Brooklyn Museum: Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art: Block Statue of Ay

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Block Statue of Ay

Ancient Egyptian sculptors first fashioned block statues in the Twelfth Dynasty. Such statues show their subjects seated on the ground, with the legs drawn toward the chest and the body enveloped in a full-length cloak.

Interpretations of the meaning of block statues vary. Some Egyptologists see them as simple representations of men in repose. Others feel they have a religious meaning: they seem to show the soul emerging from a mound in the underworld at the moment of rebirth.

This example depicts a man named Ay who achieved the exalted religious positions of Second Prophet of Amun and High Priest of the Goddess Mut at Thebes. His career flourished during the reign of Tutankhamun, when the statue was made. The cartouches of King Ay, Tutankhamun's successor appearing on the statue, were an attempt by an artisan to "update" the sculpture.

Medium: Limestone
Possible Place Collected: Sumenu, Egypt
Dates: ca. 1336-1327 B.C.E.
Dynasty: XVIII Dynasty
Period: New Kingdom
Dimensions: 18 9/16 x 10 x 12 1/4 in. (47.1 x 25.4 x 31.1 cm)
Collections: Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art
Museum Location: This item is on view in Egypt Reborn: Art for Eternity, 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
Accession Number: 66.174.1
Credit Line: Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Image: Front, 66.174.1_view1_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

Collections: Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art: Block Statue of Ay