RAFAEL BARAGAÑO

This is one of the earliest representations of an Egyptian ruler. King Narmer is shown in the symbolic act of unifying the Two Lands of Upper and Lower Egypt. His name is written in hieroglyphs on both sides of the palette. The king wears a red crown and processes towards two rows of decapitated bodies. The middle is framed by two mythical beasts controlled by men.
At the bottom, Narmer is shown as a wild bull breaking into a walled enclosure and trampling a figure. From the later Predynastic period, the king was portrayed as a bull or a lion to symbolize his power. The palette was probably a ritual object made to be offered or used in temple ceremonies. Dynasty 0 (King Narmer), about 3000 BC, Hierakonpolis (Temple of Horus), green schist.

One of the earliest surviving examples of royal statuary from ancient Egypt, here King Khasekhem wears the white crown of Upper Egypt. At his feet, incised on the base, are his name and the bodies of some of his enemies. The Egyptian number 48,205, incised on the statue, represents the total number of enemies he defeated. 2nd Dynasty (King Khasekhem), about 2649-2676 BC, Hierakonpolis, green schist.

This is the oldest known life-size Egyptian statue and represents King Djoser. It was found in 1925 in a sealed chamber, known as the serdab (‘cellar’ in Arabic), attached to the northern face of the Step Pyramid, near his cult temple within his funerary complex. As typical of this period, the hole in the serdab allowed the king’s soul (ka) residing in the statue to peer out, receive the offerings, and follow the rituals performed for him. In addition, in this case, the gaze of the king was turned towards the northern sky, thus pairing him with the Imperishable Stars that never set below the horizon. Currently a plaster copy has been placed in the serdab where this statue was found. 3rd Dynasty (King Netjerikhet Djoser), about 2649-2630 BC, Saqqara (pyramid complex of Djoser, serdab courtyard), limestone, pigment.

Under the Step Pyramid of King Djoser there is a labyrinth of chambers and galleries. These spaces provided room for burial of himself and his family members, as well as the storage of goods and offerings. The sides of the underground passages were covered with panels of blue-green Egyptian faience tiles. These were not simply decorative but symbolized the king’s afterlife. By imitating reed matting used in the king’s palace, the panels recreated the ‘field of reeds’, the afterlife paradise where the king would spend eternity. The blue-green color also signified new growth and regeneration. Here the panel is surmounted by a decoration of djed-pillars (meaning ‘stability’) supporting an arch. The Step Pyramid of Djoser contained more than thirty-six thousand tiles. 3rd Dynasty (King Netjerikhet Djoser), about 2649-2630 BC, Saqqara (pyramid complex of Djoser), limestone, faience.

Discovered in a pit under his valley temple at Giza, this statue of King Khafre is one of the most iconic sculptures of ancient Egypt. Khafre was the builder of the second pyramid at Giza. The king, seated on the throne, wears the nemes with the cobra on his forehead – a symbol of royalty and protection. The falcon god Horus behind his head spreads his wings to protect him and legitimate his royal status. The symbol on the throne represents the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt – the lotus flower and the papyrus plant tied together. The statue is made of diorite quarried in Tushki, near Abu Simbel. The use of this stone clearly shows that the power of Khafre stretched all the way to the south of the country. 4th Dynasty (King Khafre), about 2520-2494 BC, Giza (valley temple of Khafre), diorite.

The statuette of King Cheops was found in Abydos in 1903. The name of Horus, with whom this great monarch was identified appears on the right side of the throne. When the statuette was excavated, three weeks elapsed between the discovery of the head and the body.

Big: Statuette of King Menkaure, seated on a rectangular throne – This statuette was found on July 14, 1908 on the floor in the north end of the corridor of the valley temple of King Menkaure. The statue is uninscribed but, due to the find spot, it may be attributed to King Menkaure. 4th Dynasty (King Menkaure), about 2490-2472 BC, Giza (pyramid complex of Menkaure, valley temple), red limestone.

Small: Seated statue of King Menkaure – This statue was found, together with other statues of Old Kingdom kings, in a cachette near the temple of Ptah in Memphis towards the end pose, with his left hand flat and his right hand clenched in a fist. The throne is decorated with his Horus-name written inside the rectangular frame called serekh, and his ‘Nswt Bity name written in the oval frame called ‘cartouche’. 4th Dynasty (King Menkaure), about 2490-2472 BC, Memphis, diorite.

Userkaf was the first king of the 5th Dynasty under whose reign the cult of the sun god Ra began to gain unprecedented importance. He chose to build a new type of temple, dedicated to the cult of the sun, at Abusir, a few kilometers north of Saqqara. He was the first king to initiate building activity at Abusir. This statue head, found in his sun-temple, represents him wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt. When it was discovered, it was first attributed to the goddess Neith of Sais
since the red crown is one of her insignia. However, the occurrence of a slim mustache on the upper lip, proved that the head was a royal portrait of the king. 5th Dynasty (King Userkaf), about 2465-2458 BC, Abusir (sun-temple of Userkaf), schist.

This statue was found broken in several fragments in 1984-85 among the remains of the pyramid temple of the king at Abusir. The king is represented sitting on a throne and wearing a short wig, but the uraeus cobra, most likely crafted in a different material, is missing. The falcon-god Horus spreads his wings in a protective gesture behind the king’s head. 5th Dynasty (King Neferefre), about 2431-2420 BC, Abusir, (pyramid complex of King Neferefre, mortuary temple), limestone, pigment.

There are no inscriptions on the statue, but it almost certainly belongs to King Teti of the 6th Dynasty because it was found in his funerary temple at Saqqara. The king wears the white crown of Upper Egypt and the royal shendyt-kilt. In each hand, he was holding a roll, a symbol of authority. 6th Dynasty (King Teti), about 2323-2291 BC, Saqqara (Teti’s pyramid cemetery), red granite.

Mentuhotep Nebheptre, the king who unified Upper and Lower Egypt for the second time after King Narmer. He is depicted wearing the Red Crown and a tight fitting costume of the Sed festival, a jubilee celebrated after 30 years of a reign. His black skin and the position of his crossed arms associate him with the god Osiris, god of death, fertility, and resurrection. The statue was found by chance by Howard Carter when he stumbled into a shaft while riding his horse through the forecourt of Mentuhotep’s mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari. In 1900, Carter excavated the shaft and found a small chamber containing the statue intricately wrapped in linen, along with other artifacts. Painted sandstone; Middle Kingdom, 11th Dynasty, reign of Mentohotep Nebheptre (ca. 2030-2000B.C.); Deir el-Bahari, Mortuary complex of Mentuhotep Nebheptre.

Painted wood Dyn. 12., Lisht. Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, reign of Senwosret I, ca. 1956 to 1911 BC Painted cedar wood with gesso, from Lisht, east of Pyramid Complex of Senwosret I. Metropolitan Museum of Art Expedition, 1915. The MMA’s Expedition to Lisht discovered two exquisite wooden statuettes of Senwosret I in a brick chamber built into the retaining wall of a favored official’s tomb. The companion of this statuette, now at the MMA, shows the king in the red crown of Lower Egypt. Here, the king wears the white crown of Upper Egypt, and holds a staff of office. Carved from several pieces of cedar wood that were carefully fitted together, the statuette is notable for its sensitive rendering of the king’s facial features.

Right: Amenembat III in priestly costume. This colossal but of Amenemhat Ill recognizable by his characteristic Facial features. This king is dressed in a panther skin whose head and paws lie on his shoulders it is supported by a double band across his chest passing under the menat collar which addorns his neck Black granite-Middle kingdome-12th dynasty-Fayun.

This statue depicts the King’s Ka, which means consort or living forces in the ancient Egyptian language. The Ka sign is above the king’s head with two arms raised upwards, each ending with a splayed palm. The Ka is one of the seven components of the body of the ancient Egyptians. It dissolves in the body to ensure its protection, health, and purity. It remains with him until his death, so the ancient Egyptian strove hard to preserve his body so that the Ka could recognize him in the other world after leaving him at his death. Sycamore, quartzite and crystal rock; Dahshur; 13th Dynasty; Jacques de Morgan excavations in 1894.

During the 1960’s Polish excavations at the temple of Thutmosis III, a chipped off face of the king was discovered; the face was broken off in antiquity. The torso of the statue was discovered in the early twentieth century, when Edouard Naville was excavating the mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II at Deir el-Bahari, adjacent to Thutmosis III’s temple. It was then placed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. In the 1990s, the Metropolitan Museum made this cast of the torso to be displayed with the face while a cast of the face was sent to the Metropolitan Museum and is now displayed with the torso. Marble; Reign of Thutmosis III (c.1479- 1425 B.C.) 18th Dynasty, New Kingdom; Deir el-Bahari.

King Thutmose III was deified after his death, and statues of him were commonly presented in chapels and temples. The king kneels, offering the god Amun two spherical vessels (nu-jars) filled with wine or milk. The statue served the cult of the long-deceased Thutmose III in the later New Kingdom (c. 1298-1070 BC). It was eventually placed in the Ptolemaic (305-30 BC) temple of Hathor, where Thutmose III served as intercessor between the living and the supreme god, Amun. Dynasty 18, Reign of Thutmose III (c. 1479-1425 BC); Egyptian alabaster; Deir el-Medina, Temple of Hathor.

Painted limestone head from an Osiride statue of Queen Hatshepsut, from her temple at El-Deir el-Bahari (Thebes); XVIIIth dynasty.

Statue of red granite, usurped by King Meneptah, representing a king holding the god Osiris. The original date is probably XVIIIth dynasty, Karnak.

Amenhotep II: The king stands upon the nine bows, representing the traditional enemies of the country. He is protected by the serpent Mertsger, protector of the necropolis. He wears the white crown of the south. The face of the great monarch withitits remarkable features shows the king as a young and strong ruler. Grey granite. XVIII dyn. Karnak cache.

Ramses II: The power of continuity. This colossal statue originally represented the 19th Dynasty king Ramses II. His son and successor, Merenptah, had the statue reworked and his name and titles carved on the shoulder, chest and base. Statues and other monuments were removed and reused throughout Egyptian history. The ancient Egyptian kings were keen to align themselves with the achievements of their ancestors. The statue was discovered in 1901 by sebakhin – farmers and companies who removed fertile material from ancient sites. Archaeological mounds provided an excellent source of sebakh (‘fertiliser’) because the ancient mud bricks were mixed with a rich compost of hay and animal dung. The Egyptian Museum collections include many objects discovered in this way, alongside others found in scientific excavations. 19th Dynasty, about 1279-1203 BC, Hermopolis, discovered in 1901, Pink granite.

19 Dynasty (ca. 1294-1279 BC) Abydos, King Seti I was the second ruler of the 19th Dynasty. He was the father of King Ramses II.

Last Ptolemaic Queen of Egypt. The portrait of the Queen of Egypt was sculpted in Tome while she was a guest of Julius Caesar. Circa 45 BC, From Rome, Villa dei Quintili (1784), Vatican Museums Image.

Firts: Full-length statue of Augustus of Prima Porta in Rome. The emperor is shown as commander of the Roman army. Vatican Museums Image.

Second: The striding statue of Augustus. This young ruler has been identified as Augustus, who became the first Roman emperor in 27 BC. The colossal statue reflects the political and cultural compromises of his reign. The emperor is presented as an Egyptian pharaoh wearing the nemes head cloth and uraeus headdress combined with Roman features, such as his distinctive hairstyle. The missing element at the top may have been the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. Augustus had many Egyptian-style temples erected in honour of Egyptian gods. He reinstalled the High Priest of Ptah and secured his royal cult at Memphis. As the statue was discovered at Karnak, a cult for the emperor-pharaoh was probably celebrated there as well. Augustus, 27 BC-AD 14, Karnak, Granite.

Third: Caracalla as Egyptian King. The head with its distinctive features confirms that this statue represents the Roman Emperor Caracalla. He is known for granting Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the Empire, including Egypt. His furrowed eyebrows, high cheekbones, and short mustache are easily recognizable. His curly locks and short and equally curly beard are typical of Caracalla’s time. The body is sculpted in traditional Pharaonic fashion. Both arms are pinned to the body and each hand contains a cylindrical object. Caracalla is wearing a shendyt kilt and a nemes headdress. Unlike ordinary citizens, emperors were allowed to have their images in public and military places, as a means of propaganda or to stand in for the emperor to encourage loyalty. Cult statues, such as this one, were placed in temples to emphasize the emperor’s divinity. Roman, reign of Caracalla, AD 211-217, Mendes, inside the temple enclosure of Banebdjedet, Quartsite.

New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Hatshepsut, ca. 1470 to 1458 BC Painted limestone. From Thebes, Deir el-Bahari, Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut Metropolitan Museum of Art Expedition, 1928-29. The sphinx was thought to embody the latent power of the ruler, showing the monarch with the powerful body of a lion. The type of sphinx shown here differs from the more familiar type in that in this example only the face is human rather than the entire head. This example is one of a pair that is thought to have flanked the ramp between the lower and middle terraces of Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple. The text on the sphinx records that Hatshepsut is beloved of Amun.