Group Statue of the Mayor Pasheryntaisui, his Wife Nefrtiyu and their Son Ashakhet

Artefact Details

Gallery number: 24- Ground Floor

Period: Late Period

Dynasty:  30th dynasty (c. 380-343 BC)

Size: Height 60 cm; Width 53 cm; Length 38 cm;

Place of discovery: Thebes East, Karnak Temple (Ipet-Isut), Precinct of Amun, Court of the Cachette, Karnak Cachette

Material: Granodiorite

Image Gallery

Group statue of Pa-shery-n-ta-isui, with his wife Nefrt-iy-u and their son Ash-akhet, together on one seat with a high semi-rounded backrest. Pa-shery-n-ta-isui was Mayor of Xois Khasut, modern day Sakha in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate. He is depicted seated in the centre wearing a smooth wig, his ears are well exposed. He wears a long robe that only reveal his feet and his left hand, which is flat on the chest, projects from the robe held by the right fist. The V-neck of the robe is strongly marked revealing the garment worn underneath.

On the right, his son Ash-akhet is wearing the same wig and a garment composed of a long skirt held by a cord that passes around the neck and is tied on the front part of the costume. He holds a piece of cloth in his right hand, while his left arm is placed behind Pa-shery-n-ta-isui and probably joining the right arm of Nefrt-iy-u. On the left, his wife Nefrt-iy-u is dressed in the traditional women’s costume and wears a smooth wig revealing her ears. Her left hand is placed flat on her knees.

Five columns of hieroglyphic inscription are engraved on the garments of the group and between their legs. Both sides of the seat are also engraved with six vertical lines of hieroglyphic text, one of which is continued on the upper edge of the seat’s back. On the back of the seat a very long text of twenty-four columns, divided into two parts can be read. The first is composed of seven columns, written from right to left; while the other has seventeen, written from left to right.

The provenance and date of this statue have long been uncertain, but both are now assured through a series of archival documents.