Sculpture

Colossus of Ramesses II at Memphis, 1897

Colossus of Ramesses II at Memphis, 1897

The Colossus of Ramesses II is an enormous statue carved in limestone. It is about 10m (33.8 ft) long, even though it has no feet, and is located near the village of Mit Rahina (Memphis). The statue was found in 1820 by an Italian traveler Giovanni Battista Caviglia. The colossus is an incredible piece of...

Statuette of King Tutankhamun with Leopard

Statuette of Tutankhamun with Leopard

Statuette of Tutankhamun wearing the white crown and holding staff and flail, carried upon the back of a black leopard. The king is shown standing with his left leg forward on a rectangular pedestal fixed to the back of the leopard. He holds a long staff in one hand and the flail in the other....

Statue of King Senusret III

Statue of Senusret III

This statue of Senusret III sculpted of black granite was found in the forecourt of the temple of Mentuhotep II at Deir el-Bahari. It was one of the six statues that Senusret III dedicated to the temple of his ancestor Mentuhotep. Senusret restored and endowed this temple, which was the site of an important local...

Standing Statue of Mentuemhat

Statue of Mentuemhat

This standing statue portrays the nobleman Mentuemhat, who played an important role in the clergy of Amun-Re at Karnak and in the administration of Thebes. It shows him as a middle-aged man in the usual striding pose. Although the body was rendered in the traditional artistic style, well built and proportioned, his wrinkled facial features...

Statue of a Seated Vizier

Statue of a Seated Vizier

This seated figure’s rank of vizier is confirmed by the cord around his neck from which his official badge or seal would have been suspended. The seal would have been tucked into his kilt for safekeeping. Carved from anorthosite gneiss (also known as Khafre diorite, the material associated with the Old Kingdom king Khafre), the...

Statue of Thutmose III Offering Two Nu Vases

Kneeling Statue of Thutmose III

In this unique marble statue, King Thutmose III is shown kneeling in a pose of worship, offering two Nu vases for libation to Amun-Re. He wears the royal nemes headdress, surmounted by the uraeus, or rearing cobra. His body is well modeled with defined muscles. The king is kneeling on the nine bows, which represent...

Royal face, probably King Thutmose III

Royal face probably Thutmose III

This royal face of Thutmose III remained from a head of a statue. The style suggests that the sculpture was done during the first half of the 18th Dynasty, most probably for Thutmose III. Although only parts of this face carved in obsidian remain, it is clear that the features were very delicate. The eyes...

Colossal of King Akhenaten

Colossal Statue of King Akhenaten

A colossal statue that represents Akhenaten standing with his arms folded, holding the flail and heka scepters. He is depicted with his particular realistic features; long face, narrow eyes, the long protruding chin, and the fleshy lips. The king is shown naked, without any distinctive sexual organ, which is thought, by some Egyptologists to represent...

Statue of Pendua and his wife Nefertari

Statue of Pendua and Nefertari

This statuary group is representing the scribe Pendua and his wife Nefertari. The couple embrace in an unusual depiction, seated on a wide high-backed seat with their arms passing behind the other so that their hands rest on each other’s shoulder. Both Pendua and Nefertari (whose name was the same as the reigning queen) wear...

Silver Statuette of a Kneeling Ptolemaic King

Statuette of a Kneeling Ptolemaic King

As the chief intermediary between gods and men, the Egyptian king is often shown kneeling in adoration. This silver statuette was undoubtedly part of a group composition in which the king faced a larger figure of a god. Temple inscriptions suggest that for much of Egypt’s history, silver was valued more highly than gold. However,...