Wooden Figure wears the red Deshret crown

This figure wears the red Deshret crown of Lower Egypt and the face appears to reflect the features of the reigning king, most probably Amenemhat II or Senusret II. However, the divine kilt suggests that the statuette was not merely a representation of the living ruler.

Together with its counterpart wearing the white Hedjet crown of Upper Egypt, now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, the figure was discovered standing behind a shrine that contained an object sacred to the god Anubis, the so-called Imiut, and the two figures could be understood to have functioned as guardians of the Imiut.

The ensemble was discovered in 1914 in the area surrounding the pyramid of Senusret I at Lisht South during the Museum’s excavation of a mud-brick enclosure surrounding the mastaba of Imhotep, a 12th Dynasty official. A chamber had been built into the south part of the enclosure wall and in it the statuettes and shrine were hidden, doubtlessly after having played a part in a dramatic funerary ceremony.

The red crown, Deshret, was the headgear representing sovereignty over Lower Egypt. With a more peculiar shape compared to the one of Upper Egypt, the red crown represented a sort of high crest at the back and a long rigid thread, with a curl at the end, at the front. Assuming that the crown was an existing object and not simply a sort of hieroglyph represented on the reliefs and statues, it must have been made of linen or leather, colored in red.

Middle Kingdom, 12th Dynasty, ca. 1919-1885 BC. Now in the Metropolitan Museum. 14.3.17