NEW KINGDOM, 18TH-19TH DYNASTY, 1550-1196 B.C.

The head presented here is strikingly similar to the kneeling figure of Seti I (early 19th dynasty, circa 1306-1290 B.C.) from Abydos, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (see fig. 210 in W.C. Hayes, The Scepter of Egypt, II, The Hyksos Period and The New Kingdom (1675-1080 B.C.)). Both heads share the same form of the nemes-headcloth, in particular the treatment of the band across the forehead and its descending tab before the ear, which is all of one piece rather than treated separately, as seen on portraits from the 18th Dynasty. The position of the uraeus, which dips slightly into the nemes band before rising up, is also the same, as is the wide horizontal loop behind the cobra's hood. The shape of the eyes is identical, as is the way the brows and cosmetic lines are delineated only by incision, without being modeled in relief. The mouths also share the same deep drilling at their outer corners. The broad face and high cheekbones are similar, although it should be noted that this is also a feature of portraits of early 18th Dynasty kings, such as Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III, and it may be that both the head presented here as well as the kneeling figure of Seti I in the Metropolitan Museum of Art were usurped from one of these earlier kings.