Ancient Egyptian Motifs in the Post
Commemorative postal cover celebrating the discovery of King Tut’s tomb.
My Collection of Egyptian Stamps…
For almost as long as I’ve been fascinated by ancient Egypt, I’ve been enchanted by their postal stamps and anything to do with letters and mailings from that far-flung land.
I think the first stamp I ever came across was back in the 1980s when I found a little cancelled red stamp with the Sphinx on it. Since then, I’ve casually collected Egyptian stamps with ancient motifs and recently I created some notes with images of the stamps featuring the Eye of Horus, which I’ll show you in just a minute.
But first let me say that the reason I immediately latched onto this design was because one, it has the iconic eye as the base of the design, along with the uraeus (cobra) and a collection of other symbols. But it was also specifically created for the 15th International Congress of Ophthalmology that was held in Cairo the year of its release - 1937.
My dad is a retired Ophthalmologist, so it caught my interest.
In Egyptian myth, the god Seth (aka Set) attacked Horus and tore his eye out while fighting over the throne that was vacant due to Seth killing his father, Osiris. Thoth, the god of magic and wisdom, restored and healed Horus’s eye. There’s more to this story, but I’ll leave that for another post.
Egyptian stamps with ancient motifs (for the most part).
Eye of Horus Stamp…
The ‘Eye of Horus’ stamp is shown at the very top left. There are three colorations - blue, greige and brickish red, each representing a different monetary value.
The red sphinx stamp to the far-left middle is one of the stamps that got me on my stamp-collecting journey. Egypt isn’t the only country I collect, but of course, it’s my favorite.
Also noteworthy is the King Tut mask in the middle brown stamp and some of the surroundings ones that are representing the Exposition Internationale D’Art Contemporain.
My recreated stamp illustrations for a future card set.
And these are the ‘stamp notes’ I’ve started making. I’ll ad a few other stamp designs before the set is complete. Probably something with the Pyramids and Sphinx.
Commemorative Covers…From King Tut
The very first photo in this post was a commemorative cover for the British Museum’s Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibit.
It marked the 50th anniversary of Tutankhamun’s tomb discovery by Howard Carter and remains today the most popular exhibit in the museum’s history. Fifty objects were loaned to the museum for the exhibit including the solid gold death mask that everyone immediately thinks of when they hear the boy king’s name.
The exhibit was part of a fundraising effort for the UNESCO rescue operation to save the temples of Philae from flooding, and it ended up raising over £600,000-£700,000. That was a quite a bit back in the 1970s.
I remember when King Tut mania spread through the USA too. The Met Museum had their blockbuster exhibit in the late 70s.
Another commemorative postal cover. This one for the Airbus A 300 B2 first flight.
Air France Airbus
This is another commemorative cover. I love the imagery of the famed Nefertiti bust and the interesting font of Paris and Le Caire. This was also produced in the 1970s covers. I have to admit right here; I love the 1970s style.
I don’t know if it’s because I grew up in much of it, but I just find it to be the coolest era. And flying back then - so different from today. How fun to be on this first flight which, according to this cover, went from Paris to Nice to Cairo.
The Engraved Look…
As a final note, and going back to the stamps, I think the reason I love all the ones that were shown in the 2nd photo collection is that they are not only featuring something of interest, but they are also of the engraved variety vs the photo variety. They are illustrated, not a photo, which, as far as I’m concerned, always looks better on a stamp.