Selecting the Highlights of the Egypt Centre. Please Vote!

Last month we decided that the Egypt Centre would create a small booklet containing fifteen highlights from the House of Death and fifteen from the House of Life. After some discussion of what should be included, we thought that we should let our award-winning volunteers decide. However, we also decided that it would be beneficial to open voting to the public, particularly as the museum is keen on widening participation. With the photography of the objects completed, the voting is now open and will remain so throughout the month of May. The announcement of the objects selected will be made during Volunteers’ Week, which takes place in the first week of June. To take part in the vote, please click on the following link and select up to fifteen objects per gallery. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/23FZCDG

Objects from the House of Death (fig. 1) are:

Number	EC number	Title
1	W1982	Coffin of the Chantress of Amun, Iwesemhesetmut
2	W867	Book of Dead papyrus of Ankh-hapi
3	W1013	Cartonnage coffin with foetus
4	W164	Reserve head
5	W379	Overseer shabti of Ptahhotep
6	AB110	Cippus
7	W549	Greek mummy label
8	W1283	Bes pot
9	W529	Cat mummy mask
10	W85	Standing Osiris statue
11	W1374	Statue of Isis suckling Horus
12	PM18	Sopdu-Hor amulet
13	W927	Khabekhenet wall relief
14	W56	Stela of Isis-Thermouthis and Serapis-Agathadaimon
15	W233	Heart scarab of Padiamun
16	W429	Ba-bird
17	W1024	Limestone head of private statue
18	W918	Gilded cartonnage mask
19	W648	Third Intermediate Period coffin fragment
20	W1041	Edfu stela of Pasherienimhotep
21	W481	Pottery offering tray
22	W194	Head of Ptolemaic queen
23	W1377	Eighteenth Dynasty Theban tomb painting
24	W496	Glazed Sekhmet statue
25	W535	Bird coffin with mummy
26	W1367a & b	Sarcophagus fragments of Amenhotep son of Hapu

Fig. 1: Montage of objects in the House of Death

Objects from the House of Life (fig. 2) consist of:

Number	EC number	Title
27	W581	Middle Kingdom battle axe
28	W277	Carnelian anklet with snake heads
29	W1376	Temple relief of Neferure
30	EC1307	Marble votive footprint
31	W921	Statue of Aba
32	W957	Paneb’s offering stand
33	W946 bis	Commodus stela
34	W836	Granite head of a goddess
35	W9	Amarna collar with Beset
36	AR50-2883	Flint hand axe
37	AR50-3540	Miniature Quran
38	W5303	Black-topped redware pot
39	W491	Tjenti’s lintel
40	W802	Amarna plaster with elbow of Akhenaten
41	W500	Faience wall tiles
42	EC1473	Metal plaque of Constantine and Helena
43	W2045	Stone offering table
44	W1150	Lute player ring bezel
45	W793	Amethyst scarab bracelet
46	W769	Paddle doll
47	W1371	Temple relief of Thutmose III
48	EC5001	Feldspar bead
49	W5308	D-Ware pot
50	WK44	Bes bell
51	W967	Book of Esther
52	W952	Cuneiform brick of Nebuchadnezzar II

Fig. 2: Montage of objects in the House of Life

Regular readers of this blog will recognise some of the objects available for selection. From the House of Dead are the reserve head (W164) and the limestone head from a private statue (W1024), while in the House of Life the temple relief depicting Neferure (W1376), a plaster fragment from Amarna with the elbow of Akhenaten (W802), a paddle doll (W769), and a D-Ware vessel (W5308) all featured in recent weeks. Given the number of objects available to select from, it is not really possible to highlight them all here. So, please vote and share the link with your family and friends in order to give us as much input as possible. The objects are all on display within the Egypt Centre, so why not pop in and have a look. Feel free to also tell us your favourite object, and why, in the comment section of the blog!