Counting of the Cows

Padiamenet was a doorkeeper to a temple, and also a barber. We know this from the hieroglyphic inscriptions on his mummy case. The largest scene on the coffin shows Padiamenet dressed in a long, white robe, adoring the god Osiris. Padiamenet had very decayed teeth. He must have suffered with terrible toothache.

This is the coffin of Tjentmutengebtiu, otherwise known as Tamutin or Tamut. She was between twenty-five and forty years old, and was a priestess in the great temple at Karnak. The painted face on a coffin is a very idealized portrait. It often bears little resemblance to what the person actually looked like. Scientists at…

My new book is out now, and it’s an absolute beauty, thanks to stunning illustrations by Núria Tamarit. It contains six comic style tales, bursting with mythical creatures, gods, pharaohs and adventure. I was thrilled to receive an early review from the queen of historical fiction herself. This new hardback about Egyptian mythology and history…

Remember ‘Belzoni the Great’, the circus strongman who brought the head of Ramesses II back to England? He brought back hundreds of other artefacts, too, including these paintings from the tomb of Nebamun. Ancient Egyptian craftsmen painted beautiful scenes all over the walls and ceilings of their most important tombs, then sealed them shut. The…

The coffin of Naktankh plays an important role in my book The Ancient Egypt Sleepover. It is not always on display in the British Museum, but you can see lots of similar Old Kingdom coffins with the painted eyes facing east. My book contains a simplified hieroglyphic version of the name Naktankh, but the coffin…