Gardners Art through the Ages A Global History

Sculpture

Old Kingdom statues survive in significant numbers because they

fulfilled an important function in Egyptian tombs as substitute

abodes for the ka (see “Mummification and Immortality,” page 57).

Although Egyptian sculptors used wood, clay, and other materials,

mostly for images of those not of the royal or noble classes, the pri-

mary material for funerary statuary was stone.

KHAFRE ENTHRONEDThe seated statue of Khafre (FIG.

3-12) is one of a series of similar statues carved for the pharaoh’s

valley temple (FIG. 3-10,no. 6) near the Great Sphinx. The stone is

diorite, an exceptionally hard dark stone brought some 400 miles

down the Nile from royal quarries in the south. (The Neo-Sumerian

ruler Gudea,FIG. 2-16,so admired diorite that he imported it to far-

away Girsu.) Khafre wears a simple kilt and sits rigidly upright on a

throne formed of two stylized lions’ bodies. Intertwined lotus and

papyrus plants—symbolic of the united Egypt—appear between the

throne’s legs. The falcon-god Horus extends his protective wings to

shelter the pharaoh’s head. Khafre has the royal false beard fastened

to his chin and wears the royal linen nemes headdress with the uraeus

cobra of kingship on the front. The headdress covers his forehead

and falls in pleated folds over his shoulders. (The head of the Great

Sphinx is similarly attired.) As befitting a divine ruler, the sculptor

portrayed Khafre with a well-developed, flawless body and a perfect

face, regardless of his actual age and appearance. The Egyptians con-

sidered ideal proportions appropriate for representing their god-

kings, and the statue of Khafre is not a true portrait and was not in-

tended to be. The purpose of pharaonic portraiture was not to

record individual features or the distinctive shapes of bodies, but

rather to proclaim the divine nature of Egyptian kingship.

The enthroned Khafre radiates serenity. The sculptor created

this effect, common to Egyptian royal statues, in part by giving the

3-13Menkaure and Khamerernebty(?), from Gizeh, Egypt, Fourth

Dynasty, ca. 2490–2472 bce.Graywacke, 4 61 – 2 high. Museum of Fine

Arts, Boston.

The double portrait of Menkaure and his wife displays the conventional

postures used for statues designed as substitute homes for the ka. The

frozen gestures signify that the man and woman are married.

3-12Khafre enthroned, from Gizeh, Egypt, Fourth Dynasty,

ca. 2520–2494 bce.Diorite, 5 6 high. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

This portrait from his pyramid complex depicts Khafre as an enthroned

divine ruler with a perfect body. The rigidity of the pose creates the

effect of eternal stillness, appropriate for the timeless afterlife.

62 Chapter 3 EGYPT UNDER THE PHARAOHS

1 ft.

1 ft.

3-12ARahotep
and Nofret,
Maidum, ca.
2575–2550 BCE.