University of Pennsylvania Museum

Lion Head Finial for an Arm of a Chair Silver, shell, and lapis lazuli 2550-2450 BCE Ur, Iraq (PG800, Pit Floor) # B17064 Text from the U. Penn Museum label.

Harp Ornament Electrotype 2550-2450 BCE Ur, Iraq (PG1237) # 31-18-10 Woolley had a series of electrotype reproductions made of all of the gold objects from the Royal Cemetery. The originals of the pieces seen here are in the Iraq Museum, Baghdad. The bull's head belonged to an elaborately decorated lyre from PG1237. The helmet was discovered in an extremely lavish burial, PG755. Several objects in the tomb mention Meskalamdug. A cylinder seal of Meskalamdug, the king, was found in another royal tomb. There is disagreement over whether or not the burial in PG755 was the king of that name. Text from two U. Penn. Museum labels.

Helmet Electrotype 2550-2450 BCE Ur, Iraq (PG755) # 29-22-2 Woolley had a series of electrotype reproductions made of all of the gold objects from the Royal Cemetery. The originals of the pieces seen here are in the Iraq Museum, Baghdad. The bull's head belonged to an elaborately decorated lyre from PG1237. The helmet was discovered in an extremely lavish burial, PG755. Several objects in the tomb mention Meskalamdug. A cylinder seal of Meskalamdug, the king, was found in another royal tomb. There is disagreement over whether or not the burial in PG755 was the king of that name. Text from two U. Penn. Museum labels.

Helmet Electrotype 2550-2450 BCE Ur, Iraq (PG755) # 29-22-2 Woolley had a series of electrotype reproductions made of all of the gold objects from the Royal Cemetery. The originals of the pieces seen here are in the Iraq Museum, Baghdad. The bull's head belonged to an elaborately decorated lyre from PG1237. The helmet was discovered in an extremely lavish burial, PG755. Several objects in the tomb mention Meskalamdug. A cylinder seal of Meskalamdug, the king, was found in another royal tomb. There is disagreement over whether or not the burial in PG755 was the king of that name. Text from two U. Penn. Museum labels.

Plaque- Winged Sphinx Ivory Nimrud, Iraq 8th century BC # 65-3-2 Phoenician ivory carving was widely exported. This piece of Phoenician-style ivory furniture inlay was found at the Assyrian capital of Nimrud in northern Iraq. Text from the U. Penn. Museum label.

Figurine Fragment- Mother and Child Ceramic Beth Shean, stratum V Iron IB-IIA, 1150-900 BCE # 29-103-881 Text from the U. Penn. Museum label.

Offering Stand Ceramic Beth Shean, stratum V, south temple Iron IB, 1150-1000 BCE # 29-103-830 This offering stand is decorated with birds and snakes. These animals commonly appear on ritual objects throughout the eastern Mediterranean, though their symbolic significance remains unknown. Text from the U. Penn. Museum label.

Offering Stand in the Form of a Building Ceramic Beth Shean, stratum V, south temple Iron IB, 1150-1000 BCE # 29-103-807 Offering stands were used to hold bowls in which food, oils or incense were placed as offerings, and sometimes burned, during temple rituals. Text from the U. Penn. Museum label.

Female Figurine Plaque Ceramic Beth Shean, stratum IX, temple Late Bronze IB-IIA # 32-15-197 Text from the U. Penn. Museum label.

Model Shrine Ceramic Amathus, Cyprus ca. 600 BC # MS 156 Model shrines such as this one are associated with the Phoenicians and their expansion westward into the Mediterranean. Note the typical Phoenician stylistic features like the crescent moon and sun-disk above the doorway and the proto-Aeolic column capitals. Text from the U. Penn Museum label.

Predynastic burial (reconstruction) Artifacts of the Nagada II phase, circa 3500 BC # E16228 Text from the U. Penn. Museum label

Hippopotamus Figurine Ceramic Beth Shean, stratum VI Iron IA, 1200-1150 BCE # 29-107-925 Text from the U. Penn. Museum label.

Ushabti for the Army Commander and High Priest of Amun, Pinudjem II Faience height, 0.18 meter Thebes (in Upper Egypt) 21st Dynasty, circa 969 BC # E595 Pinudjem II was one of the last of the lineage descended from Herihor. When Pinudjem II died, his mummy was placed in the old tomb of queen Inhapi, in the cliffs of Deir-el-Bahri. King Amunhotep I had already been moved to shelter in that tomb, and now the officials of the Theban cemetery became sufficiently confident about the tomb's security that they added the mummies of Seti I and Ramesses II. Within a few years, some forty other royal and priestly mummies were added to the cache. Text from the U. Penn. Museum label.

Ushabti for the Steward, Mah Sandstone height, 0.35 meter Anibeh (in Nubia); excavated from tomb SA 14 19th Dynasty, circa 1275 BC # E11092 The artistic quality of this ushabti is extremely high: despite the granular nature of sandstone, a great deal of minute detail was maintained in the carving. The inscription on the figure reads, "May Osirus, the deputy of Mah, be illuminated: he says, may your sight be opened, may you see the sun disc; may you worship Re' in life; may you be summoned in the cemetery; may you wander the hills of Tjaumut; may you transverse the mountain of the upper cemetery; may you behold the hidden cavern; may you sit on the throne in the sacred land, like the great crews (of the solar barque of Re'); the steward Mah." Text from the U. Penn. Museum label.

Canopic Jar Faience height, .30 meter Sediment (in lower Egypt) 19th Dynasty, circa 1250 BC # E14227a,b The jackal-headed Duamutef was the guardian of the stomach, after it had been eviscerated and mummified by the embalmers. Text from the U. Penn Museum label