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Research from Egyptian Art

Essays

A detail from the tomb of Senenmut showing a Hathor-head frieze.
Framing the Past

Learn about the facsimile rotation in Gallery 132 on view until November 1, 2024.

January 17, 2024
The model of the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri with the triple tiered pillared halls and the connecting ramps
Model of the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri
Starting in 1911, the study of temples and tombs of the Middle Kingdom was the focus of the Museum’s work in western Thebes.
December 21, 2023
Undecorated Coffin from an Embalming Cache, Labelled “Khaemhor” (26.3.13a, b)

This plain white coffin, excavated by The Met’s Egyptian Expedition in the 1920s, was full of material from the mummification of a man named Khaemhor, made sacred by contact with his body. Learn more here about the excavation, construction, and meaning of this fascinating object.

November 15, 2023
Divine guardian figures and a shrine containing an Anubis fetish
The Egyptian Expedition, 1906–1936

Learn about past excavations by the Department of Egyptian Art.

March 16, 2022
Shabti box and shabtis from the tomb of Sennedjem
The History of the Department of Egyptian Art
By 1905, approximately 4,400 objects formed the nucleus of a collection of ancient Egyptian art at The Met.
February 21, 2022
A spread from the guest book kept between 1923 and 1939 by Minnie Burton, wife of photographer Harry Burton, at Metropolitan House on the West Bank at Thebes. Album displays handwritten notes and black-and-white photos of people in various poses.
Egyptian Art Archival Materials and Manuscript Collections
The Department of Egyptian Art oversees a wide range of archives, with the earliest dating back to the late nineteenth century.
January 28, 2022
Four grayscale ancient Roman-Egyptian portraits on the left; one color image on the right depicting a young person with short dark hair and a neutral expression.
Curatorial Interpretation: Portrait of a Youth (09.181.4) and Inserted Panel Portrait (11.139)
One of the strangest chapters in the history of the ancient panel portraits from the Fayum region in Egypt took place in the 1930s and 1940s in Nazi Germany.
December 31, 2021
Painting showing two craftsmen in a workshop
Egyptian Wall Paintings in Gallery 132
Explore facsimile installations from the Museum’s Egyptian Expedition.
November 19, 2020
Top section of a letter dated April 28, 1967 from Lyndon B Johnson on White House stationery to Director Thomas Hoving that the Temple of Dendur was awarded to The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
A Monumental Gift to The Met
Curator Diana Craig Patch discusses how the Temple of Dendur and other monuments of Nubia were saved, and how the temple made its way to The Met.
November 5, 2018
A drawing of the Temple of Dendur, Nubia, by David Roberts
Early Representations of the Temple
Catharine H. Roehrig, Curator, Department of Egyptian Art discusses the early representations of the Temple of Dendur by Europeans.
November 2, 2018
Detail of temple wall depicting Augustus (right) burning incense and pouring milk for the god Osiris (center) and the goddess Isis (left).
The Temple’s Cult and Decoration
Associate Curator Isabel Stünkel discusses the reliefs on the inner and outer walls of the Temple of Dendur, with special attention to the offering scenes.
November 2, 2018
Two photos side by side. The left shows two people joining fragments of a block from the temple prior to its reassembly in the 1970s. On the right is a photo of the Temple of Dendur at The Met with three people cleaning the temple.
Conserving the Temple: A History

Anna Serotta, Assistant Conservator, Department of Objects Conservation discusses the history of cleaning and conservation of the Temple of Dendur

November 2, 2018
Black and white photo of the Temple of Dendur on the Nile
The Temple of Dendur: Architecture and Ritual
Curator Adela Oppenheim focuses on the architecture of the Temple of Dendur as a setting for the cultic worship of Isis.
November 2, 2018
The First Cataract at Aswan in Lower Nubia (modern Egypt). Photo by Gustavo Camps
The Land of Nubia
Curators Janice Kamrin and Adela Oppenheim discuss the history of Nubia, the original location of the Temple of Dendur.
November 2, 2018
Reconstruction of the pyramid temple of Sahure, Abusir
Curatorial Interpretation: Palm Column of Sahure
Merging the development of the late Fourth Dynasty with new aspects, Sahure created his pyramid complex at Abusir according to a design that set the model for all the following kings of the Fifth, Sixth and Twelfth Dynasties.
October 23, 2015