Collection
/
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Statue in a Niche

ca. 2600–2345 B.C.E.

1 of 4

Object Label

In the tomb, a statue of the deceased served as the focal point. When the ka-soul occupied the statue, priests made food and drink offerings to the deceased. These statues take many forms, but the standing statue like this one, stepping forward to meet the priests, was one of the most popular. This statue illustrates the belief that the deceased’s spirit could pass through a stone panel in the tomb, carved to resemble a door, to receive offerings.

Caption

Statue in a Niche, ca. 2600–2345 B.C.E.. Limestone, 45 1/4 x 22 1/8 x 8 in. (114.9 x 56.2 x 20.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.24E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.24E_PS1.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Title

Statue in a Niche

Date

ca. 2600–2345 B.C.E.

Dynasty

Dynasty 4 to Dynasty 5

Period

Old Kingdom

Geography

Reportedly from: Saqqara, Egypt

Medium

Limestone

Classification

Funerary Object

Dimensions

45 1/4 x 22 1/8 x 8 in. (114.9 x 56.2 x 20.3 cm)

Credit Line

Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Accession Number

37.24E

Rights

Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

Frequent Art Questions

  • Tell me more.

    This type of statue was common in tombs of the Old Kingdom period, but fell out of fashion after that.
    During the Old Kingdom period, we see tombs containing more and more statues of the deceased, more places for the soul to inhabit to accept offerings. This led to a variety of new sculpture styles, but not all of them lasted.

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