Course: Ancient Mediterranean + Europe > Unit 4
Lesson 4: New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period- New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period, an introduction
- Temple of Amun-Re and the Hypostyle Hall, Karnak
- Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut and Large Kneeling Statue, New Kingdom, Egypt
- The tomb-chapel of Nebamun
- Paintings from the Tomb-chapel of Nebamun
- A bottle and a toy: Objects from daily life
- Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Three Daughters
- Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Three Daughters
- Portrait head of Queen Tiye with a crown of two feathers
- Thutmose, Bust of Nefertiti
- Thutmose, Bust of Nefertiti: backstory
- Thutmose Bust of Nefertiti
- Tutankhamun’s tomb (innermost coffin and death mask)
- Head of Tutankhamun from the Amarna Period of Egypt’s New Kingdom
- Last Judgement of Hunefer, from his tomb
- Hunefer, Book of the Dead
- Ancient Egyptian papyrus in the Book of the Dead Exhibition
- Last Judgement of Hunefer
Head of Tutankhamun from the Amarna Period of Egypt’s New Kingdom
Met curator Nicholas Reeves on fragmented history in Head of Tutankhamun from the Amarna Period of Egypt’s New Kingdom, c. 1336–1327 B.C.E.
This head is a fragment from a statue group that represented the god Amun seated on a throne with the young king Tutankhamun standing or kneeling in front of him. The king's figure was considerably smaller than that of the god, indicating his subordinate status in the presence of the deity. All that remains of Amun is his right hand, which touches the back of the king's crown in a gesture that signifies Tutankhamun's investiture as king. During coronation rituals, various types of crowns were put on the king's head. The type represented here—probably a leather helmet with metal disks sewn onto it—was generally painted blue, and is commonly called the "blue crown." The ancient name was khepresh.
Statue groups showing a king together with gods had been created since the Old Kingdom, and formal groups relating to the pharaoh's coronation were dedicated at Karnak by Hatshepsut and other rulers of Dynasty 18. The Metropolitan's head of Tutankhamun with the hand of Amun is special because of the intimacy with which the subject is treated. The face of the king expresses a touching youthful earnestness, and the hand of the god is raised toward his crown with gentle care.
View this work on metmuseum.org.
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- It seems that these Egyptian sculptures often have the nose broken off. Is there a reason for that? Is it a weak point in the structure?(9 votes)
- I doubt that the nose is a "weak point in the sculpture." One possible explanation was included in Mark Twain's famous travelogue, from 1869, "Innocents Abroad", in which he relates events from a lengthy journey that he took to Europe and the Middle East. He described how many of his fellow travelers would use hammers to chip off pieces of sculptures to take home as souvenirs. Another possible explanation is the damage that some folks did to earlier sculptures of people that had been conquered or had fallen into disfavor. If you have ever seen a picture where someone has defaced it by drawing a moustache on the face, you can imagine how chipping the nose off of the face of a sculpture could be a similar form of disfigurement. Hope this helps. Good Luck.(12 votes)
- Is the speaker being sarcastic when he says "...it could not have been better broken " ?(6 votes)
- I don't think he was. He followed that by describing the enormous hand as belonging to Amun-Re, the god, standing behind the boy king. Had the statue been broken in a way that disconnected the hand from the head, there would have been no indication that it was part of a statue group.(8 votes)
- What happened to his nose because it is gone.(1 vote)