(A Love Story Painted in Gold)

From the halls of the Grand Egyptian Museum, Giza

When we think of ancient Egypt, we often imagine the grandeur — towering pylons, vast temples, and pharaohs cast in rigid, eternal poses. But every so often, something breaks through that marble-hard formality and reveals the beating heart underneath. For me, one of the most striking examples of this came from an object far smaller than a pyramid: the painted throne of Tutankhamun.

When Howard Carter uncovered Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, he found a treasure chest of unimaginable beauty. But among the gold masks, canopic shrines, and chariots, there was one piece that stands apart because it feels alive. Tutankhamun’s wooden throne — gilded, inlaid, and glowing with the artistry of the 18th Dynasty — carries on its backrest one of the most intimate and human scenes in all of ancient Egyptian art.

The young king sits calmly, wearing his blue crown, while his wife, Ankhesenamun, approaches him with a tenderness that feels almost modern. She reaches out to place ointment on his shoulder, and he leans slightly toward her — not as a king receiving homage, but as a husband receiving affection. It is a quiet moment frozen in gold leaf.

But the detail that always stops me in my tracks is at their feet. Between them lies one single pair of sandals. Not two. Not his and hers. One pair.

This isn’t an artistic oversight. This is symbolism of the highest order.

In ancient Egyptian thought, a pair of sandals represented the journey through life — the path one walks from youth to death to the eternal beyond. And so, showing the king and queen with a shared pair of sandals was a deliberate, poetic statement:

Their lives moved together. Their destinies were intertwined. They walked the same sacred path — side by side, step for step.

In a world where pharaohs were often depicted towering above their queens, this throne shows something different. Something tender. Something honest. Two young people who grew up together in the palace at Amarna. Two teenagers thrust onto the throne. Two souls walking together, even in a life cut short.

In a tomb designed for eternity, perhaps the most eternal thing of all was this:
a love story painted in gold, and a pair of sandals made to be shared.