Queen Hatshepsut depicted as a man, offering to the Deities

The reason there was no post yesterday was because we were visiting the “Tutankhamon & the Golden Pharaohs” museum show in Seattle.

So thought I’d share some photos with you for the post today. As you might expect given the title, it was mostly about the royal families and the shining treasures found in Tut’s tomb. It was wonderful to be able to see some of these very famous pieces in person…and be able to photograph them.

One of the interesting stipulations regarding photography, besides the common no flash rule, is that you can’t pose with the artifacts. I’ve not seen this rule in US museums before. But if it’s for the same reason as we learned in Delphi, then I most wholeheartedly agree.

When we were visiting the museum at Delphi, Adam wanted to take a picture of me with the omphalos. As we did, a museum guard came rushing up, quite upset. We didn’t understand the problem. Once we got a common language figured out, I asked her why not. And she said, “for respect.” Well, I can most definitely respect respect.

So no posing.

Middle Kingdom Queen Nofret, wife of Senwosret II. Her name means The Beautiful One, and indeed she is in this lovely statue. Two of these statues were found in Tanis. This is one of those, which usually resides in the Cairo museum.
A priestess, the God’s Wife of Amun. This powerful priestessly title was a much older title that was revived in the 18th dynasty. Hatshepsut used it as a springboard for her kingly power.
The monumental statue of Akhenaton, mostly likely King Tut’s dad, according to recent DNA testing
Yay! An Isis! And this is a very interesting one. Though Her arms are upraised as if She had wings, we don’t actually see the wings here. I think this is important in showing that that particular gesture—even when made by a human priestess—was meant to be The Wings of Isis. This image is from the sarcophagus of a pet cat.
And a beautiful Osiris
Isis and Nephthys on a protective pectoral found on the king’s mummy
And finally, a female Uraeus Serpent, one of the Divine forms in which Isis is sometimes depicted

If you get a chance to see this show, don’t miss it. This is supposed to be the very last time that these artifacts will be exhibited outside of Egypt.