Red Granite heads of Amenhotep III

These group of heads, all made from Aswan “rose” Granite range in slightly smaller than life-size, and over life-size scale, and they all depict the same king, who is almost certainly king Amenhotep III of Ancient Egypt’s 18th Dynasty.

These heads were discovered in Thebes but are currently spread around various museums across the world, thus have become rather forgotten pieces of the “glistening” king. Two of the heads that currently reside in Cincinnati and Scotland were bought from an art dealership, thus no location of discovery is known.

However, within the Met Museum, NY, resides a head similar in creation (23.3.170), and it was discovered within the remnants of Hatshepsut’s Temple “Djeser Djeseru” at Deir el-Bahari, Egypt.

Alas, due to the site of Hatshepsut’s Temple being a concoction of varied historical findings from multiple time periods, it is safe to say scholars could not be certain where the head actually originated, and was thought most likely, that it came from Amenhotep III’s own temple.

We can tell the identity of the statue most likely belongs to that of Amenhotep III, based upon the apparent “realistic” depiction of the king that resembles other sculptures of the king in his later life. Although this statue has been referred to as Akhenaten and even Tutankhamun, it is almost certainly depicting that of Amenhotep III’s likeness. W. Raymond Johnson was the first scholar to identify the Metropolitan head as Amenhotep III (cited in Pharaohs of the Sun, cat. No. 13), but once familiar with the features of Amenhotep III, is easily recognisable for even lesser scholars or armchair Egyptologists to recognize the features of the king within these pieces, with the chubby face with plump downturned lips, akin to Elvis Presley style droopiness and almond eyes.

In fact, we can certify the heads belong to Amenhotep III, as excavations at Kom el-Hettan, the location of Amenhotep III’s ginormous funerary temple, held close to over a thousand statues of the king himself within an enclosure, most of which are now scattered across museums around the world.

Recent excavations at the site by Hourig Sourouzian and Rainer Stadelmann, and also by Zahi Hawass at the north west corner of the site, have uncovered three representations of the king – so far – with similar features. All three are made from pink granite, and show the king with the nemes. One is just a head, but two are more complete, and show the king seated with a deity on his left.

Summary:

Red Granite heads of Amenhotep III
New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, reign of Amenhotep III or later, c. 1391- 1307 B.C.
From Kom el-Hettân, Thebes.
Cincinnati Art Museum. 1945.63