Table Of Content© The Ashmolean Museum, 2003
Texts by Tom Hardwick, Judith McKenzie, Andres Reyes, Christina Riggs, Andrew Shortland,
and Helen Whitehouse
SACKLER GALLERY OF
EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES
Egypt from the 1st Dynasty to the
Byzantine Period, 2950 BC to AD 641
A Virtual Visitor’s Guide
Note to Readers
This is a copy of the information panels and labels written for the Ashmolean
Museum’s Sackler Gallery of Egyptian Antiquities. It is a searchable PDF file
which can be used with the appropriate software. Readers can search any
terms of interest to them such as object types, materials, names, and
historical periods.
The display cases are numbered in order according to their position in the
current arrangement of the Sackler Gallery. Cases 34 to 66 are arranged
chronologically, beginning with the Early Dynastic Period; cases 67 to 74
house thematic displays on writing, drawing, and daily life in the New
Kingdom and the Roman Period.
The following abbreviations are used in the provenance information: BSAE –
the British School of Archaeology in Egypt; EEF – the Egypt Exploration Fund
(later, Society); ERA – the Egyptian Research Account. Museum numbers for
the objects are prefixed with ‘AN’.
Department of Antiquities
March 2009
Egyptian Galleries Floor Plan
Gallery 4 – Petrie Room
Gallery 5 – Chester Room
Gallery 6 – Sackler Gallery of Egyptian Antiquities
Gallery 7 – Griffith Gallery
Case 34 Pottery in Transition
Early Dynastic–Old Kingdom
1st–8th Dynasties,
about 2950–2125 BC
The technical skill and creativity shown in the hand-made vessels and
modelled figures of prehistory began to disappear in the Early Dynastic
Period. Craftsmanship in stone, metal, and faience now became more
important; pottery became more mundane, sometimes imitating forms such as
cylinder jars which would ideally be made in stone.
The late prehistoric ware with pictorial designs applied in red-brown paint was
now reduced to a repertoire of abstract repeat patterns. Similarly, the wavy-
handled jars which had first appeared in prehistory as imports from Palestine
now finished their evolution in domestic production as cylindrical vessels with
a band of wavy decoration faintly modelled in the clay. Together with these
survivors of earlier styles, Early Dynastic grave goods sometimes included
more elaborate versions of the carved bone or ivory spoons found in
prehistoric graves; they were probably used with cosmetics.
Distinctive new forms include large and elaborate pot-stands. The appearance
of spouted vessels suggests the introduction of a new social norm – hand-
washing before eating. A stand on which to rotate pots while shaping them
was already in use before the end of the Predynastic Period; its technical
advantages can be seen in the better finish given to rims. In the Old Kingdom,
use of a pivoted wheel on which to turn pots became common.
1 Black-topped jar, hand-made
From grave T55, Naqada; Naqada IIIa-b
AN1895.337: Flinders Petrie excavations
2 Jar decorated with grouped ‘commas’, and
small jar with wavy lines
From grave 1710, Naqada; Naqada IIIa-b
AN1895.615, 621: Flinders Petrie excavations
3 Spouted pot, burnished
From grave R 131E, Hu: Naqada IIIa-b
AN1896-1908 E.2897: EEF excavations, 1899
4 Burnished bowl; cylinder jar decorated with
a scalloped relief band and painted lattice
resembling a carrying net; and a spoon of
elephant ivory, the handle carved with
marching elephants
From grave 460, Naqada; Naqada IIIb-c
AN1895.460, 548, 903: Flinders Petrie excavations
5 Multiple pot-stand, hand-made, with a ram’s
head, and legs modelled in relief
From grave 115, Naqada; Protodynastic
AN1895.776: Flinders Petrie excavations
6 Cylinder jar with a scalloped band in relief,
and a bone spoon
From grave 17, Naqada; Naqada IIIa-c
AN1895.546,906: Flinders Petrie excavations
7 Spoon of hippopotamus ivory, the handle
carved with a dog and a lion
From Ballas, ‘found by a woman digging for salt’;
Protodynastic
AN1895.902: gift of Flinders Petrie and the ERA
Figure 1 AN1895.902
8 Storage jar with an incised ‘V’ potmark; pot-
stand; and small travertine bowl
From grave 112, Naqada; Naqada IIIa-b
AN1895.667,665,201: Flinders Petrie excavations
9 Siltstone dish with a handle carved in the
shape of a gazelle-leg
From Saqqara; 1st–2nd Dynasty
AN1887.2428; gift of Thomas Shaw, 1751
Figure 2 AN1887.2428
10 Seated lion on a plinth, polished red ware This
guardian lion, modelled with a mixture of
realism and stylization, is a striking example of
ceramic sculpture. It was found in a deposit
which included a siltstone statue of King
Khasekhem of the 2nd Dynasty (the pair to the
limestone statue in this Museum), and the
copper statues of King Pepi I of the 6th
Dynasty (all now in the Cairo Museum)
From the temple enclosure, Hierakonpolis; Old Kingdom
(6th Dynasty?)
Figure 3 AN18961908 E.189
AN1896-1908 E.189; ERA excavations, 1897-8
Case 35 Providing for the Next Life
Early Dynastic – Old Kingdom
1st–8th Dynasties,
about 2950–2125 BC
The need to supply the dead with food and drink for eternity was one of the
most important Egyptian beliefs about the next life. Real food was provided to
stock the tomb at the time of the funeral, and thereafter as offerings. Ideally
these would be continued forever, by endowing a priestly cult service for the
dead person’s funerary chapel.
Tomb goods included storage containers, and tableware for eating and
drinking; the pottery included in burials reflects contemporary household
stock. Ewer and basin sets for hand-washing were essential items, made of
metal or stone, or more cheaply of pottery. Fine tableware of the Old Kingdom
was usually red, with a handsome surface created by applying a slip
containing iron oxide and polishing it before firing. Storage vessels and bread-
moulds were made of coarser ware. A distinctive new form is shown by
sharply-curved vessels with a maximum diameter just below their wide rims
(‘Maidum bowls’). They were used for both liquids and solid food, and
together with new shapes of storage jars, they may indicate a shift in diet
towards more consumption of dairy produce.
Figure 4 AN1949.89 Gift of Nina Davies
Funerary priest and offerings: tempera copy by Nina Davies of a painting in
the mastaba-tomb of the 6th Dynasty official Kaemankh at Giza. Kaemankh’s
name is written in the top register, below which are offering tables bearing
vessels and food including bread, cakes, meat, a goose, and figs. Carved or
painted offerings would have been thought to remain perpetually fresh and
available, to sustain the dead – ‘Take your bread which does not grow
mouldy, and your beer which does not go sour’ (Pyramid Texts).
1 Small ewer of polished red ware, with an incised
square potmark
From grave A.13, Abadiya; Old Kingdom
AN1896-1908 E.2898: BSAE excavations, 1899
2 Miniature vessels of glazed faience with black
decoration
From mastaba C, el-Kab; 4th Dynasty
AN1896-1908 E.381-2: ERA excavations, 1897
3 Pot stand of polished red ware
From grave 5328, Badari; 5th Dynasty
AN1925.454: BSAE and ERA excavations
4 Bowls of stone (anorthosite gneiss, ‘Chephren
diorite’) and pottery
From mastaba A, tomb of Kamenu, el-Kab (stone); and
grave M 432, Mahasna (pottery); 4th Dynasty
AN1896-1908 E.401, E.574: ERA excavations, 1897 and 1901
5 Shouldered jar of polished red ware
From Reqaqna; 4th–5th Dynasty
AN1896-1908 E.497: Garstang excavations, 1901–2
6 Ewer of polished red ware; although made to hold
water, it was found full of grain
From grave 1085, Qau; 4th Dynasty
AN1923.528: BSAE excavations
7 Jar of fine cream marl clay, for holding beer or
water
From grave 127, Dishasha; 5th Dynasty
AN1896-1908 E.1938: EEF excavations, 1897
8 Ewer and basin of travertine
From the stairway to tomb 2, el-Kab; Protodynastic–Old
Kingdom
AN1896-1908 E.403, 468: ERA excavations, 1897
9 Model food: dates of painted wood, and a stone
fig
Not dated
AN1888.378 (date, from Thebes): G.J. Chester Collection; AN1962.803A,B
(fig and date, provenance unknown)
10 Ewer and basin of polished red ware
From grave 1310N, Armant; 4th Dynasty
AN1935.167-8; Mond excavations
Figure 5 Cases 34 to 38
Case 36 Beyond the Pyramids
Early Dynastic – Old Kingdom
1st–8th Dynasties,
about 2950–2125 BC
Provincial Burials of the Old Kingdom
The royal pyramid fields near Memphis – such as Giza, Saqqara, and Abusir
– were the final resting place for the kings of the Old Kingdom and their court
officials. The 3rd Dynasty king Djoser built the Step Pyramid at Saqqara for
himself, rather than being buried at Abydos like most of his predecessors.
After Djoser, almost every king was buried in a pyramid, the largest and most
famous of which is the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza. In the 5th and 6th
Dynasties, pyramids decreased in size, but the pyramid was just one part of a
whole complex serving the soul of the dead king. Near the pyramid
complexes, the nobility and high-ranking officials were buried in flat-roofed,
rectangular tombs called mastabas, from the Arabic word meaning ‘bench’.
Elsewhere in Egypt, provincial towns and villages were home to lesser-
ranking officials drawn from local families. Each town had its own cemetery,
where burials ranged from simple pit graves to more elaborate mastaba
tombs made of sun-dried mud bricks. The dead needed bread, beer, and
meat to sustain them and scented oils and fine linen to adorn their bodies.
Pots of foodstuffs could be left in the tomb, along with stone vessels,
jewellery, copper implements, and other precious objects. Headrests, which
were used like a pillow for sleeping, were also placed in graves. A basin or
stela set up in front of the tomb enabled visitors to make an offering to the
dead, or recite the prayer inscribed on the stela.
1 Diorite bowl
AN1896-1908 E.510
Crescent-shaped flint drill bit, and a string
of faience beads
AN1896-1908 E.690, 4080 (EE 482)
Two copper axeheads and an assortment of
chisels and knife-blades
AN1896-1908 E.680, 672, 676, 681-5, 687, 689
From tomb K 1, Bet Khallaf; 3rd Dynasty
ERA excavations, 1901
2 Faience tiles from chambers beneath the
Step Pyramid of King Djoser. A tenon with
holes in the back of the tiles was used to fix
them to the chamber walls in multiple rows,
creating a shimmering blue frame around
reliefs of the king
From the Step Pyramid complex, Saqqara; 3rd
Dynasty
AN1933.1031: A. H. Sayce Bequest; AN1954.670.a, b: Gift of A. H.
Gardiner; AN1937.115: MacGregor Bequest; AN1942.480: Gift of
Mrs. Woolner
3 Travertine bowl with carved rim, and copper
bowl
AN1896-1908 E.4084, 885
Copper dagger blade and wooden handle
AN1932.926, AN1896-1908 E.890
4 Flint blades and copper tools: an axehead,
chisels, engravers, and needles; and a band
with holes for attachment
AN1896-1908 E.886-7, 891, 893-5, 897-8, 904, 902
All from tomb K3, for a man named Sa-nakht, Bet
Khallaf; 3rd Dynasty.
Dagger blade from grave 586, Matmar; 6th Dynasty
ERA excavations, 1901; dagger: Gift of Guy Brunton
5 Wooden headrest inscribed in black ink with
the name and titles of a man named Shepses
From tomb 226, Tarkhan; Old Kingdom
AN1912.601: BSAE and ERA excavations
At el-Kab in southern Egypt, the British archaeologist James Quibell found
an intact burial in a pit covered by a large pottery bowl known as a majur in
Arabic. Next to the deceased was a decorated, lidded pot containing many
small objects
6 Decorated clay pot with lid, two travertine
bowls, two shells from the Red Sea, and
two ivory bracelets, an ivory disk, a
polished pebble, a necklace with carnelian,
green steatite, and faience beads, a flint
blade, and a green steatite cylinder seal
incised with hieroglyphs
From grave 166 at el-Kab; Old Kingdom
AN1896-1908 E.1836-9, 1804-6, 1042, 1044, 1046, 3763, EE 89:
ERA excavations, 1897
7 Polished red pot, travertine cylinder vase,
diorite bowl, and a polished pebble, steatite
cylinder seal, two blue glaze and
carnelian necklaces, and a mirror of
arsenic-plated copper
From the burial of a woman, grave 3540, Mustagidda;
5th Dynasty
AN1930.514-21: Guy Brunton excavations
8 Travertine vases, an ivory spatula, and re-
strung blue glaze and carnelian beads, all
found with a female burial in a reed coffin
From grave 5535, Badari; 6th Dynasty
AN1925.440-4, 446-50: BSAE and ERA excavations
Description:The Ashmolean Museum, 2003. Texts by Tom Hardwick, Judith McKenzie, Andres Reyes, Christina Riggs, Andrew Shortland, and Helen Whitehouse. SACKLER GALLERY OF. EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. Egypt from the 1st Dynasty to the. Byzantine Period, 2950 BC to AD 641. A Virtual Visitor's Guide
