Statuette of a dignitary presenting a naos
Steatite is a soft, easy to carve stone, which hardens and turns black when baked in a closed kiln. The man is shown offering an altar with the head of a ram, the sacred animal of Amun-Re, the main god of Thebes and the New Kingdom. He wears the so called “gold double collar of reward” often called the shebyu-collar, a decoration granted by the king to especially well-deserving subjects.
The facial features, with almond-shaped elongated eyes and strongly arched eyebrows, suggest a date in the reign of Amenhotep III.
New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, ca. 1391-1353 BC. Now in the Egyptian Museum of Turin. Cat. 3035
