Statue of Princess Takushit

Copper alloy hollow cast statue of the princess-priestess Takushit. The statue was found in 1880, in Lower Egypt, on the hill of Kom-Toruga, near Lake Mariut, south of Alexandria. It had ritual, votive, and funerary functions. 

The use of the statue was ceremonial while the priestess was alive, and was part of the ritual equipment of the sanctuary, in which there was a priestess. After her death, it was used for votive and funerary ends and it decorated her tomb, which, according to the custom of the time, is located within the sanctuary precinct.

This perfectly preserved solid cast statue, made of a mixture of bronze and silver, is the only representation of the princess and priestess Takushit. Takushit was the daughter of Akanuasa, a ruler during the reign of the King Piankhi. She is shown walking, her body shapely and full, her facial characteristics intense. She wears a long chiton, which emphasizes her figure and is covered with engraved motifs.

These motifs, which are damascened with electrum (gold and silver alloy), are representations of deities from Lower Egypt and Hieroglyphic texts with prayers and dedications addressed to these deities. This statue was probably the priestess’s funerary monument. Its only parallel is the statue of Karomama of the 22nd Dynasty (924-887 BC) in the Louvre (inv. 500). It was donated by Ioannis Dimitriou.

Third Intermediate Period, Late 25th Dynasty, ca. 670 BC. Now in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, Greece. ΑΙΓ.110