Today, there was a guided tour on ancient Egypt in the Leiden antiquities museum.
Especially on the history of hieroglyphs.
The earliest hieroglyphs are from about 3000 BCE, just when Egypt became one kingdom.
Then, there was usually relatively much images and few text on inscriptions.
And those early hieroglyphs are often only partly readable for scholars today.
The famous Narmer Palette, possibly of the first pharaoh, of which a copy of the original in the Cairo museum is present, is only partly readable.
It is still uncertain how king Narmer and his successor Aha relate to Menes, the first pharaoh according to later tradition.
The time of the early pharaohs was also when people gradually moved from stone tools to copper tools.
Including for sculptors: at first they still had to get used to those tools, but gradually their tools and skills improved.
From the fifth dynasty, the museum has the sarcophagus of royal minister Minnofer.
The museum has also part of a statue of queen Hatshepsut.
The other part is in the USA. Probably the statue was broken by Hatshepsut’s cousin, successor, and rival Thutmoses III.
Ancient Egypt, Eurocentrism, Afrocentrism: here.
The Cairo museum: here.
