JP Digital Art - Ancient Egypt

My last website project was dedicated to him - Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
Ancient Egypt in general, and the so-called "Amarna Period" in particular, is a passion of mine.

This creation here is special because I modeled it based on a reference picture of the wooden bust or "mannequin" found in his tomb (find a photo of it here: www.pharao-tutanchamun.de/wer-war-tutanchamun.htm).
But it also took me a lot of postprocessing in Photoshop until he looked like that, because Midjourney couldn't really get rid of the wooden look it transferred from the reference photo. Maybe a wooden bust isn't the best reference after all. ;-)

For the unique touch I cut out the earrings from a photo of one of the original pairs of earrings found in his tomb, and put it into the original Midjourney image.

It still won't resemble the real Pharao Tutankhamun much, of course. Portraits in Ancient Egypt were generally not made to be as lifelike as possible, but rather idealized and according to the distinct style of art of their respective era.

This creation is also based on the reference image of the wooden bust of Tutankhamun, found in his tomb. In this picture, he's relaxing in the warm glow of the Aten sundisk setting on the horizon, while a servant keeps rowing the boat for him.

Scenes of fowling in the marshes of the Nile are widespread in Ancient Egyptian paintings and illustrations. The marsh setting has a symbolic association in the Ancient Egyptian culture and mythology, mostly with life and rebirth.

One of the golden statues found in the tomb of Tutankhamun shows him on a reed raft hunting with a javelin. An extensive collection of wooden boomerangs has also been found in his burial hoard, either for hunting fowl or for ritualistic purposes. It appears that fowling in the marshes has an important role in the lives of New Kingdom rulers.

Modeled on a reference painting of Queen Ankhesenamun by Winifred Mabel Brunton, a South African painter, illustrator and Egyptologist I admire.

Tutankhamun probably married his half sister, who was a few years older than him, when he ascended to the throne at the age of about 8. The young woman was one of the daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, and thus Tutankhamuns half-sister.
The two baby mummies found in his tomb were probably the daughters of Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun. They were both previable, most likely due to stillbirth or miscarriage. When Tutankhamun died around the age of 19, there was no living descendant and heir to the throne. The ultimate fate of Queen Ankhesenamun after the death of her husband remains unknown.

Though she lived one of the most privileged lives in Ancient Egyptian society, it was also a tragic life - as she witnessed a great deal of social and political turmoil, severe strokes of fate, and the demise of her bloodline, now known as the Thutmoside Dynasty.

Akhenaten, also known as Amenhotep IV, was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who reigned during the 14th century BCE. He initiated radical religious reforms, particularly the worship of Aten, a personification of the sun, over the traditional polytheistic beliefs of ancient Egypt.
This shift led to the establishment of a monotheistic-like religion, which was unusual for the time. Akhenaten moved the capital from Thebes to a new city called Akhetaten (modern-day Amarna), where he built temples dedicated to his god Aten.
After his death, many of his reforms were reversed, and his name was erased from historical records.

My humble opinion, as well as the opinion of some egyptologists, is that he initiated the cult of the Aten mainly to break the ever-increasing power of the priesthood of Amun-Re, which threatened the hereditary monarchy and the absolute power of the pharaohs.

In this creation I wanted to show him as the chosen of his god Aten, ascended to the sky as an embodiment of the golden sun, in eternity.

Nefertiti was the great royal wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten.
After her husband's death, some scholars believe that Nefertiti ruled briefly as a female pharaoh before Tutankhamun ascended the throne, but this theory is a matter of ongoing debate.

In the 20th century, Nefertiti became famous by the discovery of her ancient bust, now in the "Neues Museum" in Berlin. It was a magical moment for me when I first saw the bust on its display in the museum - in the center of a totally dark room, the only light shining on this truly perfect sculpture that captures both beauty and divinity.

Here she joins her husband Akhenaten after her death, reigning forever over the sky as a sun goddess alongside their god Aten.

You rise in perfection
on the horizon of the sky,
living Aten, who created life.
When you are risen upon the eastern horizon
you fill every land with your perfection.

When you dispel darkness
and send out your rays
the Two Lands are in festival,
men wake up, standing upon their feet,
it is you who raised them up.
Their bodies are clean, their clothes put on,
their arms are lifted
in praise at your rising.

Yet you are alone,
rising in your manifestations as the living Aten:
rising, shining, departing, returning,
you made millions of creations of yourself.
Towns, harbors, fields, roads and river,
every eye beholds you upon them.

Excerpts from different translations of the "Great Hymn to the Aten"

I modeled these two images after some hypothetical facial reconstructions of the famous Egyptian queen. They follow the few illustrations that remain of her on ancient coins and busts. I had to put in the rearing golden cobra on her crown myself in Photoshop, taken from an image of an Ancient Egyptian sarcophagus, because Midjourney is still struggling with realistic depictions of the cobra-goddess Wadjet.

Cleopatra VII (69 – 30 BCE) was the last ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. Today, she is one of history's most famous figures. Renowned for her intelligence, political acumen and charisma, she was a skilled diplomat and fluent in multiple languages. Cleopatra sought to preserve Egypt's independence amid the expanding Roman Empire.

Her romantic and political alliances with Julius Caesar and later Mark Antony were central to her efforts to strengthen her position and Egypt's sovereignty. Following her defeat by Octavian in the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE, Cleopatra took her own life, traditionally said to be by snake bite.

Her death marked the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty and the incorporation of Egypt into the Roman Empire. Cleopatra's legacy endures as a symbol of power, intrigue, and the blending of Egyptian and Hellenistic cultures.

The so-called "black pharaohs" of the 25th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt (ca. 747 – 656 B.C.) originated from the Kingdom of Kush, located in Nubia (modern-day Sudan). These rulers, including notable figures like Piye, Shabaka or Taharqa, united Egypt and Nubia under their rule, restoring and revitalizing Egyptian culture, art, and religion after a period of decline.

Most modern scholars reject the notion of a distinct black or white Egypt hypothesis. Ancient Egypt was racially heterogenous, skin colors varied from light to dark between the peoples of Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt, and Nubia. Dark-skinned pharaohs and queens would thus not have been uncommon.

After an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh's 30th year of reign, the "Sed festival", also known as the "Heb-Sed", was celebrated every three years to symbolically renew and reaffirm the pharaoh's divine power and vitality. The throne jubilee symbolized the ruler's continued ability to govern and maintain the so-called cosmic order "Ma'at".

The event involved rituals, such as offerings to the gods, processions, and symbolic acts of renewal. A central feature was the king demonstrating his physical fitness by running a ceremonial course, representing his ability to rule both Upper and Lower Egypt. The Sed festival was not only a political and religious event but also a public spectacle that reinforced the pharaoh's divine authority and connection to the gods.

Ancient Egyptian princesses were members of the royal family who often played a vital political, religious, and cultural role. As daughters of the pharaoh, they were seen as embodiments of divine and royal authority. They were often educated in various subjects, including religion, politics and the arts, preparing them for their roles in governance and society. Princesses frequently served as priestesses, representing gods in temple rituals, and sometimes wielded influence in court affairs.

As royal daughters were instrumental in forging alliances through marriage, they were sometimes married off to high Egyptian officials. It remains unclear, however, how common it was for an Egyptian princess to be married off to foreign rulers, to unite Egypt with neighboring powers. It probably depends on the era and dynasty.

In one of the so-called "Amarna Letters", the pharaoh had replied to the request of the king of Babylonia, who wanted to marry one of his daughters: "From of old a daughter of the king of Egypt has never been given to anyone."

In this time period it was apparently the custom to marry only inside the bloodline of the royal family - even if this meant the marriage between brothers and sisters.
The lives of Ancient Egyptian princesses were marked by luxury and privilege, but also determined by heteronomy, responsibilities and political pressures.

Could you bear the responsibility to be the heirs to the throne of Kemet?
Would you be ready to rule this glorious kingdom in accordance to your powerful ancestors?

(Kemet was the name of Egypt in Old Egyptian.)

Oh, to be a falcon in Ancient Egypt! Beholding his realm from high above, landing on the tops of pyramids, temples and monuments.

Horus was the Ancient Egyptian god of the sky, the protective god of the pharaoh and the son of the gods Isis and Osiris. He was depicted as a falcon, most likely a lanner falcon or peregrine falcon.
So I used photos of the lanner falcon as a model for these images.

The original pronunciation of his name has been reconstructed as "ħaːɾuw" in Old Egyptian. It means "the distant one" or "the one who is above".

Depictions of the god Horus are among the most numerous of any god in Egypt. He's almost omnipresent in both texts and pictorial representations. Horus is depicted as a falcon or as a standing human with a falcon's head, sometimes wearing a double crown.

Many species of animals were mummified in Egyptian history, including the falcon. They were no pets, but sacred animals that were raised in temple precincts. The falcons were sacrificed, mummified and offered in the temples by pilgrims to the associated god Horus as a substitute for more expensive bronze votives.

The full titulary of an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh consisted of five names: The Horus Name, the Nebty name, the Golden Horus name, the Throne name and the Personal name.
The Horus name is the oldest form of the pharaoh's titulary, originating in prehistoric Egypt. Many of the oldest Egyptian pharaohs were only known by this name.
The Golden Horus name featured the image of a Horus falcon together with the hieroglyph for gold.

Every Ancient Egyptian pharaoh was identified with Horus, because he represented kingship itself. The term "The Horus has flown to the skies" meant that the reigning king had just died.

In Ancient Egypt, cats were highly revered and considered sacred animals. They were associated with the goddess Bastet, who represented home, fertility, and protection. Cats were admired for their hunting abilities, especially in controlling vermin that threatened grain stores.

Egyptians often kept cats as pets and even mummified them for burial alongside their owners, reflecting their importance in society. The adoration of cats led to their widespread symbolism in art and mythology, showing their integral role in both daily life and spiritual beliefs in Ancient Egypt.