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Queen Ahmose, Mother of Hatshepsut

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor
Hatshepsut supported her right to rule by claiming to be the daughter of the god Amun, who visited her mother, Queen Ahmose, in the form of King Thutmose I. Ahmose’s role in this royal myth explains the prominence of her images in Hatshepsut’s funerary temple at Deir el-Bahri.

This fragmentary head of Ahmose was the work of one of Hatshepsut’s best sculptors, who indicated the subject’s maturity by carving a slight double chin. The headdress was later scored with a chisel, perhaps in preparation for repainting.
MEDIUM Limestone, pigment
DATES ca. 1478-1458 B.C.E.
DYNASTY Dynasty 18
PERIOD New Kingdom
DIMENSIONS 5 × 9 × 1 1/4 in., 1.5 lb. (12.7 × 22.9 × 3.2 cm, 0.68kg)  (show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER 57.76.2
CREDIT LINE Anonymous gift in memory of Arthur W. Clement
PROVENANCE Great Temple of Hatshepsut, upper court (91), Deir el-Bahri, Thebes, Egypt; between 1940 and 1950, removed from the Great Temple of Hatshepsut by unidentified individuals; between 1945 and 1951, purchased in Egypt by Paul Mallon of Paris, France; 1951, purchased in New York, NY from Paul Mallon by Arthur W. Clement; 1957, bequeathed by Arthur W. Clement to John D. Cooney; 1957, gift of John D. Cooney to the Brooklyn Museum.
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CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Fragment of limestone relief. Head of Queen Ahmose facing right wearing the vulture headdress the entire surface of which is covered with triangular incisions. Only lower portion of head is preserved from base of eye to upper part of neck. Flesh yellow, remains of blue pigment on wig; background white. Condition: Incomplete. Assembled from at least two fragments.
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor
CAPTION Queen Ahmose, Mother of Hatshepsut, ca. 1478-1458 B.C.E. Limestone, pigment, 5 × 9 × 1 1/4 in., 1.5 lb. (12.7 × 22.9 × 3.2 cm, 0.68kg). Brooklyn Museum, Anonymous gift in memory of Arthur W. Clement, 57.76.2. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 57.76.2_PS9.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 57.76.2_PS9.jpg., 2018
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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