Ancient Egyptian Artefacts

Room 24

Sphinx
Pyramid
Cartouche

Cartouche
An Egyptian cartouche is a tablet on which
a story is written on. These tablets were
made out of clay in ancient times but
nowadays cartouches are also commonly
made in silver. The purpose of a cartouche
is to tell a religious story and was used by
priests in ancient Egypt. During a funeral, a
priest may read out a story of Anubis a god
of death. When a pharaoh had a child that
was male the priest may read out a story of
Ra or a story of power. The priests read
out stories of Ra to pharaohs because they
were considered descendants of Ra.
Cartouches also had other uses such as
writing battle information on them, but was
quickly switched in favour of paper.

Egyptian Tomb

An Egyptian Tomb is the casing for

the mummified body. Any Egyptian
that could afford to have their body
mummified could. There were no
special requirements for the
person.The mummification process
was a very long and complicated
process which lasted up to 70 days.
The contents of a tomb besides the
body are basically everyday
necessities as they believed that the
afterlife is much like their current
life. They include food, makeup,
clothes, shoes, jewelry, furniture etc.
They believed that if a particular item was not in their tomb they could not access it. Another important
item that was in the tombs were shabtis which were representatives of servants in the afterlife. The
contents of this model of a tomb besides the body are a pair of earrings,a necklace, shoes, 3 shabtis, fruit,
fish and meat.

Ankh
The ankh was known as the Breath of Life, Key of the Nile. It
was the Egyptian hieroglyphics character that read Eternal
Life.
The character represents the concept of life which is the
general meaning of the symbol.
The Egyptian gods were often portrayed carrying it by its loop,
or bearing one in each hand, arms crossed over their chests.
Ankhs were drawn on a lot of things in the ancient time.

Ancient Tomb

Weaponry
The weapon I have chosen is the battle axe,
which has two forms,the cutting and piercing
axe.The cutting axe was used to chop up
fleeing enemies that have been wounded by
bow and arrow (enemies without armour). And
it looked liked like a banana on the end of an
arm sized stick.Next, the piercing axe. The
piercing axe was used for piercing through
armour and thus the killing enemy. This axe
was constructed with a sharp teardrop
attachment at a right angle towards the end of
the spear headed pole.

Valley of the Kings

The valley of the kings is an
underground mausoleum that no one
was supposed to see. During Egypt's
New Kingdom the valley became a
royal burial ground for pharaohs such
as Tutankhamun, Seti I, and Ramses II
and as well as queens, high priests,
and other people who had a high
status in the 18th, 19th, and 20th
dynasties.The tombs were also stuffed
with all the goods that a ruler might
need in their next life.
For example golden masks ,furniture , clothing they were also provided with enough food and drink,
including wine and beer, for feasting in the next world.There were also sacred objects meant to help
the helpless achieve eternal life.There is still many tombs to be discovered and many whose owners
are unknown.

Makeup Pot
My artifact is an ancient Egyptian makeup pot.
These pots were used to store powders and
pastes to cover the face, mainly the eyes. It was
used by men and women to look attractive,
and also protect themselves from the sun. Lots
of egyptians liked to outline their eyes with a
black type of makeup called kohl, and usually
kept it in their makeup pot. The pots were made
from clay and used around 1800 - 2000
BC.

Pyramid
This is an Egyptian Pyramid. Its made out of cardboard, glue
and kinetic sand and glitter.
I decided to make a pyramid because a pyramid was an
important structure to the Egyptians as it was a tomb fro
pharaohs and queens.

Eye of Horus
Amulets. They were often made to represent
different gods that the Egyptians believed in. This
amulet represents 'Horus' was one of the most
powerful gods, had a man's body and a hawk's
head. A lot of amulets have been found in
Egyptian tombs as they were wrapped up with
body in order to protect it from evil. Egyptians
also believe that certain things with different
magical ingredients in them would make the
amulet more powerful.
Extra fact
Horus begun as a god of war and a sky god who was married to Hathor, but soon became considered as the
opponent of Set, the son of Ra, and later the son of Osiris. However, the situation is confused by the fact
that there were many Hawk gods in ancient Egypt and a number of them shared the name Horus.

Scarab amulets
Scarab amulets like ones here were made
popular in Ancient Egypt from about 2000 BC.
They represent the god Khepri, who is said to
have rolled the sun up every morning. He was a
symbol of life and rebirth.
The scarab rolling its dung is Khepri rolling the
sun up, and the eggs the scarab lays inside the
dung symbolise rebirth. We have used stones
traditionally used in ancient Egypt to decorate
our scarabs; lapus lazuli, jasper, carnelian and
turquoise. These messages on the backs of
our scrabs are written in real hieroglyphics.

SPECIAL MENTION

Crook & Flail

The crook and flail are symbols used in Ancient
Egypt.
Originally, they were the attributes of the god Osiris.
The shepherds crook stood for kingship, and the
flail for the fertility of the land.
Their staff are made of heavy bronze, covered by
alternating stripes of blue glass, obsidian and gold.
The crook and flail is traditionally held crossed over
the chest.

SPECIAL MENTION

The Sphinx
In Ancient Egypt, the Sphinx was believed to be a creature with a body of a
lion and the head of a human - these creatures were occasionally believed
to have bird-like features as well in Greek mythology. These statues
purpose were built to guard an area of importance such as tombs or
temples. The main reason for the choice of a Sphinx to guard important
areas as such, was because they were thought of as guardians that protect
entrances to temples and other areas similar. Typically, the Sphinx statues
were made of limestone. They were also believed to be merciless and very
powerful creatures. In Greek and Egyptian mythology, they would give a
riddle for you to solve and if you could not solve it, you were killed and
eaten by the Sphinx. The Riddle of The Sphinx is a very famous example of
this, the riddle goes as so, What is the creature that walks on four legs in
the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening? Well, what is it?

SPECIAL MENTION

Replica of a Mummy
A mummy is a deceased human shose skin and organs
have been preserved. Mummification was a common
thing to do in Ancient Egypt to the pharaohs and the
wealthy people, as poor people couldnt afford the
process.
The ancient Egyptian believed that if they mummified
the pharaoh after he died, he would live forever and go
to life after death.
This was because they believed the deceased persons
spirit would be lost if they let the body rot, so if they
preserve it, the spirit could live on forever and go to life
after death. This was because they believed the
deceased persons spirit would be lost if they let the
body rot, so if they preserve it, the spirit could live on
foreever. The mummification process was done by
skilled artisans called embalmers.

SPECIAL MENTION

WINNING ARTEFACTS

Canopic Jar
Canopic jars were used by the
ancient Egyptians during the
mummification process to store and
preserve the owners organs for the
afterlife.They were commonly either
carved from limestone or were
made of clay.The jars were each
decorated with a special top that
represented the four sons of the
God Horus.Imsety which was the
human head protected the Liver.
Qebehsenuf had the head of a
falcon which guarded the intestines.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Hapy had the head of a baboon which safe-guarded the lungs. Duamatef had the head of the Jackal which
would watch over the stomach. The Egyptians didnt remove the heart as they believed that it would be
weighed to see whether the person had led a good life.The four canopic jars were put into a special chest
which went into the tomb with the mummy. On every Jar there is hieroglyphics written on it to tell which organs
belong to who.

Sarcophagus

Senet

Senet is an Ancient Egyptian game, and is believed

to be one of, or the oldest, board game in the
world. It was played by almost everyone, from
artisans to pharaohs. It was much loved, and was
a favourite pastime of many. In fact, a senet board
was one of the many grave goods found in King
Tutankhamuns tomb. It is a two player game, and
the aim is to get all of your pieces of the board.

How to play:
In Senet, you play on a board consisting of 30 squares, referred to as houses. The houses are arranged in 3 rows, with 10 houses in each row. The object of
the game is to move through the board, eventually getting all your pieces off the board. Each player has 5 pieces lined up alternatingly on one side of the board.
To move, you throw 4 sticks. The number of sticks with the white side facing up (as opposed to the black side) is how many squares you move. You must move
your pieces is an S shape going down the board. If you land on a square with your opponents piece on it, your piece and your opponents piece swap places. If
you land on a square with your piece on it, it is not a valid move, and you must move another piece.
A group of 2 or more pieces form a blockade, and they cannot be captued.You must move another piece if you land on a blockade. Blockades do not work on
the last four squares, though. Those are free for capture.
There are 5 marked pieces. The 15th square is the House of Rebirth. The 26th square is the House of Happiness. The 27th square is the House of Water. The
28th square is the House of The Spirits. The 29th square is the House of Ra-Atum, and the 30th square is The House of Horus.
Once you get into reach of it, to move on, you must get an exact roll and land on the House of Happiness. Once you get it, you can continue on.
The next house, the House of Waters, is the worst one. If you land on it, you face two choices. You can either move to the House of Rebirth and end your turn,
or you can try to get an exact roll of four and get your piece off the board. If you fail to roll a four your turn ends, and all of your pieces are free for capture,
regardless if they form a blockade or not.
If you land on the House of the Spirits, you must roll a three to exit the board.
If you land on the House of Ra-Atum, you must roll a two to exit the board.
If you land on the House of Horus, you must roll a one to exit the board.

Statue of Maat

The artifact that I have created is a statue/totem of the Egyptian

goddess Maat. The goddess Maat is the concept of truth,
balance, harmony, law, order and justice. She was also depicted
as the goddess who regulated the stars, seasons, and managed
the deeds of humans along with the gods.
Originally seen as a concept in the early days of Ancient Egypt,
but she then became a goddess to follow. The concept called
Maat was an important icon for the pharaohs, as they hoped
following the laws of her concept, balance and harmony, would
maintain order in their city. Maat as a goddess was especially
important to the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt as it was thought
that she would work her will through the Pharaoh himself. But
it was up to the Pharaoh to elucidate her good will correctly
and then follow through with order, truth and justice
therefore many were referred to as Meri-Maat, Beloved of Maat.

The statue I crafted worked in the same way. As the Pharaoh would carry an
effigy of her seated to show that they represented her beliefs and concepts. The
statue also became important to the Pharaohs of Egypt as it was a symbol of the
goals and her concepts they hope to achieve. Balance and harmony. Her image
was crafted as a small hand held statue they could carry with them or have
close by at all time to represent their allegiance towards her.
The reason I chose this artifact to create was because it is not typical of what
you may consider when thinking about ancient Egypt. It seemed like an
interesting artifact that related back to mythology and religion, it compliments
my interest in mythology and ancient religions.
I designed it to have all three symbols that represent her a flat, steady base on
which order was built, a golden ostrich feather which the heart is weighed
against in the underworld, and the wings of a vulture which is her sacred
animal. Her wings are wrapped around her as she sits in a huddle. I have place a
few symbols along right side. These symbols being her feather an ankh, a scarab
beetle than another one of her feathers. She was a pleasure to create perhaps
her concept of harmony has passed over me while creating her.