<em>Head of a Queen</em>, ca. 1479–1425 B.C.E. Quartzite, 10 13/16 x 12 3/16 x 10 3/16 in. (27.5 x 31 x 25.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 65.134.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.65.134.3_erg2.jpg)

Head of a Queen, ca. 1479–1425 B.C.E. Quartzite, 10 13/16 x 12 3/16 x 10 3/16 in. (27.5 x 31 x 25.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 65.134.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.65.134.3_erg2.jpg)

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Why are the nose often damaged in the Egyptian sculptures? Why would they make the nose then turn around and break it?

Well the person who made the sculpture is often not the same person who defaces it. For example, a tomb robber might remove the nose of a statue to keep the person's soul from exacting revenge on them.

It usually happens much later in the life of the statue. For example, it was popular to deface statues and depictions of unpopular or heretical rulers after their reign like Akhenaten or Hatshepsut.

Tell me more about her headdress.

This sculpture shows a queen wearing a vulture headdress. The vulture headdress was associated with several goddesses and queens were often shown wearing it as well.in addition to this queen. It symbolized traits like maternal protection.

As an example, Nekhbet, a protective goddess of the White Crown of Upper Egypt, was often shown as a vulture. The mother goddess, Mut, was also symbolized by a vulture, and the hieroglyph for her name was even a vulture!

Did ancient Egyptians where head coverings = all the time? Are these people wearing head coverings? What are they made out of?

The quick answer is no. You'll see in our galleries a few sculptures that depict men with bald heads too. In the first sculpture you photographed, she is wearing a vulture headdress, which is a symbol of maternal protection and associated with goddesses and queens, over her hair.

The second sculpture simply wears a thick hairstyle. This may have been a wig made from hair (the finest examples, of course, were human), or his own hair with the addition of extensions.

Headdresses, in ancient Egyptian art can be a helpful indicator of rank or identity. Hairstyles can even help us date artworks based on when certain styles were in fashion.

Interesting -- thank you!

Who is the lady in this sculpture?

Without an inscription, we aren't sure of her name. We can tell that she is a queen by her vulture headdress. The style of her face suggests that this was carved in the first half of the 18th Dynasty. She may represent the mother of the king Thutmose III whose name was Isis.

Info please.

The vulture headdress over a voluminous wig is what identifies this head as belonging to a royal woman. The headdress is a symbol of maternal protection and divinity that began as an attribute of the goddess Nekhbet, the protector of Upper Egypt.

Where is this piece from?

We know for sure it was made in Egypt around 1479 to 1425 BCE based on the style. There isn't a specific find location noted in our records.

Head of a Queen

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor

The vulture was associated with several important goddesses. This sculpture depicts a so-called vulture cap: the bird’s oval body sits at the top of the wearer’s head and its outspread wings sweep down beside the face. The vulture’s tail is indicated in back, but its head has been replaced by a royal uraeus-cobra over the forehead. A queen would have worn such a headdress on top of a voluminous wig.

The head shows some of the Middle Kingdom influence that is so pronounced in early Eighteenth Dynasty art under Ahmose and Amunhotep I. Other details—such as the shapes of the eyes and eyebrows—indicate that the head was carved later, to represent either the wife of King Thutmose III or his mother, Queen Isis.

MEDIUM Quartzite

Place Made: Egypt

DATES ca. 1479–1425 B.C.E.

DYNASTY Dynasty 18

PERIOD New Kingdom

DIMENSIONS 10 13/16 x 12 3/16 x 10 3/16 in. (27.5 x 31 x 25.8 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 65.134.3

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

PROVENANCE Archaeological provenance not yet documented, reportedly from a Third Intermediate Period chapel in the Eastern Delta, Egypt; before 1962, acquired by Norbert Schimmel of Great Neck, NY; between 1962 and 1965, provenance not yet documented; by 1965, acquired by Roger Khawam of Cairo, Egypt and France; 1965, purchased from Roger Khawam by the Brooklyn Museum.

Provenance FAQ

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Brown quartzite head of a queen with vulture cap covering striated headdress, traces of uraeus above forehead. Well modeled ears, with trapezoid tabs in front. Plastic eyebrows and cosmetic lines in low relief; rounded eyeballs, upper eyelid rim outlined; small pursed mouth; lips' edge defined by sharp ridge. Condition: Fragmentary, but sound; nose, center of mouth, and chin missing; the same holes true for the uraeus. Broken off at neck just below chin level, a little higher in back; no trace of back pillar. Chips and blemishes here and there; curious signs of wear in center of back of wig near break.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor

CAPTION Head of a Queen, ca. 1479–1425 B.C.E. Quartzite, 10 13/16 x 12 3/16 x 10 3/16 in. (27.5 x 31 x 25.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 65.134.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.65.134.3_erg2.jpg)

IMAGE overall, CUR.65.134.3_erg2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 10/16/2007

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

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