Royal Sculpture

The funerary complex of Djoser with the Step Pyramid covering the tomb of the king is the first monumental stone construction in the History of Egypt. It is a transposition in stone of the royal residence, destined to serve as a dwelling for the king in his afterlife. The statues found in this complex also perpetuate in stone the important episodes in the existence of the king. These statues inaugurate the great period of Old Kingdom official sculpture. The best known and the best preserved of these is the seated, almost life sized statue of Djoser, representing the king wrapped in the jubilee cloak (Cairo JE 49158; H. 142 cm; Firth, Quibell, and Lauer, 1935: I, 9, 50-51; II, pls. 29-30; PM III, 2: 414; Saleh and Sourouzian, 1987: Cat. no. 16) ). It is sculpted in limestone, coated with a thin layer of plaster and painted. The statue was placed in the serdab of the Step Pyramid where it was found by the Antiquities Service in 1924-5. The enthroned king has his right arm bent with the fist resting on his chest, and the left hand placed flat on the knee. He wears the early form of the completely pleated nemes headdress over an ample and striated tripartite wig; a long ceremonial beard is attached under his chin, and a fine moustache marks his upper lip. The costume is the jubilee cloak with starched upper border around the king’s shoulders. The face and the body of the king are painted ochre red, and the royal wig and beard are painted black as well as the eyebrows and the moustache. The deep-set eyes were inlaid. The face is broad, with high cheekbones and large jaws, cut at the chin by the upper edge of the beard. The mouth is full with projecting lower lip. The missing eyes and the prominent mouth confer on the face a distant look. The throne, imitating a wooden seat with its frame rendered in raised relief, is equipped with a high back rest. On the statue base, a Hieroglyphic inscription, carefully carved in relief, mentions his name Netjerykhet. Two similar fragmentary statues of Djoser seated and wrapped in a coat derive from other parts of the complex and depict him holding a flail carved in bold relief on his torso (Firth, Quibell, and Lauer 1935: I, 9, 51; II, pl. 95 nos. 1-2; Sourouzian 1995: 148, nos. 3-4, pls. 52-3). These statues are headless, but, given the absence of lappets or a wig at the break of the neck, the king must have been wearing a crown. Several over-life-sized statues show Djoser standing, feet joined and hands crossed over his chest, holding royal sceptres and staff, wearing a short jubilee

Figure 38.1 Statue of king Djoser, painted limestone, Egyptian Museum Cairo, JE 49158. Courtesy the Egyptian Museum Cairo.

Cloak and a nemes headdress. Such statues surrounded the festival court and formed part of the architecture, acting as columns in the porticoes, and are thus often designated as ‘‘caryatides.’’ Their unfinished state shows different stages of the sculpture in the round. When in a completed state, these statues bear traces of polychromy and eye inlays (Firth, Quibell, and Lauer 1935: I, 69; II, pl. 66; Lauer 1936: I, 143-5, 237, pl. 94; Stadelmann 1985: pl. 12b).

A standing colossal statue of Djoser in painted limestone, placed in a niche near the entrance, can be considered as one of the first colossal statues ever found in a funerary complex. The figure is standing, feet joined, and holds three sceptres; the attire comprised the red crown, a costume with one strap over the left shoulder, and a short kilt held up by an elaborate beadwork belt equipped with a bead apron. A thick animal tail with wavy strands falls behind the legs. The base is decorated with rekhyt birds and Nine Bows under the royal feet; the face of the base is inscribed with the name of the king, accompanied by the name and title of Imhotep, the architect of the Step Pyramid. Even though fragmentary, this unique statue produced by skilful sculptors, makes a powerful impression by its size and rich detail, and marks the beginning of a glorious period filled with masterpieces. (Firth, Quibell, and Lauer 1935:1,14, 65-6; II, pls. 56, 59, 95; Gunn 1926: 177-96, fig. 5; Sourouzian 1995: 149-52, fig. 8b).

Group statues representing the king with deities or with members of his family are numerous in the Old kingdom and find their prototype in this reign. A group statue of which only four pairs of feet resting on a common base are preserved, was found in the festival court of Djoser’s pyramid complex (Firth, Quibell, and Lauer 1935:1, 10; II, pl. 63). Two of the feet pairs are larger in size than the others. They may belong to a family group depicting Djoser with a queen and two princesses, reproducing in three-dimensions a famous bas-relief on a limestone chapel from Heliopolis, showing Djoser with three royal women (Turin, Museo Egiziano 2761/21; Donadoni Roveri 1989: 200, fig. 301; Fay 1999: 107, fig. 29; Stadelmann 1999b: 172, fig. 3 a-b). Impressive heads of prisoners carved in basalt were also found in the funerary complex of Djoser (Cairo JE 49613, h. 25 cm; Firth, Quibell, and Lauer 1935: II, pl. 57). Their ethnic types are rendered with differentiated facial features and beards. Two dimensional representations of bound captives are known in Egypt since the Predynastic Period, and figures of bound prisoners will appear in temple statuary of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties.

The reign of Snefru at the start of the Fourth Dynasty marks the passage from Step Pyramid to smooth faced classical type and opens a new era in royal sculpture marked by escalating monumentality. The striding statue type is now best illustrated by the formidable life sized statue of Snefru in painted limestone. It was inserted in the niche of one of the back chapels of his Valley Temple in Dahshur, where it was discovered together with the head of a similar statue (Fakhry 1961: 3-4, pl. 33-7). The fragmented statue was restored under the direction of R. Stadelmann and brought it to the Egyptian Museum Cairo where it is now on display (JE 98943, h. 200 cm; Stadelmann 1995: 164-5, pls. 60-2). The king stands against a large back slab, his left foot advanced, his arms hanging along the body, holding a container of documents. He wears the white crown of Upper Egypt and the pleated royal short kilt (shendyt), with pleats fashioned in fish bone pattern. The belt bears a rhomboid decoration and a buckle in the form of a cartouche containing the name of the king. A large collar and a bracelet with floral decoration rendered in shallow relief complete the attire. The face of the king is of oval shape, with a rounded chin which bears no beard. The small and elongated eyes are set horizontally. The nose is completely worn away, and the horizontal mouth damaged. The ears are large, and sculpted in detail. A stern expression emanates from this face. The statue appears outsized because of the very high crown and the elongated torso, with broad shoulders and well-modeled chest. A similar statue is also known to have existed but only the head wearing a white crown has been found. Like the relief representations on the walls and pillars of the temple, the statues were polychrome. The face and the torso are painted with red ochre; black was applied on the eyes which were not inlaid; the kilt was white; and traces of colors remain on the belt buckle and the bracelet.

From the reign of Snefru we also have a small fragmentary statue in alabaster (calcite) found in a chapel on the north face of the small pyramid of Seila. The king is enthroned, the right hand on the chest and the left resting flat on the knee, and instead of the jubilee cloak he wears the royal short kilt pleated in herring-bone pattern. The right hand is lost, but we can assume that Snefru was holding a flail in his right fist, like the better preserved famous ivory statuette of his son and successor Khufu depicted in the same attitude. Hence the statue of Snefru is the first known example of this type (see Sourouzian, in the forthcoming publication of the pyramid by N. Swelim).

Figure 38.2 Statuette of Khufu, ivory, Egyptian Museum Cairo, JE 36143. Courtesy the Egyptian Museum Cairo.

The figure of the princess Wemtetka, seated legs tucked on a base which was inserted on a larger plinth, probably accompanied a royal statue in the Valley Temple of Snefru at Dahshur (Fakhry 1961: 9, pls. 43 a-b, 44c-d; Fay 1998: 160, no. 2, figs. 3-4). This would again anticipate a statue type known from the reign of Djedefre, where the seated effigies of the enthroned king are accompanied by a queen seated near his feet on the statue base.

In the succeeding reign, the ivory statuette of Khufu, found at Abydos is only 7,5 cm high, but brings together all the characteristic features of the monarch (Cairo JE 36143; Saleh and Sourouzian 1987: Cat. No. 28). Seated in the same attitude as his predecessor in Seila, and holding in his right hand a flail against his chest, the king wears the red crown and the pleated shendyt kilt. The throne now has a lower back rest, the Horus name of the king is engraved on the throne jamb. On the broad face with a slightly advanced chin, the small eyes ere set like those of his father, the nose, today in a flattened state, was short, the mouth large and horizontal. In spite of the small size the torso and the legs are very well modeled. The expression is that of a ruler in advanced age, powerful indeed, but with features by no means cruel, as the later legends under the influence of the Greek travelers and the traditional fear of the Greek for hybris, falsely claimed.

From Giza derive pieces of a statue similar to the ivory statuette (Smith 1949: 20, fig 9), and fragments of the feet and base of two other seated statuettes (Smith 1949: 20). Fragments of a statue head, wearing a completely pleated nemes protected by the falcon god were found east of the Great Pyramid and, therefore, it is more likely to belong to Khufu than to his successors (Boston 27.1466, h. 32 cm; Smith 1949: 20, pl. 5a; Simpson 1976: pl. 14d, fig. 43; Stadelmann 1998: 172, fig. 2a; Roehrig 1999: cat. No. 57, p. 254). This is the first attestation of a statue type which we shall also see in the reigns of Khafre and Neferefre (see below). A fragmented throne in alabaster, probably of a seated dyad, was likewise found near the Great Pyramid; it bears scenes of sema-tawy carved in deep relief and painted, with the legs of a Nile-god on the back scene. This sculpture, datable to the reign of Khufu (Seidel 1996: Dok. 3, p. 13-16, fig. 5-7, pl. 1b), would be the prototype of the dyads often represented in temples up to the Graeco-Roman Period.

Thus the hazards of conservation have left very few remains of royal statuary from the owner of the greatest pyramid. However, all these calcite fragments show that the standard types in the repertoire of temple statuary have already been invented at the latest in the reign of Khufu. Therefore, it is not surprising that the most striking feature of the Giza necropolis, the Great Sphinx of Giza, largest of all sculptures, should be in reality an wuvre of this great king, and not of his successor, as is generally believed. This sculpture, as extraordinary as the invention of the pyramid, stands at the southernmost limit of the vast funerary complex of Khufu, combining for the first time the royal head wearing the nemes with the powerful body of a lion. The Great Sphinx of Giza is a rock-cut sculpture measuring 20 m high and 73.50 m long, and hewn within the quarry of Khufu. This is a remarkable innovation in Egyptian art and may be considered as the first monumental statue in history. The Great Sphinx represents Khufu, whose facial features repeat those of his ivory statuette from Abydos. Recent research and critical analysis in art history provide archaeological, stylistic, and iconographic evidence for this dating (Stadelmann 1998: 370; 1999a: 865-9; Hawass 2003, 126-7; 2006: 37-44). The body of the Great Sphinx is today badly eroded through centuries of weathering. From the polychromy of the face we assume that the whole sculpture was painted. Like his father Snefru and like other images of Khufu (cf. the ivory statuette and two dimensional representations at Giza, Maghara, and Hatnub), the Great Sphinx was originally beardless, and the pleated divine beard was added to its chest in the New Kingdom, as well as the royal statue shown between its forepaws on New Kingdom stelae found around the monument (Hasan 1953: 71-85, figs. 62, 66-7; Zivie-Coche 2006: 58-65, figs. 1-9).

In the Old Kingdom the impact of the Great Sphinx was certainly immense and its association with the reign of Khufu well known, as confirmed by votive figures in clay deposited in a sanctuary at Saqqara, which include a royal figure striding between the paws of a lion and bearing the name of Khufu (Yoshimura, Kawai, and Hashigawi 2005: 390, no. 1, fig. 21,1, pl. 55c). This small monument gives the first known example of a statue type which, after an exceptional appearance in the Middle Kingdom (Cairo CG 391), will be frequently exemplified in the New Kingdom. It also reveals the association of a lion with Khufu (Yoshimura, Kawai, and Hashigawi 2005: 390, no. 2, fig. 21.2).

Djedefre, son and successor of Khufu, commissioned for his mortuary temple at Abu Rawash a rich repertoire of life-sized and smaller statues in red quartzite, which have survived in badly fragmented condition. Chassinat, who discovered them in

Figure 38.3 The Great Sphinx of Giza. Photograph Courtesy Rainer Stadelmann.

1900, estimated that there were more than 21 of these sculptures (Chassinat 1921: 53-75; Vandier 1958: 15-17, pl. I, 1-3, 5; Ziegler 1997a: cat. nos. 1-17, p. 42-68; Baud 1999: 35-61, figs. 1-9). About six statues represented Djedefre seated on a cubic stool, with a queen to the left or right side of his feet, and holding the corresponding leg (Louvre 11552, E 126270, Munich iAS 5243, 5373). The king wears the shendyt. His left hand lies flat on the knee, and the right hand is closed vertically and holds a kerchief. Two statues represented Djedefre striding, arms along his body, and holding the short stick which reminds one a roll of a papyrus.

Four royal heads are known from this complex, two with the nemes headdress (Cairo JE 35138=Suez 5069, Louvre E 12626) and two others with the white crown of Upper Egypt (Cairo JE 35139, Louvre E 11167). The heads with the nemes are masterfully sculpted. The rectangular face with receding chin is cut by the upper border of the royal beard, today broken on both heads. The stripes holding the beard were painted black. A very fine and smooth modeling enhances the high cheeks and the thrust of the mouth. The eyebrows are naturalistic; the eyes, open and well defined, have a fine rim bordering the upper lid. The inner canthi are prolonged towards the nose by an incised line. The nose, well preserved on the Cairo head, is straight and thin, and the mouth is large and horizontal, with a very fine ridge. The ears are middle-sized, set vertically and detailed. The nemes is plane, held by a frontlet at the upper border of which rises the uraeus, first known in statuary on the royal headdress, with a plane hood and plane ventral column, and a tale coiled in a sinuous S-form on the top of the headdress. On the head in Louvre the nemes extends into a lappet falling on the back. The two other heads wearing the white crown are partly preserved and belonged probably to the striding statues.

The temple also revealed statues of two daughters of Djedefre. One of them is a limestone torso of a seated female statue, with very well-modeled breasts, found near a base inscribed for the kings daughter Neferhetepes (Louvre 12628 and E 12632; Ziegler 1997a: nos. 15, 16). These fragments and the statues of three sons of Djedefre in the attitude of a scribe (see below), attest to the presence of individual statues of royal-family members within the mortuary temple precinct. Found likewise in the temple of Djedefre is a small female sphinx in limestone, with a human face painted yellow which shows features influenced by those of a feline, like the round eyes with deep-cut inner canti. The face is beardless and was originally surrounded by a lion’s mane with lion’s ears. These were later plastered, as were also the forepaws. The paws have thick claws with pointed nails. The tail of the lion curved on the right side ends with a bulbous tuft, like all sphinxes of the Old Kingdom. This statue can be considered the first female sphinx in the history of sculpture. (Cairo JE 35137; Fay 1996: no. 1, pl. 83 a-d; Ziegler 1997a: 44; Sourouzian 2006: 101, fig. 4).

The following reign of Khafre is famous for an impressive ensemble of statues once placed all around the court and the pillared hall of his Valley Temple at Giza. The largest of these effigies, and also the best preserved, is the famous diorite statue of the king seated on a throne with a high backrest and supported by lions; the sides are decorated in bold relief with the heraldic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt, symbolizing the unification of the Two Lands (Cairo CG 14. H. 168 cm; Saleh and, Sourouzian 1987: no. 31, PM III, 1: 22; for all statues see PM III: 221-5). The king is seated in what is now a classical pose with hands resting on the knees, the right fist clenched vertically holding a kerchief, and the left hand flat on the knee. He wears the nemes and the shendyt. Behind his head stands a falcon with open wings, personifying the dynastic god Horus. The royal beard tapers towards the tip (now broken), and seems to be of divine type. This statue portrays the close relationship between the sovereign and the god: the king is the representative of Horus on earth and serves as the effigy for the apparition of the god. Carved in gneiss (also called Khafre diorite) from the remote quarry at the southern border of Egypt, freed from the rigid cloak and archaic posture, modeled and polished with utmost care, this sculpture is a masterpiece of royal portraiture and presents the imperturbable image of the Egyptian monarch, ruling by divine right.

The other seated statues from the valley temple of Khafre are slightly smaller in size and sculpted in diorite and greywacke. Two of them also have the lion seat (Cairo CG 9 and CG13) with the falcon perched with wings closed on top of the high backrest, parallel to the king’s back. On three statues the seat is a cubic stool decorated with the heraldic plants (Cairo CG 10, CG 15, CG 17, RT25.11.18.4; seeStadelmann 1998: 357,figs. 9, 11-12). When the head is preserved, the king wears the nemes and a short, flaring royal beard, bound to the neck by a wedge-shaped bridge (Cairo CG 15). The upper part of the nemes is plane on the statue with the falcon god, and only the lappets show pleats, marked with horizontal furrows. The striding type is attested by two fragmentary torsos in this reign, one in schist (Cairo CG 16, h. 105 cm) and the second in gneiss (Cairo JE 72213; Hassan 1960: pl. 37) bearing the royal name on the back pillar.

The funerary complex of Khafre contained an estimated one-hundred statues in diverse stones. Amongst the fragmentary remains found near the pyramid, remarkable

Figure 38.4 Khafre, diorite, Egyptian Museum Cairo, CG 14. Courtesy the Egyptian Museum Cairo.

Portraits have survived in calcite (Boston MFA 21.351, Copenhagen AEIN 1599, New York MMA 26.7.1392) and gneiss (Leipzig TAM 1945), showing a smoothly carved face with subtle musculature, curved eyebrows in relief, and eyes well defined, bordered by a fine rim on the upper lid. The nose is short and fleshy, the mouth horizontal, with a sharp dip in the middle of the upper lip. Fragments of other statues and sphinxes derive from the temple, with pieces of female coiffures belonging to statues of queens or princesses (Holscher 1912: 91-135). A seated dyad in gneiss depicted the king and the goddess Bastet. The upper part is lost; the throne, without a back rest, shows a sema-tawy scene in bold relief with the Nile god bringing an offering table (Cairo CG 11). The upper part of a standing dyad with a lion-headed goddess embracing the king dates to this reign or the following (Hildesheim; Seidel 1999b: Dok. 2, p. 10-12, fig. 4, pl. 2).

A pair of oblong pedestals with rounded backs flanked each of the entrances to the valley temple of Khafre and bear witness to the existence of royal sphinxes or lions (Holscher 1912: 15, fig. 5; Stadelmann 1985: 139). Fragments of sphinx paws have also been discovered near or in the funerary complex (Fay 1996: nos 4-7). A hand holding a nw vessel found in the temple may belong to a human-handed sphinx or a statue of the king kneeling. In either case, this would be the first known example of its type (Hildesheim 69; Martin-Pardey CAA 1977: 70-73; Schulz 1995:122, pl. 47 b; Stadelmann 1998: 358).

The funerary complex of Menkaure at Giza contained numerous large and smaller sized statues in calcite and gneiss. Divided today between the museums of Cairo and Boston, they were discovered by Reisner who estimated their number at forty (Reisner, 1931:107-29, pls. 12-17, 43-64; for all statues PM III: 27-33). Seated statuary in the same pose and attire as his predecessor is attested with magnificent largesized examples in alabaster. The largest was found in the Mortuary Temple with fragments of a base (Boston 09.204; Reisner 1931: no. 1, pls. 12-16). Seated in what is now a classical attitude, with the right feast clenched vertically to hold a cloth, wearing the nemes and the pleated shendyt kilt, this figure is impressive by the beauty of its sculpture, its size, and its new canon of proportions. The head seems small in proportion to the large shoulders and the bold musculature of the body, but it accentuates the impression of power and majesty which emanate from the ruler. Like the statues of Khafre, only the lappets of the nemes are pleated, but here the sideburns of the natural royal hair appear exceptionally in two rows of curls rendered in relief. The uraeus rising from the lower border of the frontlet has a detailed ventral column. Eyes and eyebrows are enhanced with black color, and the fine moustache is painted black.

Four other alabaster statues flanked in pairs the entrance leading to the sanctuary of the Valley Temple. They all show the king seated in the same attitude and attire as the larger statue. On one statue head the nemes is completely pleated, and the natural hair is stylized in a row of curls in relief under the frontlet of the coiffure, and two rows on the sideburns (today in the National Museum of Port Said former Cairo JE 40 705; Reisner 1931: no. 22, pls. 50-1). On another statue two plain trapezoidal side tabs replace the natural hair (Cairo JE 40 704; Reisner no. 18, pls. 48-9). On one statue the king has short cropped hair with a plain uraeus (Boston, MFA 09.203; Reisner 1931: no. 23, pls. 52-5; Roehrig 1999: no. 70), and all uraei show four loops on top of the headdress. On one statue, the sides of the cubic throne bear the scene of the sema tawy carved in deep relief; in the back scene, the heraldic plants are bound by two seated Nile gods (Boston, MFA 96, Reisner 1931: 19, pl. 47 b-c).

These statues convey remarkable portraits of the king. Modeled with care, the treatment enhances the facial features and the athletic anatomy of the body with extremely large and rounded shoulders. The rectangular face with round cheeks and square jaws shows a projecting brow-ridge with naturalistic eyebrows. The bulging eyes have plump lids, and the nose is fleshy. The wavy mouth is surmounted by a fine painted moustache, the larger lower lip is advanced and the chin knobbed. The chest is well modeled, and the waist slender. The musculature on the arms and legs is rendered with care, and the knees caps jut out.

Smaller seated statues of this reign include 14 unfinished examples, mainly in diorite (Reisner 1931: 112-13, pls. 61-3). All wearing the nemes and the short kilt, these statues differ from the larger specimens by the pose of the right hand, here clasped horizontally. The striding type is represented by small fragments including a fine ivory headless statuette (Boston MFA 11.280; Reisner 1931: 113, pl. 64 g-j), and others in porphyry and slate (Reisner 1931: 113, pl. 63 d).

Group statues representing the king with deities from the reign of Menkaure are exemplified by five triads and a dyad, masterfully sculpted in greywacke (Reisner 1931: pls. 36-46). The triads represent the king between the goddess Hathor and the personification of a nome, all standing, except on one triad where Hathor is seated in the middle (Boston MFA 09.200). The king either holds the hand of Hathor or he is embraced by her and by the personification of the nome (Cairo Boston JE 40678, JE 40679, JE 46499, Boston MFA 11.4697). On the triad with the enthroned goddess Hathor he holds a mace. On all triads the king wears the white

Figure 38.5 Triad of Menkaure, greywacke, Egyptian Museum Cairo, JE 54934. Courtesy the Egyptian Museum Cairo.

Crown and the shendyt, and a short tapering beard adorns his chin. The goddesses wear a striated tripartite coiffure and a long tight-fitting dress. The faces and the anatomy are masterfully rendered. These admirably modeled sculptures were completed by painted elements, such as facial cosmetics, moustache, necklaces, and details on the belt.

A dyad represents the striding figure of Menkaure embraced by a queen or a goddess (Boston MFA 11.1738; Reisner 1931: pls. 54-60). The king wears a plain nemes headdress, and the queen a tripartite wig under which part of the original hair is visible on the front. Here again the details of the attire were probably gilded or completed with paint. More statues populated the Valley Temple of Menkaure, among them fragments of other group statues and probably another dyad (Friedmann 2008: 109-44), pieces of sphinx paws in alabaster, statues of family members including a standing woman, one prince and another male seated, and a scribe, as well as a beautiful statue of a recumbent jackal (Reisner 1931: pls. 62-4). Finally, fragments of an alabaster statue of the queen were discovered in the temple of her pyramid (Reisner 1931: no. 8, p. 108, pl. 17d).

The Fourth Dynasty ends with the reign of Shepseskaf whose funerary complex was moved to South Saqqara and exceptionally took the form of a monumental mastaba instead of a pyramid. Fragments of a seated statue were discovered in the Mortuary Temple (Jequier, 1928: 21, fig. 12). A small limestone head of unknown provenance,

Figure 38.6 Userkaf, greywacke, Egyptian Museum Cairo, JE 90220. Courtesy the Egyptian Museum Cairo.

With short coiffure, damaged nose, and broken beard is attributed to him in the absence of comparative material (Bruxells 7117; Capart 1927: pl. 5; Hormemann 1951: I, 361).

The Fifth Dynasty royal sculpture from Saqqara and Abusir is preserved in relatively small quantities compared to the magnitude of the pyramids and sun temples of these monarchs. Userkaf is represented by the large head of a red - granite colossal sculpture and a smaller head from a statue in greywacke, found respectively in the Mortuary Temple at Saqqara and the sun temple in Abusir (Cairo JE 52501 and JE 90220. Height 75 cm and 45 cm). On the first head the king wears the nemes, on the second the red crown. Both heads are exemplary portraits of the king, emanating the confident serenity of a well-established monarchy. The smoothly polished contours of the oval face, with protruding brow bone, fleshy nose, and full cheeks, end with a delicately modeled chin, characterized by the absence of the beard. The curved eyebrows are rendered naturalistically on the colossal head, whereas on the smaller head cosmetic bands prolong the eyebrows and the eyes, set in clearly defined sunk contours and well-modeled eyeballs, and upper lids rimmed by a protruding ridge. The mouth is set horizontally. The smaller head bears a faint trace of black over the upper lip indicating the moustache. Smaller fragments of statuary at Saqqara and the lower part of an alabaster face of the king from Abusir are the only other sculptural remains from the reign of Userkaf.

Sahure, who built the first of the pyramids at Abusir, is famous for his magnificent funerary complex with elaborate scenes finely carved on walls of the chapels and causeway. Regrettably little remains of the statuary: fragments of a seated royal statue in greywacke with white crown and shendyt, and alabaster fragments without any indication of statue type except a human foot. A piece of a nemes tail and clenched paws attest to the presence of sphinxes in greywacke (Borchardt, 1910: 111-12, fig. 14), and another paw in sandstone probably belonged to a sphinx or a lion. A fragmentary but carefully sculpted lion with a sharply sloping back was used to serve as a libation altar pouring into a vase (Borchardt, 1910: 113, figs. 144-5).

The only known well preserved statue of Sahure is a dyad in gneiss representing in an original composition the king seated on a large throne, accompanied by a standing god who personifies the nome of Koptos (New York, MMA 18.2.4; Egyptian Art 1999, no. 109). Both lean against a large back slab. The larger figure of the king is bearded and seated in traditional posture and attire. The god, bearing the emblem of the Koptite nome on his head, holds the symbol of life towards Pharaoh’s hand and clasps in his right fist a shen-ring, symbol of duration. He wears a tripartite wig, a plaited divine beard and a divine kilt with one pleated overlap. The face of the king is round with full cheeks. His eyes are set in well-defined sockets and rimmed by a ridge at the upper lid; the nose is short and fleshy, the mouth horizontal, with wide lips of equal length. The anatomy of both figures is conventionally modeled. The very large throne jambs are inscribed with the Horus and throne names of the king.

Neferirkare offers the best collection of royal statues of this dynasty. Fragments in various stones found in his Mortuary Temple attest to a dozen royal statues of small size in seated and striding attitudes (Verner 1985: 267- 80, pls. 44-59; Verner et alii 2001: 360-437, figs. 2.7.1 to 2.7.75). The most impressive of these is the statue in hard limestone representing Neferefre seated, holding a mace against his chest, and protected by a falcon perched behind his nape. On his short coiffure concentric rows of curls are rendered in herring-bone pattern, and a hole on the forehead held the lost uraeus. A pleated kilt was tied by a knot preserved on the torso. The youthful features of the face, with full cheeks and delicate modeling, are enhanced with black paint around the eyes and on the eyebrows; the fine moustache was here again rendered by paint.

A similar head in limestone with remains of a falcon’s wing at the nape attest to a second statue protected by Horus. A third bust in basalt shows the king with the nemes headdress in seated attitude. On a fourth statue of the same material the king stands wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt, holding in his right hand the mace against his chest and in his left hand the papyrus roll. Two heads with nemes and a torso in diorite derive from similar statues, and finally we have a calcite head of a beardless youth with short hair which possibly belonged to a statue of a prince.

The temple revealed other fragments of royal statues in stone and wood and figurines of animals mainly in clay. A most significant component of this repertoire is the set of nine statues of prisoners in wood, including Nubians, Asiatics, and a Libyan, all kneeing with arms bound, skilfully sculpted with their characteristic features and attire.

Niuserre, the successor, is known from a few scattered statues where he invariably wears the nemes and the shendyt. On a red granite standing statue divided between

Rochester (inv. 42.54) and Cairo (CG 42003) the king holds a mace (Bothmer, 1974: 165- 70, pls. 44-5, 47-9). A seated statue in red granite bought in Memphis (Cairo CG 38) helped to attribute to this monarch a bust of a similar statue from Byblos (Beirut B 7395; Bothmer 1971: 11-16, pls. 1-2). A pair statue of the king in limestone was acquired more recently (Munich AAS 6794. H. 71,8 cm; Wildung 1984b: 1-31). The pseudo-group (or the dyad), represents the king striding in classical attitude and attire, holding papyrus rolls. The sculpture leans against a large back slab which reaches up to the shoulders, leaving the heads free. On all statues, the top of the headdress is flat, the face of the king conforms to the conventional portraiture of his predecessors, with rounded forms, careful modeling, and well-set eyes rimmed and prolonged by cosmetic bands. On all these portraits the king is beardless, as in the wall scenes of his sun temple at Abusir. From his Mortuary Temple derive masterfully sculpted faces of lions in basalt which served as water spills to the temple roof (PM IV: 336).

Very little remains from the last kings of the Fifth Dynasty. A calcite statue of Menkauhor, bought in Memphis, represents the monarch in a Heb-sed cloak with the crook and the flail crossed on the chest. The face is decayed, and, except for the large rimmed eyes, the features are too worn for comment (Cairo CG 40). There were no known portraits of Unis, last monarch of the dynasty, until the recent cleaning up before his Valley Temple revealed a set of four sphinxes in limestone wearing the nemes (Hawass, forthcoming publication SCA). One sphinx is now on display in the Imhotep Museum at Saqqara. The elongated face with hanging cheeks is marked by large and deeply cut eyes. The horizontal mouth with full lips is bordered with a fine ridge.

The Sixth Dynasty starts with the reign of Teti, well known through his large funerary complex at Saqqara. However, the only statue attributed to him is a small figure in granodiorite which depicts a king striding, holding papyrus rolls and wearing the white crown and the shendyt kilt (Cairo JE 39103, h. 74 cm; Quibell 1908: pl. 31). In continuation of the traditions of Fifth Dynasty royal statuary this statue, of very conventional aspect, shows an elongated oval face with full cheeks, eyes well defined in their sockets, fleshy nose, a horizontal mouth with full lower lip, and a rounded chin smoothed by the absence of beard. The torso is long and slim, the anatomy is elaborate, and the musculature well modeled.

In the following reigns royal statuary shows original production with new statue types, at least types attested for the first time, or represented now through well-dated specimens, but it is noteworthy that, although this period included very long reigns with tremendous building activity throughout Egypt, few statues have survived. James Romano, having thoroughly studied this statuary, identified only fourteen statues (Romano 1998: 235-303, figs. 1-74).

The reign of Pepi I offers the first extant examples of standing statues in copper. These were royal gifts to the divine temple of Hierakonpolis during the first celebration of the king’s jubilee (PM V: 193). Maybe contemporary, a copper statue of a falcon with golden head was also found deposited in the temple. Produced by copper sheets hammered around a wooden core to which they were nailed, the royal statues are masterpieces of established workmanship and artistic ability. The larger statue shows the king standing in the posture already seen on early two-dimensional representations, i. e. striding, holding in the advanced hand a long vertical staff and in the hand hanging down the side a mace or a sceptre held horizontally. The smaller statue observes the conventional striding attitude of stone sculpture with arms hanging and holding papyrus rolls. The royal kilt was made of gilded plaster. A white crown probably appeared on the larger statue, while a short curly coiffure is worked onto the smaller figure. Like all Upper or Lower Egyptian crowns of the Old Kingdom, the larger statue has no uraeus, while a hole on the forehead of the smaller statue with short hair served to hold a uraeus. Holes cut in the nape of the latter suggest that a falcon was probably located there, protecting the king. Recently cleaned and restored, these two statues are now once more on display in the Cairo Museum (see Stadelmann 2005: 125-9, pls. 1-12). They exemplify the new style in vogue in the royal workshops which will be taken up immediately by the leading members of that wealthy society. The carefully sculpted faces with elongated eyes inlaid with limestone and obsidian and framed by plastic cosmetic lines, a long nose and a broad mouth with everted lips, are the common features on both portraits, except for the fuller cheeks on the smaller statue, which may represent the king as a young boy. The head of a wooden statue newly discovered in the funerary temple of Pepy I at South Saqqara may be compared to the portrait on the larger statue (Labrousse 1999: 59).

The kneeling statuette of Pepi I in schist is another example of excellent portraiture which impresses the viewer by the vivid inlaid eyes and elaborate modeling of the face with prominent mouth and jutting chin, and a body observing the new aesthetic canon with schematic anatomy and smoothly polished surfaces. Leaning forward, presenting two nw-vases, this statue is the first known complete example depicting the king in this attitude. The uraeus was inserted in a hole on the forehead. Noteworthy are the very long arms and legs which are freed from body and base, as well as the elongated fingers with pointed nails, which will remain a characteristic feature of this dynasty. On the back one can better observe the geometric treatment of the torso with very large shoulders, rounded shoulder blades, and a sharply narrowed waist (Brooklyn 39.121. H. 15,2 cm; Romano 1998: no. 5, 242-3, figs. 20-30). On a small calcite statuette of the enthroned Pepi I a falcon again protects the king holding the royal insignia crossed on his chest, crowned by the white crown and wearing the short Heb-sed cloak (Brooklyn 39.120; Romano, 1998: no. 4, figs. 8-19). The forepaws of a large sphinx in schist with bold sinews and stylized claws engraved on the damaged fingers remain from a large sized recumbent sphinx and attest to colossal statuary presumably form Heliopolis (Cairo CG 543; Romano 1998: no. 5, 244, figs. 31-4; Fay 1995: no 12, pl. 84c).

The following reign of Merenre is illustrated by two small sphinxes of original type. Both measure 5,7 cm in length. One is a lion with leonine mane and a royal beardless face (Moscow, Pushkin Museum 4951; Romano, 1998: 245-6, figs. 37-8). The second is a sphinx with a royal head wearing nemes and beard, presenting nw-vases with his human hands (Edinburgh, RSM 1984.405; Aldred 1988: 41-7, pl. 10; Fay 1995: no. 13, pl. 84a a-b, d; Romano 1988: no. 6, 246-7, figs. 39-40). On both sphinxes the eyes are large and wide open, the nose is long, the mouth everted, the tail ending with a bulbous tuft. Characteristic are the pointed claws on the first sphinx, and the long fingers with sharp nails on the second.

A

B

Figure 38.7a and 38.7b Two statues of Pepi I, copper, Egyptian Museum Cairo, JE 33034 and 33035. Courtesy the Egyptian Museum Cairo.

The dynasty ends with another small sized calcite statue of innovative type: Pepi II seated on the lap of his mother Ankhnesmeryre II (Brooklyn, 39.119; Romano 1998: no. 8, 248-52, figs. 41-53). The queen seats on a cubic stool with low backrest, holding on her lap the smaller figure of her son seated sideways, his feet resting on a high narrow plinth. Her striated tripartite wig is covered with the vulture headdress, a vulture head having once been inserted in the hole on her forehead. She wears a tight-fitting long dress. Her arms and legs are completely freed from the mass of stone. The king wears the nemes headdress with a uraeus whose body forms eight loops on top of the head. The costume is the traditional shendyt. The admirably modeled faces with carefully carved features, the careful details of the attire, the elongated arms and legs, the long hands and feet, and the perfect polish of the surfaces, all are conform to the style of the Sixth Dynasty. On a calcite statuette, Pepi II is depicted as a squatting nude child, with the right hand raised to his mouth. The legs of another calcite statuette of the king dressed in the Heb-sed cloak (Broolyn 16.40; Romano 1988: no. 10, fig. 59) and the lower part of a small basalt statue of Pepi seated on a cubic stool and wearing the shendyt (Cairo CG 43) complete the repertoire of royal statues of this dynasty.