Pictures of ancient Egyptians made by foreigners

[archaeologist]

In old ES there was a thread with pictures of Egyptians made by non Egyptians through times. It was rather interesting so I thought we could have a similar thread here.

I start with a rather late depiction. It comes from a mosaic in the synagogue of Huqoq (northern Israel) in the 5th century AD. In the mosaic one can see a scen with Pharaohs soldiers being drowned in the Red Sea in connection to the exodus. For extra effect some of them are even eaten by fishes. The soldiers uniforms and equipment reminds of Romans since the artist could not really know how Egyptian soldiers were equipped more than 1600 years earlier.

When regarding skin tone the Egyptians are depicted somewhat more light skinned than the Africans who are involved in the building of Babels tower. But we of course do not know if the ones who made the mosaic would have seen any Egyptians, even if it is likely concerning that Egypt is not so far away. 



Pharaohs soldiers are drowned and eaten by fish


A larger view of the red Sea scene



Two fighting men at he building of Babels tower. They symbolize the confusion and division when everyone started to speak different languages

[anansi]

Do you have a link to those pics, folks often like to use them elsewhere or dig deeper, nice post.

[archaeologist]

Yes, here is a couple of links.

Links to articles:

Inside the Huqoq Synagogue

Man-eating fish, Tower of Babel revealed on ancient mosaic - National Geographic

ANCIENT BIBLICAL MOSAICS UNVEILED

Links to the pics:

A fish is eating one of Pharaohs soldiers in the Red Sea

Pharaohs soldiers drown in the Red Sea

Building the Tower of Babel

Two workers fight at the building of Babels tower

[archaeologist]

Naucratis was a Greek settlement in Egypt. From Naucratis come som artwork depicting Egyptians.

Naucratis or Naukratis (Ancient Greek: Ναύκρατις, "Naval Command";Egyptian: njwt-kꜣrṯ, nskꜣrṯ, pr-mryt, Piemro[citation needed]) was a city and trading-post in ancient Egypt, located on the Canopic (western-most) branch of the Nile river, south-east of the Mediterranean sea and the city of Alexandria. Naucratis was the first and, for much of its early history, the only permanent Greek settlement in Egypt, serving as a symbiotic nexus for the interchange of Greek and Egyptian art and culture.

Naucratis


Greek statuette (kouros) of standing male figure wearing Egyptian type loincloth

Statue from Naukratis, archaic time


A model of the city of Naucratis

From The Greek Emporium of Naukratis c 664 BC - c 700 AD

[anansi]

Life on the Nile during the flood. Nilotic mosaic, floor of the artificial cave of Palestrina, Italy
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_mosaic_of_Palestrina#/media/File:Mosa%C3%AFque_nilotique,_Praeneste,_Italie.jpg
go to link for greater resolution.

Egyptians in middle to upper Egypt, Greeks in lower Egypt, note the archers with feathers in the extreme upper left maybe "Nubians" the darkskinned spearmen are Egyptians, on the bottom representing lower Egypt are Greeks. 

[Brandon S. Pilcher]

Romans and (possibly) Egyptians venerating Isis from a painting at Pompeii:

[archaeologist]

Another artwork from Naucratis which depict an Egyptian or other African

A particularly fine piece is an Archaic, 6th century BC polished bone figure head of an African.
The core of the bone has been removed upwards from neck to be attached to a rod.
It possibly served as a stopper for a bone vessel, without clear parallels, with the possible
exception of some pieces from Kameiros on Rhodes.

Hollow bone head, dated 630–500, BC. British Museum, 1888,0601.81

Naukratis: Shell and bone artefacts and faunal remains (2019)

[djehuti]

Egyptians depicted in The gold Pentecost Mosaic of the dome of Basilica San Marco, Venice, Italy. 12th century AD