Anubis Shrine
Anubis Shrine | |
---|---|
18th Dynasty, New Kingdom | |
Discovered | Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62), Valley of the Kings |
Present location | Egyptian Museum, Cairo |
Identification | JE 61444 |
3D model (click to interact) |
The Anubis Shrine was part of the
Discovery
The Anubis Shrine was found behind the unwalled entrance which led from the burial Chamber to the Treasury. The shrine, with a figure of the god Anubis on top, was facing towards the west. Behind it was the large canopic shrine containing the king's canopic chest and jars. During the work in the burial chamber, the entrance to the Treasury (called the Store Room by Carter in his diaries) was blocked with wooden boards, so that the work would not damage the objects in the Store Room. Investigating and clearing the Store Room began in the fifth excavation season (22 September 1926 – 3 May 1927) and Carter first described the Anubis Shrine in his excavation journal on 23 October 1927.[3]
Anubis statue
The statue of Anubis, depicted in animal form as a recumbent jackal, is attached to the roof of the shrine. The statue is made of wood, covered with black paint. The insides of the ears, eyebrows, rims of the eyes, collar, and the band knotted around the neck are worked in gold leaf. The eyes are inlaid in gold; the whites of the eyes are made from calcite and the pupils from obsidian. The claws are made of silver.[4] A very similar Anubis statue was found in the tomb of the pharaoh Horemheb (KV57). Made of cedar, the jackal once had inlaid eyes which are now missing, and was painted black with a gilded plaster collar. The body and paw of another jackal were also found, along with two fragmentary jackal heads. Unlike Tutankhamun's jackal, the claws were made of copper.[5]
The Anubis statue was wrapped in a linen shirt which was from the seventh regnal year of the Pharaoh
The statue was separated from the roof of the shrine on 25 October 1926 so that it could be transported through the burial chamber. The shrine on its sledge and the jackal were moved to the laboratory two days later on 27 October.[3] The wood was noted to have shrunk over the intervening millennia, which caused the gilded surface to bulge outwards. The surfaces and weakened areas were strengthened with wax.[6]
Shrine
The shrine on which the statue sits is trapezoidal. In his records, Howard Carter called it a
Function and significance
The shrine is mounted on a sledge-shaped
It is I who hinder the sand from choking the secret chamber, and who repel that one who would repel him with the desert flame. I have set aflame the desert (?), I have caused the path to be mistaken. I am for the protection of the deceased.[3]
The inscription on this brick was the origin of the curse of the pharaohs,[9] which was propagated in the international press of the time in many different versions rather than this original translation.
The statue of the jackal lying on the shrine is in the same posture and form as one hieroglyph (
References
- ^ a b c Carter, Howard. "Object Card 261-4". Griffith Institute. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-59591-100-1.
- ^ a b c Carter, Howard. "Excavation Journal 5th Season, September 22nd 1926 to May 3rd 1927". The Griffith Institute. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ a b c d Carter, Howard (1933). The Tomb of Tut.Ankh.Amen Volume III: The Annexe and Treasury (Reprint, 2000 ed.). London: Duckworth. pp. 41–45.
- ISBN 0-7156-3072-5.
- ^ Carter, Howard. "Object Card 261-5". Griffith Institute. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- ^ Rolf Felde, Ägyptische Gottheiten. 2nd edition. R. Felde Eigenverlag, Wiesbaden 1995, p. 6.
- ^ Pinch, Geraldine (2002). Handbook of Egyptian Mythology. ABC CLIo. p. 104.
- ISBN 978-0500051511.
- ^ Edwards, I. E. S. (1976). Tutankhamun: His Tomb And Its Treasures. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 153.
Further reading
- Die Hauptwerke im Ägyptischen Museum in Kairo. Offizieller Katalog. Publication of the heritage service of ISBN 3-8053-0640-7, No. 185.
- ISBN 3-7653-0262-7, p. 170.
- ISBN 978-0-500-05151-1, pp. 158–159.
- ISBN 88-8095-545-4, pp. 156–157.
- ISBN 3-8105-1706-2, pp. 37, 95.