Kneeling Statue of Thutmose III

In this unique marble statue, King Thutmose III is shown kneeling in a pose of worship, offering two Nu vases for libation to Amun-Re. He wears the royal nemes headdress, surmounted by the uraeus, or rearing cobra. His body is well modeled with defined muscles. The king is kneeling on the nine bows, which represent the traditional foes of Egypt.

The posture of the king kneeling and holding two pots in offering to a deity first appears in the reign of Hatshepsut (about 1479-1458 BC). It then became a common pose during the New Kingdom (about 1550–1070 BC), and there are several such statues in the museum’s collections.

“Little wonder that the cult of Thutmose III was honoured for another 1,500 years, until the end of the Ptolemaic Period; or that his name, inscribed on scarabs and amulets, was believed to provide magical protection. For he was, without doubt, the greatest of all soldier pharaohs.”

― Lives of the Ancient Egyptians, by Toby Wilkinson, Thames & Hudson, New York, USA, 2013 (#aff)

New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, reign of Thutmose III, ca. 1479-1425 BC. From Deir el-Medina, West Thebes. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 43507a