Through the Eras

Visual ArtsStatuette of a male deity. BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART, 58.192,CHARLES EDWIN WILBOUR FUND. REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION.weak point in the sculpture. Finally, the artist carved theinscription on Ankhwa’s lap rather than on the base aswould become more typical in later periods.COLOSSAL HEAD OF A KING. A colossal head of aking without inscription to identify it is closely relatedto the art of the Third Dynasty. The head is larger thanlife-size, measuring over 21 inches in height and madeof red granite. The king wears the white crown. Theshape of the crown, especially the depiction of the tabsaround the ears resembles the shape of the crown in theseated statue of Khasekhemwy. This king’s eyes are alsocarved in a manner that resembles the eyes on the standingstatue of Onuris and Ankhwa. Only the upper lid isStatue of Ankhwa, the ship-builder. © THE BRITISHMUSEUM/TOPHAM-HIP/THE IMAGE WORKS.carved. The lips are broad and curved at the ends. Thesefacial features also recall Onuris and Akhwa and suggestthat the king’s head also dates to the Third Dynasty.Enough of the line of the cloak is preserved at the statue’sneck to suggest that the king wore the heb-sed cloak asseen in Khasekhemwy’s and Djoser’s statues. This statueis also a good example of the way Egyptian artists usedmonumentality, overwhelming size, to stress the king’spower to the viewer.SOURCESMetropolitan Museum of Art, Egyptian Art in the Age of thePyramids (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1999).Edna R. Russmann, Eternal Egypt: Masterworks of Ancient Artfrom the British Museum (New York: American Federationof Arts, 2001).Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 279