Inlay Profile Head
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
On View: Amarna Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
Composite sculpture, or sculpture that combines separately carved elements of different materials, became particularly popular during the Amarna Period. The face in profile was once embellished with the eye and eyebrow inlays made of glass or semiprecious stones. The crown as well as the rest of the body would have been carved from other stones.
MEDIUM
Red quartzite, pigment
DATES
ca. 1353–1336 B.C.E.
DYNASTY
late Dynasty 18
PERIOD
New Kingdom, Amarna Period
DIMENSIONS
4 5/8 x 4 7/16 x 1 11/16 in. (11.8 x 11.2 x 4.3 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
33.685
CREDIT LINE
Gift of the Egypt Exploration Society
PROVENANCE
Trench in the Great Temple at Tell el-Amarna, Egypt; December 1932, excavated by John Devitt Stringfellow Pendlebury for the Egypt Exploration Society (excavation no. 32-33/61); 1933, gift of the Egypt Exploration Society to the Brooklyn Museum.
Provenance FAQ
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Inlay profile head of red quartzite facing right, representing Akhenaten or Smenkhare, probably the former. Lips painted red.
Condition: Nose chipped. Eye, eyebrow and cheek slightly chipped. Minor scars. Lips painted red.
CAPTION
Inlay Profile Head, ca. 1353–1336 B.C.E. Red quartzite, pigment, 4 5/8 x 4 7/16 x 1 11/16 in. (11.8 x 11.2 x 4.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Egypt Exploration Society, 33.685. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 33.685_PS2.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 33.685_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2008
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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we welcome any additional information you might have.
Tell me more.
This inlay probably either shows Akhenaten, the Pharaoh during the Amarna period, or else Smenkhare. If you look closely, you can see that the lips were painted red!
If you look around the same room you can see a number of other reliefs of Akhenaten and his queen, Nefertiti. Akhenaten and Nefertiti put forward a new religion, that centered around a single god, the Aten, a manifestation of the sun god Re.
They were both considered semi-divine, and the only people to have direct contact with the Aten.
Thank you!
