User:Tyrone Madera/sandbox/Statue of Mentuemhet

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Statue of Mentuemhet
Yearc. 660 – c. 650 BCE
MediumCarved granite statue
SubjectMentuemhet
Dimensions137 cm × 36.5 cm × 60 cm (54 in × 14.4 in × 24 in)[1]
ConditionAlmost intact
LocationEgyptian Museum, Cairo, Egypt.
AccessionJE 336933 & CG 42236
Statue of Mentuemhet
WritingEgyptian hieroglyphs
Createdc. 660 – c. 650 BCE
Period/cultureEgyptian Late Period
Discovered1904
Karnak
Identification14908

The statue of Mentuemhet (also known as the statue of Montuemhat), is a historical artifact and statue of the Egyptian ruler Mentuemhet. It lies in the Egyptian Museum, under the identifiers JE 336933 & CG 42236. This statue is from the Late Period of Ancient Egypt, and was commissioned by Mentuemhet (also spelled Montuemhet or Mentuemhat). It is a prototypical example of Egyptian archaism, and the Saïte style in particular.

Forms[edit]

The motifs of having arms affixed to the sides, staring forward, and standing straight with left leg forward are clearly expressed.[2] The figure is male and shown in a very stiff and linear manner; there is little movement depicted. However, the position of the leg has been interpreted as walking/striding.[3][4][5] Mentuemhet’s body is shown in a highly idealized and stylized manner, not in a manner that is realistic to how he actually would have looked, whereas the face of the statue is realistic.[6] The hair is geometric in nature; the face is rounded, sullen, and stern; the mouth is wide; the eyes are narrow; the face has fleshy creases and a cleft chin; and the crown is flat.[7][8] Both the costume and pose of the statue are only slightly different from the styles of the Old Kingdom of Egypt,[6] with the statue depicting the subject wearing a shendyt, a kilt that represents royalty.[3][9] The belt of the statue is decorated with the name of the subject enclosed in a cartouche,[3] as well as the titles of its owner.[10] The influence on daedalic depiction in archaic Greek statuary is evident.

Location[edit]

Entrance to the Tomb of Montemhat (TT34) in 2006.

The statue is located in Cairo, at the Egyptian Museum,[3] having the identifiers of CG 42236 (JE 36933).[11][12][4] It was originally found in 1904 in the TT34 tomb in Karnak.[3]

Creation[edit]

This statue is from the Late Period of Ancient Egypt, and was commissioned by Mentuemhet (also spelled Montuemhet or Mentuemhat).[13][8] It was created c. 660 – c. 650 BCE.[6] During the Saïte and Kushite dynasties of the Late Period, Archaism was very popular in Egyptian society and became resurgent and adopted widely throughout, sometimes in an eclectic way.[14][8] This was in reaction to the Amarna period, under which Egyptian art and religion had experienced drastic changes. During this time there was an “Egyptian Renaissance” that led Egyptians to look back to their past in a revival of old and archaic artistic traditions and had a major impact on the art of the time.[15][11] This work shows the fruits of much of that tradition in its iconography: the broad shoulders and strong torso, the archaic stance of having one foot forward, the archaic posture of having both arms to the sides, the use of a grid system, and the archaic cool and calm expression iconic to Old Kingdom Egypt are all evident.[16][12][17][18]

Cultural context[edit]

Ancient Egyptian sculpture as a whole, with the exception of the Amarna Period, is highly consistent in its canon. A lot of this had to do with the Egyptian belief in the afterlife: if people weren’t portrayed in certain ways then their Ka, a person’s immortal human lifeforce, would not have everything they needed for life after death. However, there are some characteristics of the Saïte style, the style of the time of this statue, that differs from the Archaic style it harkens back to; there is an almost veristic style to the face and the statue appears as a “portrait” that contains distinctive qualities of Mentuemhet, and he appears wearing a “double wig” that was the style at the time.[8][12] The statue is stylistic and individualistic and reflects heightened relevance of individualistic "portraits" during this period that had not been seen since the Amarna period.[12] Statues in the Saïte style, such as this one, appeared with high-placed brows, high-placed almond-shaped eyes, and even an archaic smile just like a kouros would have.[12]

Subject[edit]

Mentuemhet was a rich and powerful mayor and priest of Thebes and Governor of Upper Egypt who rebuilt the city after the Assyrians destroyed it.[19][20][11] This is one of many statues he commissioned of himself that he put in the various Thebian temples, all of which were done in the style of the Old Kingdom of Egypt.[20] Mentuemhet’s power over Thebes likely is what inspired him to portray himself as a pharaoh, like he was king of Egypt—and in the case of Upper Egypt, he de facto was.[16] The Egyptian kings needed to appear as both a ruler and a god and were charged with maintaining stability within the kingdom. Thus Egyptain kings were almost always portrayed as cool and calm, like the Nile, and so Mentuemhet adopted such a motif into his own portraiture. These elements touch on the historical, contextual, and formal components of this work.

Material and dimensions[edit]

The statue is made from granite.[21][3][22] It is 137 cm tall,[22] 36.5 cm wide, and 60 cm deep.[1] However, without its plinth the statue is only 120 cm tall.[4]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b Coulon, Laurent (28 August 2017). "Cachette de Karnak". www.ifao.egnet.net (in French). Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  2. ^ Moss, Kelly (2017). The Development and Diffusion of the Cult of Isis in the Hellenistic Period (M.A. thesis). University of Arizona. p. 16. hdl:10150/624095. ISBN 978-1-369-80517-8. ProQuest 1909315562.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Garcia, Brooke Lindsy (May 2015). A Study of the Copper-Alloy Statuette of a Striding King from the Collection of the Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology at the University of Memphis (UM /IEAA 1990.1.29) (Masters thesis). University of Memphis. pp. 15–16 & 36. OCLC 971552218.
  4. ^ a b c Pischikova, Elena; Budka, Julia; Griffin, Kenneth (23 April 2014). Thebes in the First Millennium BC. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 210. ISBN 978-1-4438-5963-9. One of them represents Padiamenope walking, similar to the famous statue of Montuemhat (Cairo CG 42236).
  5. ^ Tassie, Geoffrey John (1 January 2009). "The hairstyles represented on the Salakhana Stelae". In T. DuQuesne (ed.). The Salakhana Trove: Votive Stelae and Other Objects from Asyut. London: Da'th Scholarly Services, Oxfordshire Publications in Egyptology 7, Darengo Publications. p. 447.
  6. ^ a b c Kleiner, Fred S. (1 January 2015). Gardner's Art through the Ages: A Global History. Cengage Learning. p. 80. ISBN 978-1-305-54484-0. Cite error: The named reference ":5" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  7. ^ Wolf, Walther (1972). The Origins of Western Art: Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Aegean. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-297-00387-8.
  8. ^ a b c d Russmann (2010), p. 954.
  9. ^ Cooney, Kathlyn M.; Jasnow, Richard (25 August 2015). Joyful in Thebes: Egyptological Studies in Honor of Betsy M. Bryan. ISD LLC. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-937040-41-3.
  10. ^ Parker, Heather Dana Davis; Arico, Ashley Fiutko (1 May 2015). "A Moabite-Inscribed Statue Fragment from Kerak: Egyptian Parallels". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 373: 105–120. doi:10.5615/bullamerschoorie.373.0105. ISSN 0003-097X. S2CID 164624665.
  11. ^ a b c Manuelian, Peter Der (2003). "Mentuemhet". Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t056871. ISBN 978-1-884446-05-4. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  12. ^ a b c d e Strudwick, Helen M.; Vandersleyen, Claude; Plantzos, Dimitris; Ward, William A.; Peck, William H.; Montserrat, Dominic; Baines, John; Robins, Gay; Ruffle, J. (24 February 2010). "Egypt, ancient". Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press (published 2003). doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t025075. ISBN 978-1-884446-05-4. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  13. ^ Ebied, Ahmed; Fahim, Tamer (1 June 2018). "Non-royal Nubian Clothing Representations during the New Kingdom and the Kushites Twenty-Fifth Dynasty". International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Management. 1 (1): 62–75. doi:10.21608/ijthm.2018.29000. ISSN 2535-2318.
  14. ^ Rual (2015), pp. 1, 3.
  15. ^ Rual (2015), p. 3.
  16. ^ a b Rual (2015), p. 11.
  17. ^ Russmann (2010), p. 958.
  18. ^ "The Kemite influence on early Greek statues". Kemet Expert. 9 March 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ^ Schneider, Betty (February 2013). "Mentuemhet, Prince of Thebes". Ancient Egypt Magazine. 13 (4): 13. ISSN 1470-9996. Accession Number: 85606839 – via History Reference Center.
  20. ^ a b Nickel, Philip. "APAH Journal: Purpose and Intention—Greek vs. Egyptian Sculpture" (PDF). Spraguehs. Retrieved 3 December 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. ^ Manuelian, Peter Der (2003). "Mentuemhet". Grove Art Online. doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T056871. ISBN 9781884446054. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  22. ^ a b Russmann (2010), p. 955.

Bibliography[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • Leclant, Jean (1961). Montouemhat, quatrieme prophete d'Amon. Cairo. pp. 1–111, pls. 1–33.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Beckerath, Jürgen von (1962). "Ein Torso des Mentemhët in München". Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde. 87 (1): 1–8, pl. 11. doi:10.1524/zaes.1962.87.1.1. ISSN 2196-713X. S2CID 192668409.
  • Bothmer, B. V. et al. (1960). Egyptian Sculpture of the Late Period (700 B.C. to A.D. 100). Brooklyn. no. 13, pp. 14–16, pls. 12–13
  • Saleh, Mohamed; Sourouzian, H. (1987). Official Catalogue: the Egyptian Museum Cairo. Munich-Mainz.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) no. 246.
  • Robins, Gay (1997). The Art of Ancient Egypt. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p. 228.
  • Russmann, Edina R. (1989). Egyptian Sculpture: Cairo and Luxor. Austin, Texas. nos. 78, 79, pp. 170–75, illus.

External links[edit]

Category:1914 archaeological discoveries Category:Archaeological artifacts Category:Sculptures of ancient Egypt Category:Granite sculptures

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