Carnegie Museum of Natural History

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ancient egypt

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Collections Connections

by Erin Peters

As Assistant Curator who works with the ancient Egyptian collections at CMNH, I care for and research our own collections, and also strive to be aware of connecting threads with other museums, their collections, and staff. In the wake of the devastating fire at Brazil’s National Museum that destroyed an incalculable amount of irreplaceable natural and cultural heritage (which included what is reported to be the entire Egyptian collection consisting of approximately 700 objects), it is especially important to celebrate these connections, and continue to build them.

In researching how we might update the display in our Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt, Jaron Keener (CMNH Exhibit Designer and Production Manager) and I recently went to the St Louis Art Museum. Jaron and I were excited to see the museum’s newly reinstalled permanent Egyptian collection, and to view the blockbuster travelling show, Sunken Cities: Egypt’s Lost Worlds.

Dr. Erin Peters at St. Louis Art Museum

We looked at amazing objects (some of them rarely on view outside of Egypt), like this monumental statue of a queen in the guise of Isis.

Jaron Keener at St. Louis Art Museum

And we were interested in how objects were displayed, like this group of processional vessels and equipment installed in front of a life-size image of a boat that would have been used in processions. The boat is similar in size to our 30-foot funerary boat from Dashur.

We were also delighted to find other objects that are similar to ours in the Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt.

wooden statuette of Serapis

Our small wooden statuette of the god Serapis was found at Kasr el Harit, a small town near the Fayum in Egypt. The Fayum is a region located west of the Nile River and south of modern-day Cairo. Kasr el Harit was known as Theadelphia by the early Roman period in Egypt, and is the same site that an exquisite over-life-size wooden statue of Serapis on display in Sunken Cities was found.

wooden Serapis

While images of Serapis are common from many areas of the ancient Mediterranean, these two wooden statues are relatively rare, and show how Egypt’s desert climate has preserved an exceptional amount of material. In connecting that material across museums, cities, and countries, we can expand our knowledge and continue to discover new things about Egypt and the rest of the ancient world.

Erin Peters is assistant curator of science and research at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences working at the museum.

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Does it sound strange to walk like an Egyptian on painted floors?

By Dr. Erin Peters

We often see paintings hung on walls today, so it may be hard to believe ancient Egyptians could walk on them! Many surfaces were painted in ancient Egyptian temples and tombs, even floors. We have a fragment of a painted floor from the Meru-Aten palace/temple at Akhetaten (modern Tell el-Amarna) in the Section of Anthropology’s storage. Amarna was the capital city of the pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife, Nefertiti, who famously changed Egyptian religion from polytheistic – worshiping many gods – to monotheistic – worshiping a single god. Akhenaten and Nefertiti’s single god was the Aten, the sun itself.

Fragment of a painted floor pavement from the Meru-Aten, Akhetaten
1. Fragment of a painted floor pavement from the Meru-Aten, Akhetaten (el-Amarna), Dynasty 18, acc. # 7106.

Nature was essential to all eras of Egyptian society, but the change to worshiping one natural element heightened this relationship in the Amarna Period. We see this in the art and architecture that survives, like our painted floor pavement. As you can see in the detail, the painting depicts red poppies, a common flower in ancient Egypt. The exquisite interlacing leaves and flowers, along with the visible brush-strokes of the ancient artisan, give the poppies a sense of naturalism characteristic of Akhenaten’s reign.

Detail of fragment of a painted floor pavement from the Meru-Aten, Akhetaten (el-Amarna)
2. Detail of fragment of a painted floor pavement from the Meru-Aten, Akhetaten (el-Amarna), Dynasty 18, acc. # 7106.

This naturalism contrasts with art and architecture produced before and after the Amarna Period, like the painting in the Dynasty 19 tomb of Sennedjem at Deir el-Medina. Half of Sennedjem’s tomb is recreated in our Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt. You may be familiar with the scene of Sennedjem and his wife adoring several gods in two rows within a shrine. The other half of the tomb shows Sennedjem and his wife in the Field of Reeds (what we think of as the Afterlife). The fields are surrounded by water and abundant trees and plants, including the mandrake, cornflower, and red poppy in the row at the bottom.

tympanum of the East Wall of the tomb of Sennedjem, Deir el-Medina
3. The tympanum of the East Wall of the tomb of Sennedjem, Deir el-Medina, Dynasty 19.

This detail shows rows of mandrakes, cornflowers, and poppies – all are painted in a more stylistic, or abstract way, than the poppies on our Amarna Period floor pavement.

Detail showing mandrake, cornflowers, and red poppies
4. Detail showing mandrake, cornflowers, and red poppies in the tympanum of the East Wall of the tomb of Sennedjem, Deir el-Medina, Dynasty 19.

While we see more naturalistic representations in the Amarna Period, floors were painted in all periods – so walking like an Egyptian could often mean walking on paintings!

Erin Peters is joint assistant curator of science and research at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences working at the museum.

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Why Were Cats Mummified in Ancient Egypt?

mummified cats and x-rays of them

In ancient Egypt, cats were sacred animals. People dedicated mummified cats at the sanctuary of the cat goddess Bastet as offerings. The sanctuary was located in the city of Bubastis where the remains of numerous cat mummies and small cat sculptures have been found.

Cats were also pets, just like they are today, and were sometimes mummified and placed in tombs with their owners. The belief was that by placing cats and their owners in the same tomb the pair could remain together in the Afterlife.

mummified cats and x-rays of them

Pictured above are mummified cats and x-rays of them on display in Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt.

Related Content

Archaeological Adventures in Ancient Egypt

Egypt and the Nile

Tunic Decoration from Egypt

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Book and Tour with Dr. Erin Peters

At the next Book and Tour, discuss the historical novel Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar with Carnegie Museum of Natural History Assistant Curator Dr. Erin Peters. Yourcenar’s book reimagines the life of the Emperor Hadrian from his childhood through his time as emperor. It is written from the perspective of Hadrian as if he were writing to Marcus Aurelius, a tactic which Yourcenar used successfully to bring Hadrian’s world to life.

Dr. Peters offers perspective on this book from her research at Antinoupolis, a city named for Hadrian’s companion–the Greek youth, Antinous. Supposedly, on a trip down the Nile with Hadrian in 130 CE, Antinous fell from the boat and drowned. Because of Egyptian beliefs, Antinous was deified after death, and Hadrian founded the city for the cult of the new god.

Dr. Peters will take you on a tour that focuses on objects in the Walton Hall that date to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods to give a sense of the ancient Mediterranean leading up to and during Hadrian’s time.

This is a free event, but those wishing to attend must sign up. To sign up, please join our Meetup group and RSVP.

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Ask a Scientist

Ask a Scientist: What does the bird on this limestone fragment symbolize?

Assistant Curator of Science and Research Dr. Erin Peters talks about “Egyptian blue” and the meaning of the falcon found on this ancient Egyptian limestone fragment.

Ask a Scientist is a new short video series where we ask our research staff questions about the millions of amazing objects and specimens stored in our collection. Tune in on YouTube, and submit your own questions via Twitter @CarnegieMNH.

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Funerary boat

Egyptian funerary boat

This boat, which was discovered outside of Cairo in the Dashur pyramid complex, is currently on display in Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt. Egyptologists believe that the boat, one of four discovered at Dashur, was used in funerary rituals to transport the pharaoh’s body across the Nile where it was mummified and buried.