Egypt

Ushabti arrive home

Al Ahram Weekly (Nevine El-Aref)

The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square played host this week to a funerary statuette of a woman named Hener. The statuette, which has been in the Netherlands, will be restored and put on display as a special exhibit.

The statuette story began at the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden in 2006 when a Dutch collector, who had bought the ushabti from an antiquities auction room, showed it to experts and curators of the museum to check its authenticity and historical value. Shortly after examining it the curators identified the ushabti as one of a group of six unearthed inside the tomb of Iurudef, excavated at Saqqara in 1985 by archaeologists from Leiden and published in 1991. Iurudef was the Scribe of the Treasury of Amun and Scribe of the God's Offerings during the reign of Ramses II. He seems to have acted as the latter's private secretary, and may even have been responsible for the construction of Tia's tomb in Saqqara. This would explain the fact that Iurudef is not only represented in a number of places in the tomb but even had his own burial-shaft within the precinct of his master. If we add that Iurudef may have been the tutor of Ramose, the famous scribe of the village of Deir Al-Medina, he becomes a fascinating figure in his own right.

See the above page for the full story.

- Saqqara.nl
saqqara.nl Including the 2009 dig diaries. Welcome to Saqqara.nl A visitor to the site before 1975 would have viewed a landscape uncluttered by monuments of any kind ... An observant visitor might have noticed rough rectangular depressions in the sand:...

- Egypt To Retrieve Ancient Statue From Netherlands
African Echo DISCOVERED in Saqara in 1985, stolen then auctioned, an ancient funerary statue “could finally go home to Egypt where it belongs,” according to the Cairo government. A recently found, precious “ushabti”, a funerary figurine that was...

- 27th Dynasty Tomb Of Sekhemet-nefret Found In Saqqara
National Geographic News (Dan Morrison) This is a significant elucidation of yesterday's State Information Service offering: An ancient Egyptian noblewoman's large stone coffin has been found in a tomb near the pyramid of Unas, experts announced...

- Ushabti Stolen During Revolution Returns
A well known ushabti from Egypt's XXVI Dynasty was among the stolen pieces taken from the Cairo Museum during the January revolution of 2011 and the robbery of the museum. The ushabti was broken during its theft and its lower half was left in the...

- Has The Statuette Of Akhenaten Been Found?
There are reports out today that the limestone statuette of the heretic king Akhenaten 1332-1336 bc, has been found next to a garbage can in Tahrir square unfortunately there are no photos of of it as of yet. The statuette is the most important of the...

Egypt