The finished drawing of Meretseger, guardian goddess of tombs. She is depicted with the head of a cobra. She protects against grave robbers and afflicts them with terrible pains and illnesses. However, she is also said to be a merciful goddess, and those who repent from their thieving ways may receive forgiveness and healing.
She’s wearing gold leaf, like the other gods in the pantheon. I am available for commissions! I also have some exclusives on Patreon (I’m zooophagous there too)
god I wish you could make titles smaller on tumblr
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in Egypt has been releasing videos and 3D tours of various sites (ancient and not) over the past few weeks in order to allow people to experience Egypt from their homes, and also to promote tourism. This means that some sites, which previously had been hard to find images of, have now got 3D tours to just browse the day away on. I know @23-tiny-wishes has been putting these links out there on a regular basis, and I’ve reblogged some of them, but I thought what better way for people to experience them than as a compilation post. (obviously incomplete, as I’m skipping some of the tours, and they’re still releasing them too). So here’s what we have so far (links are in bold):
Tomb of Queen Meresankh IIIWife of Khafre (Pyramid with limestone cap) and Granddaughter of Khufu (Great Pyramid) c.2570 (Giza necropolis, near the Pyramids)
Tomb of Menna in the Theban Necropolis New Kingdom c.1360 BC (Qurna, near Luxor)
Tomb of Ramesses VI New Kingdom, 1137 BC (Valley of the Kings, make sure to look at the ceiling on this one)
Tomb of Khety, Middle Kingdom c.2051–2000 BC (Beni Hassan)
Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa 2nd Century AD (Alexandria) Hellenistic and Roman, but is used well into the Middle Ages. This one is quite large, though does not appear so. Took me ages to work out how to get further down into the catacombs. When it loads, do a 180 to face the open air courtyard, go forward until you’re at the door but not through it, turn right and you’ll see this:
This tiny circle will take you to the rest of it…and you will get lost!
Tomb of Wahty, c.2450 BC, 5th Dynasty, Old Kingdom, Saqqara
Tomb of Mehu, 6th Dynasty, Old Kingdom, Saqqara, c.2300 BC (about 4300 years old)
Tomb of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep, more commonly known as the ‘Tomb of the Two Brothers’. They’re depicted holding hands, and in the nose touching ‘kissing’ pose reserved for lovers. The info in the tour was written by Egyptian scholars who are not LGBTQIA+ friendly so it only lists them as brothers. Don’t yell at me.). Old Kingdom, c.2500 BC, buried at Saqqara.
…..‘brothers’…..
Step Pyramid Colonnade, Saqqara, c.2670 BC
at the end there’s a circle to click that will take you *inside* the pyramid, once you’re inside the pyramid there’s another circle that will take you further in to explore the burial chamber of Djoser. In case you can’t find the other two portals:Pyramid South Entrance (on this one, if you go away from the burial chamber and down the corridor, you’ll get to a 360 degree symbol and that will take you outside to the main area in front of the Pyramid. You can’t go anywhere, but you can look around) Djoser’s Burial Chamber.
Pyramid of Unas, c.2360 BC, Saqqara. There are several 360 degree angles outside this one too, just pick the circles within the tomb to take you outside to the Saqqara necropolis. Again, they only let you look around in a circle, but it’s fun! This is the tomb with the Cannibal Hymn on the walls.
