AN EGYPTIAN SANDSTONE RELIEF FRAGMENT

Most likely a depiction of a young princess with shaved head in typically elongated form, this fragment of a sandstone talatat block reflects the Amarna tendency to depict affection among members of the royal family. The extended arm of another figure (perhaps another royal child, to judge from the scale of the hand) reaches out to caress or embrace the princess. Scenes of affection are more typically found on smaller-scale domestic shrine stelae or in wall paintings from the royal palaces at Akhetaten, rather than in formal monumental reliefs. Stylistically, this fragment reflects the increased exaggeration of the early years of Akhenaten's reign. Although all six of Akhenaten’s daughters appear in scenes in private tombs at Amarna, the eldest three only appear on temple reliefs, so it is likely that this fragment depicts either Meretaten, Meketaten, or Ankhesenpaaten, the eventual consort of Tutankhamun.