double space anything. This is going to be extraordinarily difficult to make posts!
Edit: Apparently the solution is to force https://new.reddit.com instead of the latest unusable thing. Good that someone found a solution, as I can't see a way to edit an old post.
Can anyone see an edit button?
20:49 UTC
Pictures of Boats II
20:36 UTC
Pictures of Sails and Sail Boats II
That one dude better be careful!
The Horus-hawk on the top is a nice touch.
Workers unloading a shipment of wine from a sailboat.
20:22 UTC
Warships in Ancient Egypt
While the use of a navy was not as important to the Egyptians as it may have been to the Greeks or Romans, the ancient Egyptian navy had a very extensive history almost as old as the nation itself. Egyptian troops and supplies were transported by naval vessels as early as the Old Kingdom. Using the Nile, soldiers could be quickly sent to areas throughout Egypt to quell rebellions or repel attackers.
Thutmose III understood the importance in maintaining fast and efficient communications and supply lines that would connect his bases in the Levantine region with Egypt. For this reason, he constructed his famous dockyard for the royal fleet near Memphis, whose sole purpose was to constantly supply the campaigning Egyptian army with additional troops and provisions.
The Egyptian landscape was harsh and very hard to travel through except for the few miles that surrounded the Nile Valley. Enemy armies often found it difficult to attack Egypt, as they had to march across desert landscapes or engage by boat on the Egyptian-controlled Nile. This allowed the Egyptians the freedom to campaign into foreign lands, increasing booty, tribute, and alliances.
The first warships of ancient Egypt were constructed during the end of the Old Kingdom, with some scholars arguing for the Middle Kingdom instead. The first mention and detailed description of a large and heavily armed ship dates from the 16th century B.C.E.
By the Intermediate Period, the navy was highly sophisticated and used complicated naval maneuvers, such as during Ahmose's campaign against the Hyksos in the harbor of Avaris. The fact that Egyptian battleships could both be sailed and rowed gave them the decisive advantages of being both fast and maneuverable. This enabled the Egyptians to constantly harass the enemy at range, while at the same time withdrawing to safety and attacking from a different side.
The Egyptian naval fleet developed a fierce reputation, being able to take down larger and slower enemy ships. Vessels were sometimes armed with wooden rams tipped with bronze. Ships were lean, much like a Viking longboat. Egyptian battleships were decorated with images of war-gods such as Montu, and sometimes had a figurehead of a lion with its jaws crushing a man’s head.
A model of an Egyptian warship from the time of Ramses III shows a vessel with high bulwarks that could protect the crew from enemy projectiles. Like all Egyptian ships of this period, it was not laid on a keel, but instead acquired its structural strength from a gangway connecting stern to bow. It had a single mast with a horizontal sail, and 18 oars.
Most Egyptian ships carried a crew of about 50 men. The Egyptians never had a specific marine unit, but everyone on board was equally capable of both maintaining the ship and fighting at the same time. About 20 members of the crew would be delegated to row the vessel, while the remainder formed the combat troops for seagoing battles.
During a battle, Egyptian ships would let loose showers of arrows and sling-shot onto an enemy vessel. When close enough, the crew would throw grappling hooks into the rigging of the opponent’s ships with the objective of either capsizing or boarding them. Upon boarding the enemy ship, the crew would arm themselves and fight in close-quarter combat using spears, shields, swords, and battle-axes.
While naval battles are not often recounted since there was no distinction between the navy and the army in ancient Egypt, we do have some information of battles that were fought through the use of ships.
The most famous naval battle of all is pictured on reliefs in the temple of Medinet Habu – the defeat of the Sea Peoples (probably the Aegean) during the reign of Ramses III. Also known as the Battle of the Delta, this war heavily involved the naval strength of the empire, and it is the first sea battle to ever be well documented.
Ramses III, known as the Warrior King due to his brilliant military strategies, defeated the invading Sea Peoples in two great land and sea battles.
He ordered a mighty fleet built and planned to repulse the Sea Peoples in the Nile. Ramses III states, "I prepared the river-mouth like a strong wall with warships, galleys, and light craft. They were completely equipped both fore and aft with brave fighters carrying their weapons, and infantry of all the pick of Egypt, like lions roaring upon the mountain-tops."
But first, Ramses III took the battle to the Sea Peoples on land. He dreamed he saw Ptah handing him a sword and saying, "Take thou (it) and banish thou the fearful heart from thee." His army was victorious in the Battle of Djahy, on Egypt’s easternmost border in southern Lebanon.
After defeating the Sea Peoples on land, Ramses III rushed back to Egypt where preparations for the invaders' assault had already been completed. He enticed the Sea Peoples and their ships into the mouth of the Nile, where he had assembled a large fleet in ambush. Ramses III had also lined the shores of the Nile with hundreds of archers, hiding in the papyrus reed beds.
Once within range, Ramses III ordered the archers to fire at the enemy vessels, and kept up a continuous volley of thousands of arrows. This drove the enemy ships back towards the fleet of Ramses III, who had moved in to cut off the Sea Peoples' escape route. The invaders were caught in the jaws of the trap.
The Egyptian galleys rammed the Sea Peoples' boats again and again, pushing them towards the shore. Grappling hooks were used to help haul in the enemy boats. Surrounded on all sides, Egyptian warriors from both land and sea devastated the invaders. In the brutal hand-to-hand fighting which ensued, the Sea Peoples were utterly defeated.
In inscriptions, Ramses III proclaims: “Those who reached my boundary, their hearts and their souls are finished forever and ever. They were dragged, overturned, and laid low upon the beach; slain and made heaps from stern to bow of their galleys, while all their things were cast upon the water.”
Thutmose III achieved warships of up to 360 tons that carried ten to seventeen catapults with bronze springs, called "siege crossbows" – more precisely, siege bows.
A text from the tomb of Amenhotep I states: “And I ordered to build twelve warships with rams, dedicated to Amun, Sobek, Ma’at, and Sekhmet, and crowned with the best bronze noses. There were three partitions (bulkheads) so as not to drown our ship by ramming the wicked.
"The total was eighteen oars with one hundred and eight rowers covered by the deck from the side and top. Twelve rowers aft worked on three steering oars. And Our Majesty arranged four towers for archers – two behind, and two on the nose, and one above the mast.
"There was a canopy roof and the ships carried on the nose three assault heavy crossbows. The arrows were lit with resin or oil and the salt of Set (probably nitrate.) The longest ship was 130 ft., and the breadth 28 ft., and the fleet can go 6.5 knots per hour.”
The defeat of the Sea Peoples pictured on the temple of Medinet Habu.
Due to its immense size, it is difficult to get a full view of this chaotic scene.
Sketch of part of the reliefs.
09:07 UTC
Sacred Boats in Ancient Egypt
No temple was complete without a sacred boat, often hidden behind a veil of linen. On certain holidays a statue of a deity rode inside, carried about on the shoulders of priests. This mimicked the way the gods sailed the sky.
In iconography, these boats were always represented in the shape of a crescent, with two oars and a shrine on the deck. The sacred boats of the gods were often gloriously decorated, gilded with gold, and decked in palm branches.
The symbols of various deities adorned their vessels – rams and geese for Amun, cows for Hathor, fish and oryx for Sokar. The protective aegis was often draped on both ends, with the head of Sekhmet, Amun, or Horus.
Statues of deities were sailed up and down the Nile to visit each other during festivals and holidays. During the New Year festival, a statue of the god Amun sailed from his temple at Luxor down to Karnak, to visit the shrine of his wife, Mut. The goddess Hathor had a sacred boat called the “Great of Love,” on which her statue sailed to Horus’ temple to celebrate their divine marriage.
Osiris' sacred boat was known as the Neshmet Barge, and it was decorated with gold and gems. This boat was refurbished or replaced by each king, and was considered so important that participation in its replacement or restoration was counted as one of the most significant good deeds in one's life.
During the Festival of Osiris at Abydos, the Neshmet would transport Osiris' statue from his temple to his tomb and back again, thus recreating the story of his life, death, and resurrection.
Amenhotep III made for Amun the largest sacred boat ever to be built, carved of cedar, and named Userhetamon (“Beginning of the River.”) The boat was ornamented with silver and covered in gold inside and out. The boat carried its own shrine and two obelisks, both wrought with electrum.
Many other gods and goddesses had their own boats which were all built along the same lines as the above. Sacred boats were a form of floating temple, sailed or rowed along the Nile so that everyone could see and worship a particular deity, even if they could not travel to that deity’s temple.
The surviving colors are stunning. Note the ankh-shaped bouquet of flowers.
05:15 UTC
Funerary Boats in Ancient Egypt
An important part of the ancient Egyptian belief of the afterlife involved the crossing of the Nile in a boat, both physically and spiritually. As part of the funeral, the mummy was laid on a boat and covered by a canopy or shrine. It was then sailed across the Nile, attended to by priests.
The deceased was expected to do the same spiritually. Two boats, or at least two models of boats, were therefore included in every tomb, one with a mast and sail and one without. A fleet of twelve full-size boats were interred with the Pharaoh Djer.
The most famous funeral boat found belongs to King Khufu. Buried in his tomb under the Great Pyramid, the vessel is the world's oldest, largest, and best-preserved ship. This magnificent boat is made of cedar wood and stretches 142 ft. long, 19 ft. wide, and 5.8 ft. deep.
Named Dwa-tawy (“Praise of the Two Lands”), it has been described as a "masterpiece of woodcraft" that could sail today if put into a lake or a river. Praise of the Two Lands is the first reference recorded of a ship being referred to by name.
The pharaoh Senusret III was buried with five boats, each 33 ft. long. The vessels are known as the Dahshur Boats. The boats were brightly painted, with white decks and green and yellow hulls.
Many ushabti models of boats have been found in tombs, dating to the 1st Dynasty. These model boats were highly detailed, made of wood, plastered, and brightly painted. They were often equipped with linen sails, a full complement of tiny sailors holding oars and nets, various goods including food, cooks, priests, fishermen, and scribes.
Tutankhamen was buried with 35 models of royal boats. The largest collection of such models comes from the tomb of Djehuty-nakht at Bersheh, where no less than 55 model boats were discovered.
According to Egypt beliefs, the souls of the dead accompanied the sun-god Ra on his daily journey across the sky. Funerary boats were sometimes know as "solar boats" due to this.
One spell from the Book of the Dead was intended for the deceased to gain entrance onto Ra's boat: "I know that northern gate of the sky, the place where Ra navigates by the winds and by the oar. I am in charge of the rigging of the god's ship. I am a tireless oarsman in the boat of Ra."
A beautiful varied design, perhaps mimicking the deceased's real-life boat.
Original rope discovered with the boat.
18:26 UTC
Wooden Boats in Ancient Egypt
Papyrus boats, especially larger ones, were sometimes augmented with wooden parts, especially the deck or mast. Boats made solely of wood were at first rare, and accordingly expensive. But with good trade relations more wood was able to be imported. Although papyrus boats never went away, most vessels came to be made of doum palm, sycamore, tamarisk, or acacia.
Cedar, fir, and cypress wood was imported from far-away Syria and Lebanon at great cost. But the benefits of wood over papyrus outweighed the expense – a boat could be made sea-worthy using wood, which was much stronger and more versatile than papyrus. Boats made with these types of wood were used by royalty to make personal boats, large trading ships, giant barges for carrying stone, and military vessels.
Images from the tomb of To, a 5th dynasty official, offer insight into how ancient Egyptian wooden boats were built. First, tree trunks were trimmed and smoothed. The logs were sawed into planks, and holes were cut through the planks with chisels and mallets. The planks were then fitted together by ropes "sewn" through holes, which in turn were caulked with reeds or sealed with pitch to prevent leaks.
This is called a “built boat,” and the world’s oldest remains of one come from ancient Egypt, dated to 3000 B.C.E. A stela records that Tuthmosis III used built boats to great effect during an invasion of Syria. The boats were dissembled and carried in pieces by the army, and put back together again when needed.
When large planks were not available, boats were made with many smaller pieces of wood fitted together, using slots somewhat like puzzle pieces. Tenons (wooden pieces) were placed in the slots to hold the planks together. Dovetail clamps, pegs, or copper nails were then hammered into the tenons to hold them in place.
This was done with great skill, as the fit was often was so tight that caulking wasn’t needed. Herodotus noted that “the method of construction is to lay them together like bricks.”
The man on the right is using a hammer and chisel. The hammer is a long piece of wood.
Only a boat made of wood could be made sea-worthy.
Boat made of wood at the Cario museum.
03:12 UTC
The Papyrus Boat in Ancient Egypt
The earliest boats in ancient Egypt were made from tied bundles of papyrus reeds, which grew in great abundance in the Nile. Pictorial record traces their use from Predynastic times, although papyrus boats were likely already in use much earlier. These small crafts held one to five persons at a time. Papyrus boats lacked keels and rudders, and instead were steered with a pair of stern-mounted oars.
Papyrus boats had a narrow beam and high, tapered stem and stern posts, looking somewhat like crescent rolls. This slender shape was well-suited to navigating swift river currents - among the most popular water sports was "shooting-the-rapids," in which two people in a small boat would challenge the waters of the Nile. Rowing and water-jousting competitions were equally popular.
Papyrus boats quickly became bigger and bigger, able to hold multiple people and goods. A representation of a papyrus boat on a clay vessel dates to 3500 B.C.E., showing two cabins and 40 oars. A similar vessel is depicted on a small ivory plaque from 3100 B.C.E.
But why was papyrus so often used? It is reliant on its inherent buoyancy, and boats lose shape as they age or become waterlogged. The hulls of papyrus boats are much more fragile than the hulls of wooden boats, and papyrus vessels, not matter how large or fine, rarely lasted more than a year.
There were two reasons: economical and religious. The lack of trees in the Nile valley meant that wood was expensive and had to be imported from great distances, while papyrus was readily available, cheap, easy to repair, and needed little technical skill to work with.
Religiously, papyrus boats were connected with the gods in Egyptian mythology. The sky of Nut was thought of as a watery region in which the stars and planets swum like fish or sailed in boats. The Egyptians called the Milky Way the “Nile in the Sky.” Deities were thought to travel across the sky on boats - the sun-god Ra himself sailed in one, bringing light to Egypt on his daily journey.
The earliest depictions of Ra show him traveling on a reed float made of bound papyrus, a portrayal so ancient that it predated Egyptian knowledge of wooden ships. A spell from the Roman Period refers to Osiris “upon his boat of papyrus.” In the Pyramid Texts, the green color of divine papyrus boats is mentioned frequently. In the ancient Pyramid Texts, the pharaoh Unas is ferried from this world to the next on the "reed floats of heaven."
Even when vessels of wood became common, the decorative posts were still often designed to look like the tied-off ends of bundles of papyrus. This is called a papyriform boat, made using wood but with the shape of an elaborate papyrus raft in order to maintain a connection with the gods. Sacred and funerary boats also kept the papyriform shape, as did vessels for religious events like pilgrimages.
The earliest boats in ancient Egypt were made from tied bundles of papyrus reeds.
Boats made of papyrus were quick and easy to make, but fragile.
Papyrus was incredibly versatile - it was also used to make life preservers.
Ushabti model of fishermen in papyrus boats.
06:44 UTC
Boats in Ancient Egypt
Egyptian Names: Dpt (a common word for any type of boat)
Wsx (cargo vessel)
Satch or Sekhet (“Strong Boat” – a very large cargo vessel capable of hauling stone)
Kbnt, Byr, or Nmiw (sea-going boat)
Aha (“That Which Stands Up” – a mast)
A common term archeologists use for ancient Egyptian boats is “barque.” A barque is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts. The word is Egyptian in origin. The ancient Egyptian word “byr” designated vessels that were used on the Mediterranean and Red Sea.
This name was rendered by Greek authors as “baris.” From that came the Latin term “barca,” which gave rise to the French “barge” and “barque.” French influence in England led to the use in English of both words, although their meanings are now different.
Boats in ancient Egypt were ubiquitous and crucially important to Egypt’s economic, political, and religious life. The Nile River was the lifeblood of Egypt, and the majority of towns and cities were situated near its banks.
The Egyptian landscape was harsh and very difficult to travel through except for the few miles that surrounded the Nile Valley. For this reason, using boats as a means of communication and transportation proved to be very effective.
Boats were equated with life, an attitude that must be expected when one lives in a floodplain that is inundated for almost a third of the year. Nearly every Egyptian had their own raft or skiff, and fish was a part of most Egyptian’s daily diet. However, not every Egyptian knew how to swim - the remains of papyrus life-preservers and goat-skin flotation devices have been found. Rough stones were used as anchors.
Simple skiffs carried the common people as they fished and hunted in the marshes; cargo vessels transported grain, cattle, and wood; official vessels ferried people, including those of the royal court; warships were used by the military; and ceremonial or sacred vessels carried the dead on their journeys, and shrines and statues of the gods.
Paddles were used for acceleration, then later oars, and finally the sail. However, boats that needed speed and reliability of service continued to employ large crews of paddlers or rowers. Drums were used to coordinate oarsmen on the boats which sailed down the Nile, before they were used for music and worship.
Extremely large vessels were used for transporting huge cargoes such as obelisks or stone blocks, some weighing over 700 tons. These cargo ships were very broad, lacked the decorative posts of other boats, and relied as far as possible on wind power or towing. Cargo ships were used to transport supplies and building materials to the builders of the pyramids.
Boats were frequently named - some examples are "The Wild Bull," "The Northern," "Arising in Memphis," "Praise of the Two Lands," "Beginning of the River," and "Strong of Prow is Amun."
Images of the Eye of Horus were painted on the side of boats, to “watch out” for hazards. Oars were also decorated, again with the Eye of Horus, falcons, or floral images. Boats were sometimes brightly painted in shades of green, white, red, blue, and yellow, and often had a figurehead.
The most popular figureheads were lotus flowers, papyrus plants, gazelles, falcons, hedgehogs, the face of Hathor, ibex, and geese.
Hedgehog figureheads, in contrast to others, did not face forward, but rather looked backwards, with the protective spines set to deflect any danger. The ibex and gazelle figureheads with their sharp horns were used similarly.
Royalty and the wealthy owned their own personal “yachts” to sail or fish at their leisure. These boats had multiple decks containing cabins, kitchens, dining rooms, and lounges, staffed by their own crew of sailors, cooks, and servants.
Sometimes, pets rode along. A rather famous scene from the tomb of Nebamun shows his pet cat catching birds while on his boat, and another tomb scene depicts a woman sailing in a lily pond, her cat under her chair. Cats, it seemed, were not used for riding ships of vermin – at least not anywhere other than the Nile.
The Egyptians were jealously protective of their animals, especially those that could be considered sacred. Laws were passed to prohibit the export of cats. The Greek writer Diodorus claimed that Egyptians abroad ransomed falcons and cats in order to bring them home to Egypt. Court records confirm that armies were, in fact, occasionally dispatched to rescue kidnapped felines.
During trips abroad monkeys were taken instead, to amuse sailors with their pranks. Fragments from the tomb of Khety show a sea voyage with monkeys running loose around the ship.
During the Old Kingdom Egypt was already a full-fledged nautical power. Trading expeditions were sent out into the Mediterranean and the Red Sea to bring back exotic goods. Bigger ships of seventy to eighty tons suited to long voyages became quite common - in size they might be compared to Christoper Columbus' Santa Maria.
Queen Hatsheput oversaw the preparations and funding of an expedition of five ships, each measuring seventy feet long, sailing as far as Punt (possibly Ethiopia or Somalia.) Under Ramses III, the Egyptians made a crossing of the Indian Ocean.
During the Old and Middle Kingdoms, Egypt was in maritime contact with the Late Bronze Age civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean. A number of 18th Dynasty tomb reliefs portray Minoan traders, and a relief from the tomb of Ken-Amun shows a Canaanite ship in port. The dockyard annals of Thutmose III refer to ships of Keftyw, likely Crete or the Aegean.
The goddess Hathor was connected with trade and foreign lands, possibly because her role as a sky goddess linked her with stars and hence navigation, and because she was believed to protect ships on the Nile and in the seas beyond Egypt, just as she protected the boat of Ra in the sky.
Isis was invoked as the patron of seafarers, and her wings were likened to the sails of boats. Boat-shaped votive lamps featuring an image of Isis were offered in hopes of safe voyaging upon the sea.
The Roman Phillip of Salonica wrote a poem in Isis’ honor and brought gifts to her temple for having saved him from shipwreck. Being given “Isis names,” such as Isopharis or The Isis was believed to protect boats on the sea from harm.
By the end of the New Kingdom, the decline of Egypt’s economy increased the dependence on foreign commercial ships, rather than Egypt’s own. The Report of Wenamun describes the experiences of a priest who is sent to Phoenicia to secure wood for a sacred boat.
In this account, Wenamun has to endure the jeers of the Phoenicians, who point out that he has come to Lebanon on a foreign ship, rather than on an Egyptian one. Wenamun haughtily replies that any ship chartered by an Egyptian is, ipso facto, an Egyptian ship.
Cargo vessel hauling cattle, grain, and fruit.
By the Old Kingdom, Egypt was already a full-fledged natical power.
It was common to paint an Eye of Horus on either side of the prow, to \"watch out\" for hazards.
Boats were sometimes brightly painted.
Oars were also decorated and painted.
This vessel has a monkey up by the top of the sail, either a pet or a stowaway.
23:14 UTC
01:21 UTC
Egyptian Tattoos II
Another lute-player, this time with two Bes-tattoos.
Talking time. This is perhaps the most frustrating essay that I have ever done. The pictures of the tattoos on mummies are incredibly hard to find. Most are a mere description in an article or journal, with NO images. For instance, there are seven recorded tattoos of Bes. One picture is of a woman on a bowl, and another is a photo, of a painting, of a tomb painting. Where are the others? Nowhere to be found! Then there are two pictures floating around of mummies with tattoos on their hands or arms, but I have not been able to confirm that they are actual Egyptian mummies. ARGH!
22:51 UTC
Tattoos in Ancient Egypt
Egyptian Name: Mentenu (“Inscribing” or “Etchings”)
Up until recently in the West, tattoos have been considered very macho, almost exclusively male. The evidence of mummies tells us that in ancient Egypt the opposite scenario was true - the vast majority of people found with tattoos are female.
Women were decorated with tattoos on their legs, back, belly, hips, breasts, arms, shoulders, and neck. The most common tattoos were geometric patterns of dots and dashes, often arranged in circle or diamond shapes.
Other tattoos found include lotus blossoms, cobras, baboons, cows, scarabs, rams, papyrus plants, bulls, the Eye of Horus, the nefer symbol, hieroglyphics of water, pots, and baskets, the Tjes knot, and symbols or images of the deities Hathor, Bes, Thoth, and Neith.
Ancient Egypt is the source of some of the earliest recorded appearance of tattoos, as well as the longest consecutive history of the art of tattooing. Although there has been very little about tattoos mentioned in the surviving texts of the time, and only a few mummies bearing tattoos have been discovered, it is believed that tattoos played a significant role in Egyptian culture.
Tattooing kits in ancient Egypt consisted of sharp points or needles made of bone, shell, wood, ivory, or metal, and indelible pigments. Earlier archaeological reports easily overlooked tattoo kits, dismissing them as sewing needles and makeup containers.
A flat “tattooing brush,” was made by braiding needles together in a bunch, usually made up of three, seven, or nine needles, as the Egyptians placed special importance on those numbers. Used all at once, they would provide repeated patterns of multiple dots. Individual needles often had a wooden handle, for better control.
Tattoo artists used a dark pigment of dye, most commonly black, blue, or green. These colors were highly significant in ancient Egyptian mythology - black symbolized life and resurrection, green represented new life, and blue was linked with rebirth. Once completed, the tattoos were rubbed with various herbs and oils to promote healing, and to seal in the coloring agents.
Tattoo artists needed to be experienced and possess knowledge of the ancient Egyptian religion and the symbolism behind patterns and colors. Archeologists believe that tattoo artists were probably older women, as tattoos were a women’s domain.
Early interpretations of ancient Egyptian tattoos involved old-fashioned scholars condemning the use of tattoos on women. Victorian men could not reconcile their understanding of a tattooed woman with one of high social standing, and believed that ancient Egyptian tattoos were a symbol of the lower classes, or even thought to mark a prostitute.
In many ancient cultures, both men and women were tattooed, and tattooing was not seen as a "degenerative" practice. An interesting difference, however, is the sheer persistence of the unfavorable light Egyptian tattoos were seen in. As recently as 1994, scholars still argued that a tattoo on an ancient Egyptian woman marked a prostitute, without bothering to consider other possibilities.
But things are finally changing - more articles have been published since 2000 on ancient Egyptian tattoos than in the entire 20th century. A total of 14 mummies with tattoos have been found, as well as images of people with tattoos on tombs and objects.
On a mummified body, it is oftentimes very hard to see tattoos – black marks on the skin are often disregarded as residue from the mummification process. Other bodies are so dark due to embalming that it is impossible to even see the skin. Mummies in plain sight at the British Museum for over 100 years were recently found to have tattoos, only revealing their secrets using infrared imaging.
Tattooing in ancient Egypt is now thought to be a practice reserved for magical and religious purposes. Images drawn for protection, whether on structures, objects, or people, were commonplace in ancient Egypt. Magic was synonymous with medicine in Egypt, and recognized as an important aspect of life.
Medical spells sometimes ask that magical symbols be drawn on the afflicted part of a patient’s body. Mothers would frequently draw a picture of Bes on their child's palm and then wrap the hand in a cloth, to drive away bad dreams. Magical amulets, of course, were popular throughout Egypt during all periods. Magical images tattooed on one's skin, a permanent protective amulet, would hardly have been out of place.
Body painting and tattoos probably existed alongside each other. Due to the scarcity of actual tattooed bodily remains, in combination with the consideration that tattoo application was not without its dangers and pain, it seems that body paint was far more popular. But there were two important reasons why tattoos were used.
An actual tattoo – a permanent mark – was reserved for those who had dedicated their lives to one or more deities. A tattoo was not something that could be washed away once a festival was over. Tattoos were a serious business, and reflected religious devotion.
Tattoo also marked those in desperate need of divine blessings. An ill person painted with temporary magical symbols was likely common. But an actual tattoo was used for women who had had multiple miscarriages, or feared for their lives.
Childbirth in ancient Egypt was an exceptionally dangerous time for women – most women died that way, and in general did not live past the age of 30. Many sought measures of magical protection, to ensure the highest chance of survival for both mother and child. The Egyptians used a great number of amulets, spells, and rituals to try and ease pregnancy and ensure smooth childbirth.
Tattoo marks of dots and dashes over a woman’s abdomen were thought to provide protection during pregnancy. The tattoos would have formed a circle as the belly swelled, creating a protective web between the womb and the outside world. A tattoo of Bes, guardian of women and children, was sometimes found on the hip or on one or both of a woman’s upper thighs, close to the birth canal.
Aspects of the deities Bes and Hathor overlap, as both are associated with fertility, childbirth, music and dance, and the protection of women. High-status women such as priestesses, singers, and musicians bore tattoos of both.
The cult of Hathor was perhaps one of the only Egyptian cults which could be described as “ecstatic.” Her devotees were well-known as dancers and acrobats, who often preformed wearing little to no clothing.
Nakedness was seen as unremarkable in ancient Egypt - modesty was not a serious concern for either sex. Most people wore little clothing on a day-to-day basis – men only a short kilt, and women a sheath dress or transparent overcoat and skirt, which often bared the breasts. Bare feet were usual. The ancient Egyptians only dressed up in fancy, elaborate outfits for parties or other such high-class events.
Men that had physical, exhausting jobs, such as a farmers, fishermen, and builders, often worked naked in the hot climate. The job of an acrobatic dancer was likewise very demanding. The sheath dress, depicted as skintight, would have been impossible to do flips and stunts in. A long overcoat or skirt would have been quickly tangled. The norm for professional dancers was a single loincloth, or nakedness.
Nakedness also served a religious purpose – goddesses associated with rebirth were often shown as naked, such as Nut and Taweret. Gods of power and protection were pictured naked, like Bes and Min. Nakedness was also thought to terrify demons and ward off hostile forces. The war-goddess Anat was sometimes pictured as naked, to frighten away Egypt’s enemies.
Tattoos would have made the dancers even more powerful. In the case of tattooed dots and dashes, the symbols would extend, contract, and move as a dancers’ body would move, producing the idea of dynamic tattoos.
A 35-year-old woman named Amunet was a dancer and a Priestess of Hathor, and bore an extensive net-like design over her abdomen, as well multiple diamond shapes composed of dots on the middle of her thighs. Amunet also had geometrical patterns of dots and lines on her left shoulder and breast, and on her right arm below the elbow.
Professional musicians and dancers, called khener groups, were highly sought after. Music and dance were seen as important for communication with divine spirits. Khener groups performed at temples, religious processions, festivals, private funerary celebrations, and for the royal household. These dancers also performed for women during labor, in order drive away demons and protect the mother and child. Amunet was thought to be one of these sacred dancers.
Many truncated female figurines and paddle dolls found in tombs appear to have tattoos on their bodies. These tattoos are geometrically-patterned dots on the arms, thighs, and abdomen, and closely resemble those of Amunet. These figurines were found in the tombs of significant historical figures, may in fact be representations of the famous khener groups, as they are often found together in groups of multiples.
The figures of khener groups were most likely magical protectors of the tomb, or were meant to accompany the deceased to the afterlife, in the same way religious processions of deities protected and aided the journey of the deceased.
A female mummy found in Hierakonopolis, also thought to belong to a khener group, was estimated to be 40 years old. Upon close examination archaeologists found tattoos “just about everywhere there was skin preserved.”
Two more female mummies were found in 2019, described in the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. The first, possibly another Priestess of Hathor, was decorated with a lotus blossom on each hip, with a dotted line connecting them. Cows, a symbol of Hathor, were tattooed on one arm, and on her lower back are Bes and a bowl, the latter image related to ritual purification.
The second woman has a symmetrical pattern on her lower back, featuring a zigzag line representing water and several marsh plants. This probably depicted the shores of the Nile, which was associated with cooling waters used to relieve pain from menstruation or childbirth (both can cause acute lower back pain.) This scene is watched over by a protective Eye of Horus, as well as yet another image of Bes.
The most stunning example of ancient Egyptian tattoos comes from an unidentified woman found in Deir el-Medina. Deir el-Medina is an area associated with royal and elite burials, and at least six tattooed women were buried there. This indicates that the woman was high-status, most likely another priestess. Using infrared imaging, it was revealed that she was decorated with at least thirty tattoos.
There is considerable variation in the darkness of her tattoos and the definition of the margins of the tattoo lines. Tattoos naturally diffuse over time and ink tends to fade, suggesting that the woman’s tattoos were made in different sessions over the course of several years.
The Eye of Horus was placed on her throat, her shoulders, and her upper back; from any angle when one looked at her, a pair of divine eyes peered back. The tattoos on her throat are unique, not found on any other mummy.
For the ancient Egyptians, the neck was one of the most vulnerable parts of the body, thus explaining why amulets were so often placed around it. In this case, the act of fixing forever the image of an amulet could was a way to attach permanently the magical power of the amulet to the person.
The woman’s throat and neck tattoos appear in two rows and resemble a group of amulets on choker necklaces. The top row shows an Eye of Horus with two seated baboons on either side. The bottom row contains a pair of Horus Eyes with two nefer signs between them. The symbols on the bottom row are repeated again on her shoulders, along with a pair of cobras.
The Eye of Horus was the supreme sign of divine protection, tattooed on the woman at least nine times. The baboon represented the god Thoth, who was associated with magic spells, and the cobra was a fearful but powerful protector.
The nefer sign means “good, beautiful, pure.” Combined with the Eye of Horus, this forms the phrase “to do good.” The placement of this divine formula on her throat and shoulders magically imbued her song, speech, and every arm movement with this ability.
The woman’s left arm bears another cobra, this one with a solar disk, two scarabs, a sistrum, two Hathor cows, and a cross shape (which may be a four-petaled flower.) The right arm is decorated with two more cobras, a basket, a bouquet, a sistrum, the Tjes knot, and another cross shape.
The scarab was a symbol of rebirth and transformation, while the sistrum is a musical instrument associated with Hathor. The basket hieroglyphic means “all, authority,” and sometimes deities were pictured standing upon it. The bouquet of flowers was a formal offering, and the Tjes knot represented protection by binding and union.
The tattoos on the woman’s back consist of a papyrus plant, another baboon, two lotus blossoms, and twin Eyes of Horus watching over it all. The papyrus meant “renewal, flourishing,” while the lotus hieroglyphic represented fertility and divine creation.
The rest of her tattoos are unclear or incomplete. It is possible that there were additional tattoos on the woman’s missing abdomen, hands, legs, or even face. The symbolism and placement of these tattoos in some of the most painful areas of the body – throat, spine, elbows – demonstrate her personal endurance and religious dedication.
But the multitude of tattoos present on this remarkable woman raises the question: why are there no ankhs? Since this image was among the most powerful Egyptian protective symbols, one would expect to find it on the woman’s body, or indeed on any tattooed body. However, studies on amulets have shown that contrary to popular belief, an ankh amulet was restricted solely to the dead.
Although the vast majority of people bearing tattoos were women, one single man has been found.
While Otzi the Iceman holds the title of the world’s oldest tattoos, the 5,000-year-old Gebelein Mummies from Egypt get recognition for having the oldest “figural” tattoos, or tattoos representing real things. The Gebelein Mummies also provide us with the earliest, non-disputable evidence of tattooing in ancient Egypt.
The two mummies, known officially as “Gebelein Man A” and “Gebelein Woman,” were named after the town where they were first discovered in 1896. The male mummy, nicknamed “Ginger” because of the color of his hair, has been on display at the British Museum since 1901. The Gebelein Man is one of the museum’s most popular attractions – but no one noticed his nearly invisible tattoos until 2018.
The dark smudges on his upper arm were overlooked until Renée Friedman started conservation work on the Gebelain Mummies and examined their skin with infrared imaging. The new analysis show that the black smudges are actually tattoos of two overlapping animals — a wild bull with elaborate horns and a long tail, and a ram with curving horns and humped shoulders.
Both animals are well-known in Predynastic art. The ram was sacred to various deities, and considered a difficult animal to hunt, given the speed and climbing abilities of the animal. The bull is a more obvious symbol of power, and one that would later serve as an important icon of royal authority in Egypt.
Previously archaeologists thought that tattooing in Egypt was applied only to women, but this proves that it involved both sexes, although to date Gebelain Man is the only male mummy found with tattoos.
One or two images in tombs appear to show tattooed men – those in the military. Although this is debatable, the dots and dashes on their arms may be symbols of the goddess Neith, and represent bows, arrows, and shields.
As Neith was a warrior goddess, it is not hard to see why soldiers would opt for such a powerful body adornment. Tattoos also accentuated muscles and drew one’s attention to the tattooed limbs, making them a more formidable opponent.
The Gebelein Woman, who was in storage and not on display like the Gebelain Man, was found to have two tattoos. On her upper right arm is a vertical line with an angled top. This was possibly a crooked stave, utilized in rituals. Or perhaps a musical instrument called a clapper, or a throwstick, a weapon used in hunting.
Four S-shapes run vertically over her right shoulder. These S-shapes were used in the pottery decorations at the time, and may represent cobras. The Gebelein Woman is to date the earliest known tattooed woman in the world.
Long dismissed as makeup implements, this may in fact be a tattooing kit.
Paddle Dolls may show tattoos as well.
Symbolic images on some of Egypt's oldest artifacts, or tattoos?
The norm for professional dancers was a simple loincloth, or nakedness.
Obviously, a dress, overcoat, or skirt was impractical attire for an acrobat.
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Pictures of Ammit 4
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Ammit Pictures III
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The Bittern in Ancient Egypt
The Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus) and the Great Bittern (Botaurus stellaris) were sometimes pictured in ancient Egyptian paintings and reliefs of wildlife along the Nile and in the marshes. Like herons, tame bitterns were occasionally used as decoys by fowlers hunting wildfowl.
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Scorpion Pictures II
Bronze dagger featuring the god Bes and a protective scorpion.
Esna Zodiac, cleaned and showing gorgeous detail.
The god Shed restraining various dangerous animals, including scorpions.
Selket wears a harmless water scorpion on her head, indicating that she is a benevolent goddess.
Sometimes Selket even has the body of a scorpion.
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Fly Pictures III
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Hair-Rings and Other Decorations
The ancient Egyptians were very careful about their appearance, especially their hair. And with elaborate wigs to wear, it is only natural that the Egyptians wanted to decorate. Wig or hair covers have been unearthed, thin strips of gold decorated with flowers made of carnelian and colored glass.
Hair was held back by headbands, clasps, hairpins, or colorful linen ribbons. Protective amulets were hung from the hair of children. During parties, hair was crowned with chamomile or lotus flowers, ostrich feathers, unguent cones, circlets, or diadems.
Loose beads made of gold, silver, carnelian, and faience were usually assumed to belong to a now-lost bracelet or necklace. But it has been discovered that the majority of these beads were in fact used to decorate hair. Scholars now think that these beads were woven into locks to made patterns, hundreds or even thousands at a time.
Numerous small rings have been unearthed, made of gold, jasper, shell, carnelian, lapis lazuli, glass, hematite, and faience. Much too small to fit onto a finger, these rings were at first thought to be earrings, although curiously none were found with an attached hook.
Hooked earrings did not come into use until the late New Kingdom, however. It is clear that the opening of these rings are far too narrow to place them directly onto the ear lobe or cartilage, and thus it is more likely that the rings were instead twisted into hair or wigs.
Golden rosettes of Lady Senebtisi.
Hair rings, at first mistakenly thought to be earrings.
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Cats on Jewelry III
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Cats on Jewelry
Part of a wide bracelet. Made of gold, carnelian, lapis lazuli, and colored glass.
Gold cats from a different wide bracelet.
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Cat Mummies III
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Cat Mummies II
Cats have been found wearing mummy masks made of faience, gold, or bronze.
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