Colossal Statue of an Official Named Horemheb

Artefact Details

Gallery number: 49 – Ground Floor

Period: Ptolemaic Period (c. 304-30 BC)

Place of discovery: Delta Western, Kom Geif (Naukratis; el-Nibeira; el-Niqrash), Great Mound

Size: H 360.00 cm

Material: Granite

Horemheb was an official who served under the first Ptolemies. He had control over the Greek colony of Naukratis, which was established in the 26th Dynasty on the Canopic branch of the Nile river as trading post for the Greeks in Egypt. Herodotus mentions that King Amasis gave Naukratis to Greek colonisers, but there is an evidence that it was already founded under King Psamtek I.

Although this statue dates to the Ptolemaic Period, its iconography and style is almost exclusively Egyptian. It depicts Horemheb with his left leg forward, arms by his sides, holding the traditional enigmatic cylindrical objects. His wig has rounded ends on the back of his shoulder, leaving his ears uncovered and he is wearing the shendyt kilt. The face is damaged, the left arm is missing, part of kilt is missing and the left leg and right foot restored.

The back pillar of the statue is inscribed with hieroglyphic inscriptions bearing his name, titles and prayers to gods Amun, Mut and Khonsu (the Theban Triad) together with god Min. The size of this statue is usually reserved for kings and gods, indicating that Horemheb was considered an elite.