This yellow-brown quartzite head of a princess is probably Meritaten, the eldest daughter of Akhenaten. It was excavated by the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft in 1912 in a studio of the chief sculptor Thutmose at Tell el-Amarna. The head is from a composite statue where different pieces were sculpted separately and joined together. The skull is elongated...
This statuette depicts king Tutankhamun upon his funerary bed. The king is shown mummified in the Osiride royal form, with his hands crossed over his chest. Tutankhamun is lying on a splendidly decorated funerary bed decorated with two lion’s heads. The bed is engraved with funerary formula and prayer to accompany the king upon his...
This granite head of Queen Tiye shows the queen wearing a huge wig, surrounded by the wings of the protective vulture. Over the forehead are two cobra heads and one vulture. The uraeus cobra on the right wears the Red Deshret Crown of Lower Egypt, and the cobra on the left probably wore the White...
This unfinished brown quartzite head of Queen Nefertiti, the beautiful wife of King Akhenaten was part of a composite statue. Each element was sculpted separately to be later assembled into one statue. As it remained unfinished, the head retained the guiding lines of the sculptor: the eyebrows were marked with brown and the eyes with...
In this example of a block statue made of granite, Hotep is wearing a smooth, flaring wig with a slight central parting that leaves his protruding ears exposed. In contrast with the modeling of the body the face, with its soft, delicate lines, is carefully finished. The eyes, with the typical eye-paint, are large, the...
This wooden head is a part of a composite princess statue. The parts of this statue were sculpted separately and then assembled. Small details sometimes provide crucial clues to understanding a sculpture. It is believed to have belonged to a princess or even a queen of the 12th Dynasty, based on the fine depiction of...
This seated scribe statue is considered to be the icon of all scribe statues and one of the most important symbols of sculpture at the Egyptian Museum. It is called the “Cairo Scribe” and is carved in painted limestone. It was unearthed in 1893 at the Saqqara necropolis. The scribe wears a wig with a...
This black granite statue of Amenemhat III as a priest, of which only the torso remains, was discovered in 1862 by Auguste Mariette in the ancient capital of the Faiyum Oasis, known by the Greeks as Crocodilopolis. The king is dressed as a priest, evidenced by the leopard skin and paw over both shoulders. He...
The granite sphinx of Amenemhat III was discovered at Tanis (today San al-Haggar). It shows Amenemhat III with a human face and a lion’s body, in other words, a perfect creature, as intelligent as a human being yet as strong as a lion. Seven sphinxes of Amenemhat III were found in Tanis in the eastern...
King Hor (also known as Hor Awibre or Hor I)’s reign was relatively brief at an estimated two years, and falls within the late Middle Kingdom or Second Intermediate Period, a time marked by political fragmentation and a decline in central authority following the strong rule of the 12th Dynasty. Despite his short reign, the...
