Amidst the sprawling grandeur of Karnak Temple in Luxor, once the spiritual heart of ancient Thebes, stands a most curious and venerable monument: a colossal stone scarab carved from rose-hued granite. It is thought to date from the reign of Amenhotep III (r. 1391-1351 B.C.), during Egypt’s glittering 18th Dynasty, a period marked by architectural...
High upon the upper terrace of Hatshepsut’s magnificent mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari lies the central sanctuary, consecrated to the mighty god Amun-Re. His principal cult centre stood grandly across the shimmering Nile at Karnak, on the sun-drenched eastern bank. Each year, in a spectacle both sacred and splendid, Amun-Re’s divine image would make a...
This statue, a life-sized representation, presents Hatshepsut wearing the nemes headdress—an insignia typically reserved for the reigning king. While she is draped in female attire, the inscriptions beside her legs already bear her throne name, Ma’at-Ka-Re, yet interestingly her titles remain feminine, calling her the “Lady of the Two Lands” and the “Bodily Daughter of...
The faces on most statues of Amenhotep II differ slightly from those of his two immediate predecessors. Compared with the sculpture of Thutmose III or Hatshepsut exhibited nearby, for example, this statue’s face is a little longer, the eyes somewhat narrower, the brows a bit straighter, the nose slightly thicker, and the mouth less curved....
The Colossi of Memnon (Arabic: el-Colossat or es-Salamat) are two colossal seated statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, which once would have flanked the entrance of the king’s Mortuary Temple, which was said to have finally been erected in 1350 B.C. The sculptures have 107 Roman-era inscriptions in Greek and Latin dated between 20 and 250...
Taharqa, also spelled Taharka or Taharqo (Egyptian: 𓇿𓉔𓃭𓈎 tꜣhrwq, Akkadian: Tar-qu-ú, Hebrew: תִּרְהָקָה, Modern: Tīrhaqa, Tiberian: Tīrhāqā, Manetho’s Tarakos, Strabo’s Tearco), was a Nubian king of the 25th Egyptian Dynasty rulers of the Kingdom of Kush, c.747–656 B.C. The Sphinx of Taharqa is a granite gneiss statue of a sphinx with the face of Taharqa....
Measuring at just under 20cm tall (19.1cm), this rose, or red granite head depicts the 18th Dynasty king Amenhotep III and dates from approximately 1390 -1352 B.C. Currently on display at the Louvre in Paris, unfortunately, not much else is documented about the piece. After ascending the throne as a teenager, Amenhotep III ruled for...
This head, of the Middle Kingdom king Senwosret III, was discovered in front of the 4th Pylon of the Karnak Temple Complex in 1970. Made from rose granite, it depicts the king wearing the Double Crown (Pschent). Measuring at 80cm, the face is easily recognizable as Senwosret III from other portraits of the king, although...
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,...
The statue of Hetepdief is one of the earliest examples of private statuary, and more importantly, it is yet the first ancient Egyptian statue shown kneeling in the attitude of prayer while maintaining its conformity with ancient Egyptian artistic conventions. On his right shoulder can be seen the Horus names of three 2nd Dynasty Kings...
