u/Egypt_Passion

In the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, since the late 19th century, a small sarcophagus carved from limestone has been kept under guard. It contains one of the oldest known expressions of affection for a pet, placed by a prince of the 18th Dynasty of ancient Egypt. This is the "Coffin of Tamiut", a kitten belonging to Prince Thutmose, son and heir designated by his father, Pharaoh Amenhotep III, and older brother of the future Akhenaten. Tamiut, whose name simply translates as "The She-Cat", was the beloved pet of an ancient Egyptian prince and would have lived amidst the luxury and opulence of the pharaonic court during the period of greatest splendor in ancient Egypt. The hieroglyphs carved on the sarcophagus of "The She-Cat" tell us of the sincere affection and respect the prince lavished on his pet, treating her almost as if she were a human being: there are invocations to the gods for her protection on the long journey to the Afterlife, to the Fields of Osiris; there are reliefs of offering tables consisting of geese, cow legs, jars—possibly containing milk—and so on; and the ever-present carving of a lotus flower, a symbol of regeneration and rebirth. In one of the texts carved on the sarcophagus lid, the artisan—I like to think it was the prince himself who wrote it for his beloved pet—has Tamiut speaking the following words:

"I rise before Heaven, and its parts that are upon it. I myself have been placed among the Indestructible Ones in Heaven; for I am Tamiut, the triumphant one."

Certainly, the embalmers, following the prince's explicit orders, mummified Tamiut using the most advanced techniques developed by the ancient Egyptians at the time, demonstrating the love he felt for his pet. Her sarcophagus, over 3,300 years old, testifies to this.

Concept, research, design, animation, music, voices, and editing by Egypt Passion (Pasión Egipto).

I traveled to Egypt in 1155 BC, during the reign of Pharaoh Ramses III, one of the last warrior pharaohs who successfully repelled the invasion of the so-called "Sea Peoples." However, his reign was not without its challenges, as his government faced the first known and meticulously documented workers' strike. My goal was to interview the scribe Amenakht, who recorded this event on the papyrus now known as the "Strike Papyrus," housed in the Egyptian Museum of Turin, Italy. Amenakht reads us an excerpt from his report (the first record of the event), in which he describes the movements of the workers at the tomb of Pharaoh Ramses III that day. Unfortunately, and as has often been the case in governments throughout history, I was forbidden from further investigation into this case and was definitively ordered to leave the land of the Nile. Nevertheless, I have been able to bring you a piece of that history from over 3,000 years ago, in which the workers of that era, just like those of our own, also fought for their rights.

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WORKERS' DAY!

NOTE: The final poster is an ironic play on words in which I blur the lines between the struggles of the ancients for better conditions and modern struggles in the same arena.

TAMIUT AND THE PRINCE: A Love Transcends Millennia