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Lot Essay
This portrait once formed the upper portion of a block statue of crouching man with his knees drawn to the chest and wrapped in a cloak, which offered ample space for hieroglyphic inscription. An enveloping wig blends seamlessly into the upper body, leaving the ears exposed. His youthful, idealized features – including finely-drawn eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, and a subtly smiling mouth with drilled corners – are all in a style characteristic of the fourth century B.C. and shortly thereafter.
The back pillar bears four vertical registers of inscription with conventional biographical praises. Notably, one sign depicts a block statue in profile – likely standing for the word hsj (“praised” or “a praised one”) – a usage well documented in block statue inscriptions of this period (see C. R. Price, Materiality, Archaism, and Reciprocity: The Conceptualisation of the Non-Royal Statue at Karnak During the Late Period [c. 750–30 B.C.], PhD. diss., University of Liverpool, pp. 160-172). As Price notes, the owner in these contexts is typically described as “praised by” the general public, or by the people of his town or district.
Although the owner’s name and title are lost from the finely-carved vertical inscriptions on the back pillar and the more hastily cut horizontal bands encircling the body, the offering formula to “Amun-Re, the Primordial One [of the Two Lands]” suggests a Theban context and links the statue to the priesthood of Karnak. Karnak yielded hundreds of block statues, particularly in the famous Cachette, excavated in 1903 in the courtyard in front of the Seventh Pylon. A lower portion of a limestone block statue from the Cachette, now in Cairo (inv. no. S.R. 172) – belonging to Pa-khar-Khonsu, son of Nes-ba-neb-djed and Ta-peret – may join with this bust. It bears four similar vertical lines of biographical text on the back pillar and the same dedication to “Amun-Re, the Primordial One of the Two Lands” on its base (see Karnak Cachette Database, French Institute of Oriental Archaeology – Cairo, no. CK 1118).
Pa-khar-Khonsu is otherwise known from statues in Cairo (inv. nos. JE 3647 and RT 7/6/24/4) and London (British Museum inv. No. 48038; see K. Jansen-Winkeln, Biographische und Religiöse Inschriften der Spätzeit aus dem Ägyptischen Museum Kairo, vol. 1, pp. 215-220). If this join were confirmed, the portrait would complete a statue of a member of a prominent priestly Theban family.
The text inscribed on this portrait reads: “Pleasing to his god, praised by...Noble in his office, great in [dignity]...Splendid of heart, who sees with power (?), who transforms into the souls of Re, the praised one...” (back pillar, right to left) and “An offering which the king gives to Amun-Re, the Primordial One [of the Two Lands]...who brings...canal/body of water, cavern...” (left side of body, right to left). The text on the right side of the body is largely illegible.
The back pillar bears four vertical registers of inscription with conventional biographical praises. Notably, one sign depicts a block statue in profile – likely standing for the word hsj (“praised” or “a praised one”) – a usage well documented in block statue inscriptions of this period (see C. R. Price, Materiality, Archaism, and Reciprocity: The Conceptualisation of the Non-Royal Statue at Karnak During the Late Period [c. 750–30 B.C.], PhD. diss., University of Liverpool, pp. 160-172). As Price notes, the owner in these contexts is typically described as “praised by” the general public, or by the people of his town or district.
Although the owner’s name and title are lost from the finely-carved vertical inscriptions on the back pillar and the more hastily cut horizontal bands encircling the body, the offering formula to “Amun-Re, the Primordial One [of the Two Lands]” suggests a Theban context and links the statue to the priesthood of Karnak. Karnak yielded hundreds of block statues, particularly in the famous Cachette, excavated in 1903 in the courtyard in front of the Seventh Pylon. A lower portion of a limestone block statue from the Cachette, now in Cairo (inv. no. S.R. 172) – belonging to Pa-khar-Khonsu, son of Nes-ba-neb-djed and Ta-peret – may join with this bust. It bears four similar vertical lines of biographical text on the back pillar and the same dedication to “Amun-Re, the Primordial One of the Two Lands” on its base (see Karnak Cachette Database, French Institute of Oriental Archaeology – Cairo, no. CK 1118).
Pa-khar-Khonsu is otherwise known from statues in Cairo (inv. nos. JE 3647 and RT 7/6/24/4) and London (British Museum inv. No. 48038; see K. Jansen-Winkeln, Biographische und Religiöse Inschriften der Spätzeit aus dem Ägyptischen Museum Kairo, vol. 1, pp. 215-220). If this join were confirmed, the portrait would complete a statue of a member of a prominent priestly Theban family.
The text inscribed on this portrait reads: “Pleasing to his god, praised by...Noble in his office, great in [dignity]...Splendid of heart, who sees with power (?), who transforms into the souls of Re, the praised one...” (back pillar, right to left) and “An offering which the king gives to Amun-Re, the Primordial One [of the Two Lands]...who brings...canal/body of water, cavern...” (left side of body, right to left). The text on the right side of the body is largely illegible.