.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This lifesized head of a king wearing the nemes headdress and sporting the royal uraeus cobra with asymmetrical loops on either side once formed part of an imposing and unusual statue group of a deity (almost certainly Amun) seated behind the kneeling or standing king, placing his outstretched hands on the head of the ruler to endow him with kingship. The traces of fingers (including carefully delineated fingernails) may be noted on the right side of the king’s headdress, and part of the god’s mostly missing left hand may be seen in the corresponding location on the left side of the king’s head. A section of undelineated stone behind the king’s head represents the negative space left between the forearms of the god. The stripes of the nemes headdress are carved in alternating raised and sunk lines. The shape of the nemes headdress, formed with a high dome at the top sloping down to sharply delineated peaks on either side, and connected in the back by means of a distinct ridge, is reflected in royal statuary of the end of Dynasty 18 and in Dynasty 19. The king’s ears are carved in detailed fashion, and the chin strap of the royal beard is incised on either side of the face, although the chin preserves no trace of the beard itself. While the features of the face are worn, the squared shape of the face and the traces of the mouth suggest contemporary Ramesside portraits.
The association with Ramesses II is reinforced by comparison to a striking group statue in schist of the king kneeling before Amun in Cairo (see pl. III in G. Legrain, Statues et statuettes des rois et des particuliers, vol II). Carved on a much smaller scale (only 60 cm. high), this group from the Karnak cachette features Ramesses II kneeling at the feet of Amun, whose outstretched hands touch the king’s headdress in precisely the same manner as on the present example. It likely provides a reliable guide for the original format of the much more impressive group formed by this portion of a king’s head, carried out in granite and at considerable scale. An unfinished small-scale statuette group (70 cm.) also from the Karnak cachette features the same placement of the god’s hands on either side of the crown, and has been dated to the end of the 18th Dynasty (see M. Seidel, Die königlichen Statuengruppen, pp. 257-258). Similarly, the lower portion of a mostly destroyed statue group from Mit Rahineh probably depicts Horemheb kneeling before Amun (see M. Eaton-Krauss, Post-Amarna Period Statues of Amun and His Consorts Mut and Amunet, p. 86). The lower portion of a statue group depicting Seti I kneeling before the god in the Louvre may provide a parallel to the placement of the god’s hands, but this cannot be established given its state of preservation (see pl. 49d in H. Sourouzian, “Statues et représentations de statues royales sous Séthi I," Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo, vol. 49). H. Sourouzian has suggested a possible origin for the Seti I group in the funerary temple of that king in Qurna, where relief scenes celebrate the king’s coronation (op. cit., pp. 246-247).
The theme of coronation is infrequently represented in ancient Egyptian statuary, and seems to mostly be a feature of New Kingdom art. As Sourouzian has noted, “Abundant in XVIIIth Dynasty representations at Thebes in two dimensions, the theme of coronation such as it is illustrated then, namely with the divine hand explicitly placed on the royal crown, is rather rare in the round” (“Raccords de statues d’Amenophis III entre Karnak-Nord et le Musée d’Alexandrie,” Bulletin de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale, vol. 97, p. 244). In some depictions both in relief and in three dimensions, the king faces the god (see a depiction of Amenhotep II in Cairo, Sourouzian, op. cit., fig. 7b), or the deity places an outstretched hand atop of the king’s head (see the head of Tutankhamun at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seidel, op. cit., pp. 226-227). In other instances, Amun presents the standing king, placing a protective hand on either side of his upper arms (see the depictions of Tutankhamun in the Louvre and Horemheb in Luxor, Seidel, op. cit., pp. 215-225 and 234-236). In the case of the coronation statues of Horemheb, several of which were found in the Luxor Temple cachette, Seidel (op. cit., pp. 238-242) has suggested that these large-scale statue groups were placed in opposing orientations within Luxor Temple, with each statue differentiated as to the king’s pose (standing or kneeling), crowns, attributes, and clothing. Given the origin of some of the coronation groups from the Karnak cachette, however, some coronation groups may have been placed at Amun-Re’s chief temple there.
The association with Ramesses II is reinforced by comparison to a striking group statue in schist of the king kneeling before Amun in Cairo (see pl. III in G. Legrain, Statues et statuettes des rois et des particuliers, vol II). Carved on a much smaller scale (only 60 cm. high), this group from the Karnak cachette features Ramesses II kneeling at the feet of Amun, whose outstretched hands touch the king’s headdress in precisely the same manner as on the present example. It likely provides a reliable guide for the original format of the much more impressive group formed by this portion of a king’s head, carried out in granite and at considerable scale. An unfinished small-scale statuette group (70 cm.) also from the Karnak cachette features the same placement of the god’s hands on either side of the crown, and has been dated to the end of the 18th Dynasty (see M. Seidel, Die königlichen Statuengruppen, pp. 257-258). Similarly, the lower portion of a mostly destroyed statue group from Mit Rahineh probably depicts Horemheb kneeling before Amun (see M. Eaton-Krauss, Post-Amarna Period Statues of Amun and His Consorts Mut and Amunet, p. 86). The lower portion of a statue group depicting Seti I kneeling before the god in the Louvre may provide a parallel to the placement of the god’s hands, but this cannot be established given its state of preservation (see pl. 49d in H. Sourouzian, “Statues et représentations de statues royales sous Séthi I," Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo, vol. 49). H. Sourouzian has suggested a possible origin for the Seti I group in the funerary temple of that king in Qurna, where relief scenes celebrate the king’s coronation (op. cit., pp. 246-247).
The theme of coronation is infrequently represented in ancient Egyptian statuary, and seems to mostly be a feature of New Kingdom art. As Sourouzian has noted, “Abundant in XVIIIth Dynasty representations at Thebes in two dimensions, the theme of coronation such as it is illustrated then, namely with the divine hand explicitly placed on the royal crown, is rather rare in the round” (“Raccords de statues d’Amenophis III entre Karnak-Nord et le Musée d’Alexandrie,” Bulletin de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale, vol. 97, p. 244). In some depictions both in relief and in three dimensions, the king faces the god (see a depiction of Amenhotep II in Cairo, Sourouzian, op. cit., fig. 7b), or the deity places an outstretched hand atop of the king’s head (see the head of Tutankhamun at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seidel, op. cit., pp. 226-227). In other instances, Amun presents the standing king, placing a protective hand on either side of his upper arms (see the depictions of Tutankhamun in the Louvre and Horemheb in Luxor, Seidel, op. cit., pp. 215-225 and 234-236). In the case of the coronation statues of Horemheb, several of which were found in the Luxor Temple cachette, Seidel (op. cit., pp. 238-242) has suggested that these large-scale statue groups were placed in opposing orientations within Luxor Temple, with each statue differentiated as to the king’s pose (standing or kneeling), crowns, attributes, and clothing. Given the origin of some of the coronation groups from the Karnak cachette, however, some coronation groups may have been placed at Amun-Re’s chief temple there.