Top 10: The Best Photos of Egyptian Artefacts by Sandro Vannini on Flickr
When I was asked to select ten of my favourite images from the Flickr photostream of Heritage Key photographer Sandro Vannini, I wasn't sure how I would be able to choose just ten from a collection of images that are each so breathtaking.
However, I discovered that his photostream at present only contains 88 images so my task was a little less daunting. However, they are all such exceptional images I would not even begin to know how to rank them in any particular order so please don't assume I found image number one more pleasing than number 10! Here are my joint top 10 favourite images by Vannini.
1: Detail of King Tut's Golden Death Mask
King Tutankhamun's golden death mask is such an exquisite piece of art that there are literally thousands of wonderful images of it throughout the world. However, I like Sandro's tight closeup of the eyes since it is said the eyes are a window to the soul.
The discrete lighting makes the eyes and cheekbones stand out from the headdress that recedes into darkness, suggesting its 3-dimensional nature. The slightly upward angle of the camera also gives a more lifelike apperance to the obsidian and quartz eyes and emphasizes the slight arch of the lapis lazuli eyebrows as if Tutankhamun is questioning why you have distrubed his eternal rest.
2: Black Coffin Containing Recumbent Figure of King Tutankhamun on a Funeral Bier
I love the contrast of the black bitumen-soaked coffin and the untreated wooden model of King Tut in this image as well as the geometric angularity of the coffin lid that acts as a frame for the image detail.
When I first saw this statuette, I thought it was a shawbti figure. Shawbti figurines were usually ritual representations of servants that were expected to perform work for the deceased in the afterlife. In the Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods the purpose was served by real ritual sacrifices but wax replicas began to appear in place of human sacrifices by the Herakleopolian period. Archaeologists found that these little figures were often inscribed with spells. This figurine, however, was actually carved and donated by an official of King Tutankhamun's imperial court.
3: The Alabaster Perfume Vase - Hapy: The God of the River Nile - Tomb of King Tut
Sandro has a number of different detail images of this spectacular alabaster perfume vase from King Tut's tomb depicting Hapy, the god of the river Nile. I liked this one in particular because I think using a vertical orientation almost always adds dynamism to an image and the placement of the Hapy figure in the left third of the canvas grasping the delicately curved lotus plants that draw the viewer's eye toward the right side of the canvas creates a pleasing composition as well as highlighting the unique details of this marvelous piece.
The lillies on the head of this figure of Hapy symbolize Upper Egypt while the figure on the opposite side of the container bears a headdress of papyrus denoting Lower Egypt.
4: Sketching the Sarcophagus
I particularly like this picture of gifted researcher Susan Osgood from the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute sketching the face of a sarcophagus because it demonstrates how such efforts can open a portal to the past where we can view the beauty of the original art before time and elements ravaged the work.
Of course some of the most famous sketches of structures of ancient Egypt were created by Dominique-Vivant Denon. Denon, a diplomat, artist and one-time friend of King Louis XV of France, accompanied Napoleon on his expedition to Egypt in 1798.
"“I felt that I was in the sanctuary of the arts and sciences…Never did the labour of man show me the human race in such a splendid point of view. In the ruins of Tentyra [the Roman word for Dendera] the Egyptians appeared to me giants.” - Dominique-Vivant Denon, Napoleon and the Scientific Expedition to Egypt
5: Cutting of the Foreleg
I love the geometric lines accentuating this wonderful image of a relief of the cutting of the foreleg of the sacrificial ox during the Opening of the Mouth ceremony from Seti I's tomb, KV17. Not only does this image provide an interesting vignette of an actual ritual but the subtle lighting retains the delicate colors that have survived almost two thousand years.
The foreleg of the ox was carefully pointed toward the deceased during this ritual and was thought to impart the strength of the ox to the departed. Some scholars think the ox also represented sexual virility that was also needed by the deceased in the afterlife.
6: Ammut From the Ritual Bed From the Tomb of King Tut (KV62)
One of my favourite subjects in ancient art is animals whether actual specimens or mythological like this carved head of Ammut, The Devourer, with the head of a hippopotamus, lion's legs and the body of a crocodile depicted on a support of a ritual bed from the tomb of King Tutankhamun.
This depiction of Ammut is slightly reversed from the creature described in Egyptian papyrus No. 99001 that says the "Eater of Hearts" had the forepart of a crocodile, the hind quarters of a hippopotamus and the mid-section of a lion. Funerary beds of this type are depicted in scenes of royal births found in a number of tombs. Therefore, this ritual bed was probably intended to serve the purpose of facilitating rebirth in the afterlife.
7: The God Bes on King Tut's Chariot
Another interesting depiction of a mythological creature that is part animal and part deity is this depiction of a gilded god Bes on a support of one of King Tut's chariots. The carving is beautifully detailed and nicely captured by Sandro. The eyes of the beast are riveting and quite lifelike.
Until the discovery of King Tut's tomb, only two intact chariots had been found in Egypt despite that fact that the vehicles, brought to Egypt by the Hyksos in the 16th century BC, were closely associated with kings and were frequently depicted in wall reliefs and paintings of the 18th dynasty.
To get these vehicles through the narrow corridors leading to the burial chambers, their axels had to be sawn through and the chariots disassembled. A replica of one of King Tut's golden chariots will be displayed in the new Egyptian Pavilion of the Las Vegas Natural History Museum scheduled to open early this year in Las Vegas, Nevada.
8: Wood Sarcophagus KV63
I love the angle and composition of this image of a wooden sarcophagus, one of eight coffins found within tomb KV63. The angle of the lighting accentuates the cracks and fragile surface of the carved likeness and the foreground element lends a feeling of cramped internment that the deceased had endured for so many centuries. Archaeologists had hoped to find King Tut's mother encased in one of the coffins but when the coffin was opened, the researchers found just a delicate tangle of flowers that had once been garlands the deceased had worn about their shoulders.
9: Re-Horakhty in the Tomb of Seti I (KV17)
The spectacular colors used to accentuate this relief of the god Re-Horakhty from the tomb of Seti I make this image just pop! The composition is also well balanced with the sharp-eyed god looking into the expanse of the golden sunshine. Also known simply as Ra (Re), this god was believed to be the creator of the world by the ancient Egyptians.
He is often accompanied by the goddess Ma-at, the embodiment of order and truth. The worship of Ra was manifested in the construction of pyrmaids and temples aligned with the rising and setting sun during the 5th dynasty.
10: Dr Otto Schader and Dr Zahi Hawass Examine a Sarcophagus in KV63
Of course, no collection of images of ancient Egypt would be complete without a picture of the dedicated researchers who continue to probe the depths of Egypt to uncover its ancient mysteries. Here Dr. Schader and Dr. Hawass gaze intently at a weathered wooden sarcophogus in KV63 almost as if they expect it to whisper its secrets to them. Although excavation of KV 63 officially ended in 2009, Dr. Schader's team is now busy removing the resin from coffins unearthed at the site and study of the artefacts will continue including the analysis of a unique set of pigments discovered there.
So there you have it - my favourite photos by Vannini on Flickr. What are your favourites? Let us know your top picks in the comments box below.
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Sandro's photographs of artefacts are perfectly executed, but I really love those of his images that have a more human element, especially Working on the Sarcophagus of Nesptah in TT34. The composition and the effect of the intense light make this an outstanding photo, but it's the tenderness and initimacy between the archaeologist and the sarcophagus that really makes this stand out as my favourite.
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