Place of discovery: Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut Deir el-Bahri Thebes, MMA (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) in 1928
Size: H 62.00 cm W 33.00 cm D/L 108.00 cm
Material: Painted Limestone
These fragments are part of a large relief wall commissioned by queen Hatshepsut to commemorate an important trade expedition sent by the queen to Punt, a country situated somewhere on the Red Sea coast south of Egypt, probably in the region of present-day Somalia/Eritrea. This expedition sent in order to obtain exotic goods for her treasury and her pleasure – exotic animals, gold, incense materials, ebony and even trees for the temple garden. One of the relief depicts king Parehu and queen Ati. The king is very slender and wears a kilt with a long sash, two under-tassels and a dagger tucked into the waistband. His long, slender beard distinguishes him as a foreigner. The queen is excessively overweight with extreme curvature of the spine, rolls of fat on arms, body and legs. She wears a sleeveless dress, belted at the waist, a necklace with large disk beads, bracelets and anklets. On the right edge is a partial depiction of two rows of gold rings in baskets and a third of undetermined identification.
Place of discovery: Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut Deir el-Bahri Thebes, MMA (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) in 1928
Size: Height: 62 cm, width: 33 cm, Depth: 108cm
Material: Painted Limestone
The body of this sphinx of Hatshepsut, as pharaoh, is rendered in typical style with the front legs extending forward and the tail curling around the right rear leg. The style of the head, however, pays homage to characteristics of those of the late 12th dynasty, effecting a more leonine quality by replacing the usual nemes crown with a thick, stylized mane. The neatly-arranged fur covers her head, meeting the forehead with a broad band. The mane also frames her face ending at the long false beard and extends down the from the legs to the “elbows”. Her face reflects the typical elements of her portraits: delicate and feminine, with large “half-moon” eyes and high, arched brows, both of which extend in a long cosmetic line. The nose (broken) is slim and the mouth small with a hint of a prim smile. The ingenuous character of the face stands in stark contrast with the power exuded by the leonine aspects of the sculpture. A line of inscription extending from just below the beard to the base between the paws reads: “Maatkare [her coronation name], beloved of Amun, endowed with life forever.” Traces of the blue and yellow paint can be seen. This sphinx, the embodiment of the power and might of the pharaoh, is thought to have been placed at the ramp between the lower and middle terraces at her temple at Deir el-Bahri.
Place of discovery: Abydos, Excavated by W.M.F. Petrie for the EEF (Egypt Exploration Fund) in 1903
Size: Height: 226 cm, width: 106 cm
Material: Limestone
This commemorative stela, bears a vignette and inscription dedicated to queen Tetisheri, the maternal grandmother of king Ahmose who founded the mighty 18th dynasty. It is topped by a winged disk incorporating two cobras, a symbol of royal protection. The vignette consists of a mirror image of an almost identical scene in which the king makes offering to the queen. She is seated on a throne on a dais holding, in both instances in her left hand, a fly whisk, a common accoutrement for royal women, and she wears plain sheath dress and broad collar. Her head is adorned with the vulture crown, identifying her as mother to the heir to the throne, to which is added two plumes (probably ostrich). Her right hand is extended to receive the various offerings of food and cosmetics. King Ahmose stands, in both instances, behind the tables with his right hand in a gesture that indicates the giving of the offerings. In his left hand he holds his stick and a mace with a pear-shaped head. He wears a simple kilt with an fringed apron and the royal tail accoutrement. The artist has made some minor adjustments to the symmetrical arrangement (a common device in Egyptian art) in order to maintain the verisimilitude of the ritual – the whisk is always held in the left hand and the gestures here are properly made with the right.
The staff is carried, as usual, in the left hand; however, the mace was generally depicted in the right hand, ready to defend, but here, the king has retired it to his left in deference to his presentation to his esteemed grandmother. The inscriptions in the vignette give the names and titles of the king and queen, while the 17 preserved lines below refer to the creation of offerings for Tetisheri’s shrine in Abydos, where this stela was found, and the intention of the king to build her a pyramid and temple, the remains of which can be identified on a terrace near the cliffs.
Place of discovery: Asasif, Excavated by A. Lansing for the MMA (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) in 1915
Size: Height: 30 cm, width: 50 cm
Material: Painted Limestone
Rectangular funerary stela with four people. Three on a bench at left, female and male, with beard, embracing another male, who is placed between them. The name Intef between the men faces the same direction as the bearded man. To the right of this group is an offering table with foodstuffs and jars beneath. Another female inscribed as “his sister Hepyt « stands to the right of the table. Both males wear white kilts and green collars and bracelets, have short wigs and one on right with beard. The women wear white sheath dresses and green collars, bracelets and anklets. Male skin tone red/brown, female yellow/beige. Mirror in fitted case under the chair of woman on left. Offering prayer inscribed above in green.