<em>Priest with Divine Standards</em>, ca. 1295–1185 B.C.E. Stone, 5 1/2 x 7 5/16 x 4 1/8 in. (14 x 18.5 x 10.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 71.37.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 71.37.1_PS9.jpg)

Priest with Divine Standards, ca. 1295–1185 B.C.E. Stone, 5 1/2 x 7 5/16 x 4 1/8 in. (14 x 18.5 x 10.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 71.37.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 71.37.1_PS9.jpg)

DOWNLOAD

Priest with Divine Standards

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

To the right of the central figure of a priest is the standard of a human-headed god wearing a crown with horns and double plumes, perhaps Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. To the left is the standard of the lion-headed goddess Sakhmet, who sports a solar disk.

These standards are indications of privilege representing the king's essential life force, known as his ka. They enabled the bearer to hear prayers and to forward them to the gods. Such standard-bearing sculptures were popular in Dynasty XIX, and this fragment can be dated to that time by the type of wig the priest wears and by his downward-slanting, almond-shaped eyes. Most comparable sculptures, however, bear only one standard, usually the ram-headed god Amun.

MEDIUM Stone

Possible Place Made: Memphis, Egypt

DATES ca. 1295–1185 B.C.E.

DYNASTY Dynasty 19

PERIOD New Kingdom

DIMENSIONS 5 1/2 x 7 5/16 x 4 1/8 in. (14 x 18.5 x 10.5 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 71.37.1

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Upper portion of a statue of a priest holding two divine standards. Hard dark greenish-brown stone. Preserved are the two heads of the standards, the priest's head and part of the inscribed back pillar. The priest wears a double-wig. The head on the standard to the right is that of Sakhmet, and the column of inscription on the back pillar behind her reads "A boon which the King gives (to Sakhmet (beloved of) Ptah." The central column of inscription, behind the head of the priest reads, "A boon which the King gives (to) Ptah, South of his Wall..." The column of text behind the other standard is missing, but the head which is human and wearing a horned and feathered crown is perhaps that of Ptah-Sokar (Osiris). On the right side of the back pillar is partially preserved a column of text in which a relative of the priest is mentioned but not named. On the priest's chest are the partial remains of two cartouches which seem to contain the name of Ramesses. Condition: Front of the priest's wig damaged; top of god's feathered crown missing; Sakhmet's sun-disk chipped. Priest's nose chipped; other chips and scratches.

EXHIBITIONS

Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Priest with Divine Standards, ca. 1295–1185 B.C.E. Stone, 5 1/2 x 7 5/16 x 4 1/8 in. (14 x 18.5 x 10.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 71.37.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 71.37.1_PS9.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 71.37.1_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2015

"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

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.

RECORD COMPLETENESS

Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.