Many Roman Emperors celebrated their rise into power by bringing an obelisk from the province of Egypt to Rome, by that time, capital of the Roman Empire. And obelisk is a one piece, solid rock, architectural structure with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs weighting at most 1300 tons. With today’s technology is very hard to move one of those gigantic blocks of solid rock, just imagine how hard it was to move an obelisk with the technology available in the Roman Empire times. Below you’ll find some of the obelisk roman emperors brought to Rome, today’s capital of Italy. I have place them in this section related to the country of Egypt and not of Italy because these obelisks are originally from Egypt not from Rome.
Obelisk with elephant & the Pantheon
Akhenaten
Images Descriptions
Left: Colossus of Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten Karnak, Precinct of the Aten, 18th Dynasty, Reign of Akhenaten (c. 1351-1334 BC). In this statue, the king wears a pleated kilt that hangs low on his swollen belly and the double crown that symbolizes his dominion over Upper and Lower Egypt over a bag-shaped headdress. This crown is also worn by the great creator god Atum of Heliopolis, one of the gods with whom Amenhotep III was identified after his deification in the 30th year of his reign. The exaggerated artistic style seen in all of these colossal figures is thought to have religious significance.
Uper right: Akhenaten with his family.
Lower right: Tutankhamun as a child at the lowest right of the stela image.
Nefertiti, Wife of Akhenaten
Nefertiti’s Head
Head of Nefertiti, El-Amarna, Workshop of Tuthmosis Quartzite 18th Dynasty, Reign of Akhenaten (c. 1351-1334 BC). Like the more famous head of Akhenaten’s principal queen, this unfinished sculpture is only partly carved, with painted features indicating where the sculptor will continue to work. The mouth, nose, and ears are particularly rough. A crown made from a different material would have been attached to the top of the head.
Statue of King Akhenaten with his Wife Kiya
Although this statue is unfinished, it is one of the masterpieces of this period. It depicts King Akhenaten holding his second wife Kiya on his knee. The king seats on a blue crown stool wearing the blue (Khepresh), while his wife wears a wig and has her head turned affectionately towards her husband. This statue portrays a moment that was represented only in the Amarna period. Limestone; New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, reign of Akhenaten; Tell Al-Amarna.
Akhenaten’s Coffin
Coffin Description
18th Dynasty, Reign of Akhenaten (c. 1351-1334 BC). Luxor Wood, gilded and inlaid . Some scholars believe that Tutankhamon succeeded Akhenaten and Smenkhkare on the throne in Amarna, and returned to the old capital at Luxor bringing back with him the mummy of his father, hidden in a woman coffin. It was reburied in the tomb number 55 in the Valley of the Kings.
Daughters of Akhenaten with Elongated Heads
Akhenaten’s Palace Art
Other Artifacts
Stelas
Stela of Any
El-Amarna, Tomb of Any 18th Dynasty, Reign of Akhenaten (c. 1351-1334 BC). One of six stelae found in the tomb of the royal scribe Any, this shows the tomb owner riding in a chariot, accompanied by a servant. It is interesting to note that the servant, like the Amarna royal family, has an elongated head.
Stela are slabs of stone with inscriptions or depictions which were erected for a variety of reasons. The original purpose of funerary stela was the perpetuation of the name of the deceased. They came into use during the early dynastic period; the royal stela bore just the king’s name in a serekh and had been set up in niches inside the tomb. From the 3rd dynasty onward they were carved as false doors, a symbolic gate through which the Ka”soul” of the deceased could leave the tomb in order to strengthen itself on the food offerings set before it. The top of the stela was often rounded, a feature which became more common since the middle kingdom. During Ramesside times funerary stela often stood on either side of the tombs entrance. The stela became much more ornate in the course of history and were often decorated with depictions of the family of the deceased (the stelae of Mentuhotep), scenes of offerings or-since the new kingdom – adoration of funerary deities, or were inscribed with hieroglyphic texts. Among these were “autobiographies”, which were accounts of the life of the deceased showing them in the best possible light, thus furthering their chances in the afterlife.
Paintings
History
Palace Paintings
Mixed Paintings
