Overseer of the Treasury, Ptahhotep

Ptahhotep is shown in a Persian costume that Egyptian officials adopted under the Persian rulers to imitate Persian court attire. The jacket with flaring sleeves, over which a skirt is wrapped, is complemented by a Persian bracelet and torque (a bar-like necklace) as well an Egyptian pectoral, or chest plaque. These accessories give Ptahhotep the overall appearance of an Egypto-Persian official, one whose dress speaks clearly of his loyalty to the Persian king. The rendering of the two ibexes that terminate the torque, however, is typically Egyptian, with the heads shown from the side. This treatment, together with the pectoral showing Ptah and the lion-headed goddess Sakhmet, underscores the essentially Egyptian nature of the statue.