Egyptian Figures

The Figures of Egypt take many forms – from living beings to legendary gods, and even hybrids of the two – pharaohs were treated as gods too. And as much history was written in stone, we have many records of who ruled, who was worshipped, and even who made the beer! Some of the famous figures still exist today, in the form of mummified remains. Here you can explore them all.

Could the origins of Jewish New Year really lie in the coronation of Akhenaten? Source: On the left Jon Bodsworth. Background image Arthur Szyk / CC BY-SA 4.0

17 September, 2020 - 13:56 Jonathon Perrin

Surprising Links Between Pharaoh Akhenaten and the Jewish New Year

The origin of Jewish New Year celebrations has long been shrouded in mystery. Families around the world celebrate it during autumn with sweet delicacies, joyous prayers, and the blasting of the...

Considering how important the illumined sun disk was to Akhenaten and the Amarna period, it would be fascinating if we could detect any possible connection, correlation and perhaps even causation between historical events and ancient Egyptian solar eclipses of the Amarna era. Source: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin / CC BY-SA 4.0

2 September, 2020 - 18:56 Jonathon Perrin

Egyptian Eclipse Enigmas: Wild Solar Influences in the Amarna Age

The Amarna age of ancient Egypt lasted only twenty years, a relatively tiny slice of time, yet it irrevocably altered the course of the country’s art, religion, and language. From ~1350-1334 BC a...

Sultan Razia never gave up her rightful place as heir. One Friday, dressed in red, the color of protest, she visited Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque to appeal to her people for justice. Source: kharchenkoirina / Adobe Stock

23 August, 2020 - 14:02 Khadija Tauseef

Sultan Razia: The First and Only Female Royal of Delhi

On the eve of October 1240, two armies faced one another ready for battle. This was a last-ditch effort by Sultan Razia to recapture her throne which had been usurped by her brother. Razia was the...

The Second Scorpion King of Ancient Egypt

6 August, 2020 - 18:59 Natalia Klimczak

Searching for the Lost Footsteps of the Scorpion Kings

There were two Scorpion Kings in the pre-dynastic period of ancient Egypt. They were forgotten by most of the world until Dwayne Johnson played one of the rulers in the famous movie ‘The Scorpion...

The god Horus represented by a falcon at the Temple of Edfu. Source: Edyta / Adobe Stock

5 August, 2020 - 01:51 dhwty

The Cult of Horus: Myths That Stretch From Egypt To Rome

Horus (also known as Heru) was one of the most important deities in the ancient Egyptian pantheon . The ancient Egyptians worshipped Horus mainly as the sky god and the god of kingship. In the cult...

Trilogy statue of King Ramesses II, Ptah and Sekhmet. Cairo Egyptian Museum. Source: JMCC1 / CC BY-SA 3.0

29 July, 2020 - 18:35 ashley cowie

Has A “Royal-Trinity” Of King Ramesses II Been Discovered In Egypt?

A group of ancient statues has been discovered in the deserts of Egypt, and this remarkable timeworn ‘royal-trinity’ seems to feature the Egyptian creator god Ptah , the maintainer of Earth, King...

Prince Thutmose's schist recumbent bier (Soutekh67 / CC BY-SA 4.0)

17 July, 2020 - 21:34 Calumy

The Missing Prince And The Missing Papyri

A strange mystery baffled Egyptologists when opening the tombs of kings who had been laid to rest in The Valley of the Kings. In 1816 explorer Giovanni Belzoni had reached the far end of the valley...

5 July, 2020 - 00:14 dhwty

The Life and Death of Ramesses II, Ramesses the Great

Ramesses II is arguably one of the greatest pharaohs of ancient Egypt (hence named Ramesses the Great), and also one of its most well-known. Ramesses II, the third pharaoh of the 19 th Dynasty,...

15 June, 2020 - 21:45 Natalia Klimczak

Searching for a Family: The Mysterious Mummy of Maiherpri and His Special Tomb

The mummy of Maiherpri is so well preserved that it almost looks like he is in a peaceful sleep. He was buried in the Valley of the Kings, but his life is full of secrets. The mummy was unwrapped on...

2 June, 2020 - 22:55 Ed Whelan

AI Technology Used to Recreate the Face of Biblical Pharaoh

Technology is changing almost every aspect of our lives. It is also transforming how we understand and relate to our past and heritage. A new initiative, ‘My Colorful Past’ is using facial...

30 May, 2020 - 23:01 Jonathon Perrin

Do Akhenaten’s Links With Shavuot Shed New Light on Moses? – Part 2

Buried beneath the themes of first fruits and wheat offerings lie deeper connections between Shavuot and Akhenaten. These are suggestive and persuasive and go far beyond delicious foods and...

The origins of the Jewish festival Shavuot’s traditions are obscure. But what if they could be linked to Pharaoh Akhenaten, offering a new view on Moses? Pictures: Representation of Moses’ famous crossing of the sea. Source: Vlastimil Šesták / Adobe stock

30 May, 2020 - 02:06 Jonathon Perrin

An Akhenaten Connection to the Harvest Festival of Shavuot - Part 1

The Jewish festival of Shavuot is taking place around the world. It is an ancient celebration of the spring harvest of grains and first fruits. It is the year’s first wheat harvest, and Jews around...

Detail of Khnum, the ram-headed ancient Egyptian god. Source: PTimm/Deviantart

11 May, 2020 - 14:01 Aleksa Vučković

Khnum – Ancient Egypt’s Lord of the Land of Life

Who was Khnum? The oldest and most important deities in the Egyptian pantheon are often the most mysterious and lacking in scholarly information. They are old – so old - that they’re veiled in a mist...

Entrance to the Luxor Temple at sunset showing the obelisk and statues of pharaohs

4 May, 2020 - 14:02 dhwty

Luxor Temple: The Sacred Sanctuary With An Eternal Legacy

Luxor Temple is one of the most famous temple complexes in Egypt. This temple complex is situated on the east bank of the Nile River, in Luxor, the main city of Upper Egypt’s fourth nome. Luxor...

Fragment of the Alley of the Sphinxes in the Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt. The image of a sphinx with the head of a ram was a common depiction of the god Amun and this connected him with fertility. Source: Anton / Adobe stock

16 April, 2020 - 23:01 Aleksa Vučković

Amun, The Creator God Whose Supremacy Surpassed Egypt

The world of the ancient Egyptians was diverse and enigmatic, filled with untold wonders and beliefs that were closely interwoven with the nature around them. Of particular interest is the vast...

Egyptian blue pigment: the researchers obtained the nanosheets from this powder. (University of Göttingen

22 March, 2020 - 17:43 ashley cowie

Ancient Egyptian Blue Pigment Revolutionizes Biomedicine

A German research team has produced new nanosheets for near infrared imaging from ancient ‘Egyptian blue pigment’. In October 2018, I wrote an Ancient Origins article about Egyptian blue, a brilliant...

Radiocarbon dating needs fine-tuning if scientists and archaeologists want a more accurate historical timeline. Source: Elnur /Adobe Stock

20 March, 2020 - 22:03 ancient-origins

Fine-Tuning Radiocarbon Dating Will Rewrite History!

Radiocarbon dating, invented in the late 1940s and improved ever since to provide more precise measurements, is the standard method for determining the dates of artifacts in archaeology and other...

Several packages wrapped in linen canvas (top left and bottom right) were found inside the chest. One package contained a wooden box (bottom left and top right), which is evidence that Thutmose II’s lost tomb is nearby. Source: Andrzej Niwiński / Warsaw University’s Institute of Archaeology

11 March, 2020 - 21:37 Ed Whelan

Treasure Chest Found in Egypt Reveals Clues to Thutmose II’s Lost Tomb

Archaeologists working at one of the most famous Egyptian archaeological sites have made an amazing discovery. They have come across a stone chest and a wooden box with unusual contents. Experts...

Intricately decorated plaster walls in King Tut’s tomb

23 February, 2020 - 19:15 Alicia McDermott

New Evidence: Lost Queen Nefertiti May be Hidden in King Tut's Tomb!

Is there or isn’t there a hidden chamber, or chambers, connected to King Tutankhamun’s tomb? Just when we think the story reaches a conclusion a new study emerges throwing the mystery back into the...

IMAGE Upload an image to go with this article. Show row weights FILE INFORMATION OPERATIONS Image icon Egyptian-Game-of-death.jpg (113.35 KB) Alternate text Depiction of an ancient Egyptian queen playing senet (‘game of death’) from Nefertari's burial chamber, wife of Ramses II. Source: Public domain This text will be used by screen readers, search engines, or when the image cannot be loaded. Image icon game-of-death.jpg (100.58 KB) Alternate text This text will be used by screen readers, search en

10 February, 2020 - 13:56 Ed Whelan

Enigmatic Evolution of Ancient Egypt’s ‘Game of Death’ Revealed

An ancient Egyptian board game that was similar to Ludo or backgammon is offering new insights into ancient religious beliefs. It was not only a game, but it was seen as a way for the dead to...

Ancient Egyptian eye makeup was protective and poisonous

24 December, 2019 - 12:23 Mark Miller

Ancient Egyptian Makeup: Beauty and Protection with Poison

It’s sort of like the evil eye , but in reverse: the good eye, brought on by an application of lead-based kohl makeup that was unknowingly poisonous to ancient Egyptians but also had anti-microbial...

30 November, 2019 - 00:13 ashley cowie

The Golden Godheads of Human Death Rites

Masks are well ingrained in the social zeitgeist and while their use in ancient rituals and ceremonies across the ancient world is well documented, it is generally their protective applications in...

3D scan of bust of Nefertiti. Source: CosmoWenman / CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

26 November, 2019 - 13:59 ashley cowie

The Battle Is Over. Nefertiti 3D Is Finally Available

After a “hoax heist” and legal battle, full color interactive 3-dimensional scans of Queen Nefertiti’s bust are now available online. The high resolution 3D scan captures every single last detail of...

King Tut's sarcophagus. Source: Jaroslav Moravcik / Adobe Stock.

18 November, 2019 - 17:16 Ed Whelan

The Mystery of King Tut’s Death Finally Solved?

One of the best-known Egyptologists believes that he has finally solved the mystery of the death of Tutankhamun. He claims that the young pharaoh died after his leg became infected after an accident...