This statue of kneeling captive can be dated to the reign of Pepi II for stylistic reasons. Beginning at least in the mid 5th Dynasty, large sculptures of bound foreign captives appeared in the pharaoh’s pyramid complex. Pepi I and Pepi II had great numbers of them. Statues of prisoners were presumably placed in areas...
Ptahshepses in this statue is portrayed as a scribe sitting on the ground with his legs crossed. He has a partly unrolled papyrus on his knees, a common “reading scribe” posture in Ancient Egypt. A heart-shaped amulet hangs around his neck with a counterpoise at the back. The head of Ptahshepses is inclined gently toward...
The nursing woman sits on the ground with one knee raised. Against the hammock of cloth formed by her skirt stretched over her knee she holds a child whose yellow skin indicates she is a girl. With one hand the woman holds the child’s head, while with the other she offers her breast to the...
Horemheb stands beside the god Amun, who is taller to indicate that he is more important than the king himself. The style of the statue is typical of the period immediately following the religious and artistic revolution of king Akhenaten. The muscles are not emphasized, the contours are soft, the belly and hips rounded, the...
This statue evokes the intimacy of Memi and his companion, Sabu, although she is set somewhat apart by her oblique gaze. Until recently, the flowering of nonroyal statuary was believed to have occurred only in the 4th and 6th Dynasties. Recent studies indicate, however, that many of these nonroyal statues, including Memi and Sabu, are...
This wooden standing statuette shows the Lady Henutnakhtu of the 18th Dynasty wearing a tight pleated garment and a long beautiful wig. She is holding in her right hand a flower and in her left one a staff, with which to purify the deceased. The statuette rests on a wooden base with hieroglyphic text giving...
This Jackal-headed god statuette, one of the four gods protecting the organs of Tutankhamun, is easily mistaken for Anubis but is in fact Duamutef “He who adores his mother”. Duamutef is one of the Four Sons of Horus, to whose particular protection the stomach was entrusted once it had been removed from the body during...
Once in a weary state, this alabaster masterpiece was discovered dismantled within a cache at Karnak Temple (Luxor, Egypt). It appears that upon the ancient dismantling, the inlaid stones which once filled the eye and eyebrow sockets were removed, as were the likely real and pure golden cuffs that adorned the king’s wrists, placed strategically...
The statue of Snofru-nefer is a prime example for demonstrating the fundamental principles of the Egyptian sculptor. He was the principal singer and the overseer of amusements at the royal court. The upright posture and the positioning of the arms at a straight angle with the shoulders demonstrate the strict adherence to straight angles. The...
With titles such as, “Overseer of the Bureau of Tentantry of the Court“, “Overseer of the Office of the Palace of Tenants”, “Liege of the King of the Great Palace”, Metjetji was clearly a wealthy man of elite status. It is believed he worked directly with the king and possibly played an important role in...
