The history of ancient Egypt (Pharaonic) is usually defined as having 30 dynasties, which are normally divided into a further 6 principal periods. Among those dynasties some never ruled Egypt independently, while at other times, the sovereignty was divided between north and south. The Egyptian religion had a large number of deities, and while each one was "responsible for the same subject ", it was incumbent on each god to fulfil various roles.
Burial coffin – The Egyptians felt it was important to maintain the integrity of the body of the deceased by embalming. The mummy was placed into the coffin (made either from stone or wood), which were richly decorated (painting and carving). The mummy in the coffin was equipped with all that the deceased required for the continuation of his/her life in the future world. The walls of the burial chamber were decorated with paintings and reliefs in diverse colors and featured different themes connected with the deceased's life. From all the findings, which were discovered in excavations throughout the years we can learn about the way the ancient Egyptians lived (a section of a wooden burial coffin can be seen in the Museum's collection, in addition to a number of stone reliefs in color).
Statues of the Gods – These statues constituted symbols only, the god was capable of "living" inside the statues. The majority of the small bronze statues of gods in our collection are from the later period – 18th – 20th dynasties. ( Horus, Ptah, Bastet, Isis, Osiris, Bes, Anubis – in addition to a number of animals). All the above statues were buried together with the embalmed deceased to serve him in the world to come, each god and his function. Small statues were also used for the individual's religious needs during his life time.
Small statues of human beings -
"Shavabti" figures were found in graves – These are mostly depicted in wrappings and their hands are crossed across the chest and holding work tools. Their task was to serve all the needs of the dead. Generally, a group of such statues was found, and each group had a work manager, who held a whip instead of a work tool. The number of these statues in the group was apparently determined by the deceased's status. Some of the statues were made from wood (sometimes painted black), while others were made with faience (terracotta with turquoise or white glaze).
Embalming – Mummy – Worshipping the god in the form of an animal was a very ancient practice in Egypt and has roots in the stone age. It was only in the later period that the worship of animals as real gods developed. Therefore, they used to embalm the bodies of these animals (bulls, deer, a hawk, monkeys). These were found in large numbers in special cemeteries. The shrouds were wrapped around the body meticulously and in a distinctive manner, layer after layer. Such a mummy of a hawk can be seen in the Museum's collection.
Scarabs –Personal seals – sometimes featuring explicit Egyptian inscriptions on them, mainly bearing the names of kings, (sometimes, only an imitation of an inscription, occasionally with the addition of letters of no significance forming neither word nor sentence). The scarabs had carvings of various patterns on them, some of which were geometric while others were thematic in character: Many of them showed animals and other images integrated with one another. Many scarabs were found in the Land of Israel and they contributed to our knowledge of the strong Egyptian influence and also testify to the links with Egypt throughout the history of many dynasties. The Museum's collection has a large number of scarabs (some of which were found in Israel) with diverse stones, and some bear a cartouche with the king's name. One special scarab of amethyst stone (dark and semi-transparent violet color). Already during the ancient period, the Egyptians succeeded in overcoming the problems associated with working the hard stone. From this period, we have a slate grinding plates whose peripherical shape is a fish and a duck.
Coptic and Islamic fabrics – The collection of Coptic and Islamic fabrics from Egypt are dated to the 7th – 12th centuries C.E. Most of them are parts of garments, which were commonly worn in Egypt among various strata of the population. Most of these garment parts were lengthened narrow decorative stripes (clavus)
for a long garment (coat, cloak, pants), and some of them are shorter bands, which apparently served for decorating sleeves, or a kind of short upper garment. These decorations featured varied and diverse subjects, starting with simple geometric patterns, vegetal patterns and continuing on to complex depictions of animals: Four-legged creatures, birds, fish, and plants, all combined with human beings. Most decorations included lines running the length of the cloth, but some sections also had patterns of larger squares and circles.
The threads used for the weaving are mostly wool, linen, and occasionally also silk; they were sometimes colored while at other times they retained their natural color, frequently the linen was whitened. The threads were colored with natural dyes, which in most cases were produced from plants. The most common technique used was weaving, but sometimes embroidery replaced it as the preferred technique.