I am obsessed with Steven’s flat. Look at those stacks of books (are they all about Egypt?). It is so habitable and picturesque.
I wish I could have something like that for myself, but I do not like country I am living in. In fact, I have changed three countries in the past two years. I do not have my own space I can turn into my home.
(We found this book yesterday but I am not sure if it is worth 17€)
I can’t tell you how much I love this artwork from ancient Egypt (the Middle Kingdom). People have been raising cattle and practicing animal husbandry for so long, that there is something almost inherently human about this scene.
Everyone in the field of veterinary medicine or agriculture knows the feeling of staying up late with a laboring animal trying to make sure both mom and baby are okay. Delivering a calf is often physically and emotionally exhausting work that takes enormous patience and learned skill. It requires a unique balance of physical strength and gentleness to do correctly. There is no feeling quite like getting that baby out and everyone is okay. I’m certain ancient people must have felt the same way, and I wonder if the artist knew this feeling firsthand. I wonder if those humans depicted were people the artist knew, if the cow and calf maybe were as well.
WELL, WHO WOULD'A THUNK IT, THE GAME OF THE YEAR IS SENET, A GAME THAT ORIGINATED IN ANCIENT EGYPT 5000 YEARS AGO AND IS WIDELY RECOGNIZED AS THE OLDEST KNOWN BOARD GAME IN THE WORLD
Late Period, 26th Dynasty, ca. 664-525 BC.
Tomb of Mentuemhat (TT34), El-Assasif, Thebes.
Now in the Cleveland Museum of Art. 1949.493
A deceased vizier, whose name ended in Nufer, and his wife seated before a table of offerings. Presumably they were relatives of Mentuemhat. The work is in the style of early 18th Dynasty.
Mentuemhet is one of the most recognizable nonroyal names from ancient Egypt. He was a rich and powerful mayor and priest of Thebes and Governor of Upper Egypt who rebuilt the city after the Assyrians destroyed it.
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Something must be wrong with me, I haven't talked about the beadnet dress in forever.
It consists of seven thousand faience beads in blue green and blue to imitate turquoise and lapis lazuli. It is 4600 years old (the threading is modern, but the beads were found in their original pattern so this reconstruction is as accurate as it can be). It is one of the most gorgeous garments in existence and was owned by a woman who was a contemporary of king Khufu.
The dress was found in her tomb in Giza, known as Tomb G 7440 Z, and it's the earliest known garment of this type.
First born of Ra. She was the lion goddess of war and vengeance. Also from disease and medicine. She was a symbol of strength and power, and it was said that her breath created the desert.