Scarab spring: the Ashmolean Museum's new Egyptian galleries – in pictures

A viewer inspects the shrine of Taharqa from the temple of Kawa. The piece dates from roughly 680BC Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian

A wide shot of the shrine. Shipped in wooden crates from Sudan to England in 1936, it is the only complete freestanding pharaonic building in Britain Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian

Mummiform figurines, known as shabtis, were placed in tombs from the middle kingdom onwards. They were designed to do manual work on behalf of their owner in the afterlife Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian

A fragment of a limestone statue of the crocodile-headed god Sobek Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian

The coffin of Meresamun, a temple singer. The ancient Egyptians believed a person's name must be preserved in order for them to survive for eternity Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian

Limestone statues of the fertility god Min, which date from 3300BC Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian

The mummy and coffin of Djeddjehutyiuefankh, who belonged to a very important line of Theban priests Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian

A close-up of Djeddjehutyiuefankh's coffin Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian

Ivory statuettes from the temple of Hierakonpolis. Dating from late pre-dynastic to early dynastic periods, these are some of the first depictions of the Egyptian elite Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian

Detail of a painting featuring two princesses Photograph: Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

A sculpture of the feline goddess, Bastet Photograph: Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

A 'mummy portrait' of a newly dead Egyptian youth, painted between AD100 and 200
Photograph: Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

A carving of Nefertiti, the pharaoh Akhenaten's wife Photograph: Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

A wide shot of the gathered exhibits
Photograph: Richard Bryant/arcaidimages.com