PHOTO CREDIT: Above photo by John Rickman Photography, San Jose, California.

• The Funerary Scene
• Musicians & Dancers
• Tree of Life

• Maat & Isis
• Isis & Queen Nefertari

When Amenhotep IV (also known as Akhenaten) was Pharaoh, he decreed that artists producing tomb paintings should create images showing everyday life. Up until then, much art had been very focused on scenes showing topics related to death and the afterlife. Concerned that future generations would believe that the Egyptians were obsessed with death, this Pharaoh commissioned artwork that showed everyday activities such as making music and dancing.

On the heads of the musicians are cones made of perfumed wax. As the heat from the room and the women's bodies melts the wax, it releases its scent into their hair.

This painting of the three female musicians comes from a tomb relief of a man named Nakht who lived under the reign of Tuthmoses IV, around 1401-1391 BCE. Nakht was a scribe and a temple star watcher. His tomb can be found in the West Bank area of Luxor, in the Valley of the Nobles.

The picture of the dancers comes from a tomb in Thebes (Luxor) of an official named Nebamun who lived under the reign of Amenhotep III. Historians estimate that Nebamun died around 1400-1500 B.C.E. The art was hacked out of the tomb around 1820 and taken to Great Britain where it was sold. Today, nobody knows where the original tomb was that contained these images.

The dancing girls appear as part of a large banquet scene, and in the mural they are depicted next to a group of female musicians.

In this image, a woman is holding a type of rattle known as a sistrum. This is a type of musical instrument used for percussion. The musician shakes it, and the loosely-attached crossbars jangle. In the language of ancient Egypt, the term for this instrument was sekhem.

The sistrum was commonly used to accompany sacred rituals.

As in the image above, the cone on the woman's head consists of perfumed wax. As the heat from the room and the woman's body melts the wax, it releases its scent into her hair.

On the Tree Of Life, the birds represent the various stages of human life. Starting in the lower right-hand corner and proceeding counter-clockwise:

• The light gray bird symbolizes infancy.
• The red bird symbolizes childhood.
• The green bird symbolizes youth.
• The blue bird symbolizes adulthood.
• The orange bird symbolizes old age.

In ancient Egypt, the direction east was considered the direction of life, because the sun rose in the east. West was considered the direction of death, of entering the underworld, because the sun set in the west. They believed that during the night, the sun traveled through the underworld to make its way back to the east so it could rise in the east again on the next day.

On the tree of life, note that the birds representing the first four phases of life all face to the east, but the bird representing old age faces to the west, anticipating the approach of death.

This picture depicts the goddesses Ma'at and Isis. Ma'at, the goddess of truth and justice, is the winged goddess who is kneeling. Isis is the goddess seated on the throne.

According to legend, Isis was the wife of Osiris and mother of Horus; therefore, the queen of the gods. The identifying characteristics that indicate the seated goddess is Isis include the horned headdress and the vulture on her head. Although sometimes Hathor is also depicted with a horned headdress, only Isis has both the horned headdress and the vulture.

Why the vulture? The ancient Egyptians respected the vulture for its commitment to motherhood, and another goddess (Nekhebet) who was portrayed as a vulture is also said to have suckled the royal children, including the pharaoh. So it's natural that Nekhebet would be incorporated into a portrait of the mother of Horus.

Notice that Isis is holding the ankh, the key of life.

In this particular illustration, because Isis is seated on the throne and facing the goddess of justice, Isis is most likely serving as a metaphor for the queen.

Did you think the winged goddess in this picture was Isis? Contrary to what many people believe, not all winged goddess images are Isis. Here's how you can tell it's Ma'at instead of Isis: she has an ostrich feather headdress. Whenever you see a feather headdress like this, the goddess being depicted is Ma'at.

In this picture, the goddess Isis (the one with the horned headdress) is leading Queen Nefertari by the hand. As in the picture above, Isis is wearing a horned headdress. But instead of including a vulture in the headdress as above, she wears the cobra-shaped symbol.

Many people believe this picture depicts Hathor because of the horned headdress. However, in Egyptian art, the horned headdress can be used for either Isis or Hathor. Sometimes the only way to tell which goddess appears in a given image is to examine the hieroglyphics next to her. In this example, the hieroglyphics in front of the goddess' face include the throne-shaped symbol that is used to depict Isis' name in hieroglyphics. (In the funerary scene above, this throne appears on top of Isis' head.) The hieroglyphics behind the goddess' ankles in the photo to the right also include the throne symbol. In contrast, the symbol used to represent Hathor's name does not appear at all in this picture.

How do we know that the woman in the dress is Nefertari? From the cartouches next to her, which portrays the name Nefertari in hieroglyphics.

This image appears on the walls of the tomb of Nefertari at Valley of the Queens on the West Bank near Luxor, Egypt.

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• The Goddesses Of Ancient Egypt. Lists many of the goddesses of the ancient Egyptian pantheon, with descriptions of their roles.
• Two-Dimensional Ancient Egyptian Art. Explanation of the artistic style employed by ancient Egyptians and the reasons for it.
• Ancient Egypt: Which Goddess Is Which? How to know which goddess you're looking at.
• Symbols From The Middle East. Pictures and history of many familiar symbols whose origins lie in the spiritual traditions of the Middle East.

• Poems Inspired By Middle Eastern History & Culture. Several poems inspired by the ancient legends from the Middle East. Reviews of Books About Ancient Cultures. Books about Egypt and Sumer.
• Making an Egyptian Pharaonic Costume. Instructions by Arabella.
• How to Make a Cleopatra-Style Headdress. Via crochet, instructions by Shira.
• What Is Pharaonic Dance? An introduction by Shira.