DOI Heft:
No. 4
DOI Artikel:Brandys, Henryk: Two Egyptian statuettes of the period of the Middle Kingdom in the National Museum in Warsaw
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17160#0099
Henryk Brandys
TWO EGYPTIAN STATUETTES OF THE PERIOD OF THE MIDDLE
KINGDOM IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM IN WARSAW
In the Egyptian collection of the National Museum in Warsaw there are two interesting
statuettes of the Middle Kingdom period coming from Edfu.
Edfu, sińce the period of the Middle Kingdom called by the Egyptians dr? J^jl © \
was the capital of the second nome in Upper Egypt. Situation near the frontier enhanced the
political and economic importance of this provincial centrę. Ali trade and military expedi-
tions passed through it and fairs took place here as well as religious ceremonies in honour of
the local God Hr bhd. tj ^ 2 Horus-Behdet, called also Re-Behedti3. The tempie
of the deity had been erected firstly already at the period of the Ancient Kingdom4.
Not far from Edfu there were rich deposits of soft and hard Stones: sandstone, limestone,
basalt, dolerite, syenite, schist and porphyry — the fact which favoured the development of
architecture and sculpture. Some of the ąuarries were active already sińce the period of the
Ancient Kingdom on. The most important deposits and stonepits were in the area of Wadi el-
Hammamat, in the mountains Gebel el-Silsila near Kom Ombo, at Assuan and in Nubia in the
area of Wadi el-'Allaqi5. The greatest output took place at the time of the XIIth Dynasty
(2000 — 1785b.Chr.) as the result of an increasing building activity.
The renovation of the colonial politic in Nubia during the reign of Montu-hotpe III, crowned
with a complete colonization of the country at the time of Se'n-Wsret III, still raised up the
importance of Edfu, providing a solid base also for the artistic development.
Both our statuettes are smali as most of contemporaneous sculptures showing private people6.
This minutę sculpture was found only occasionally in tombs, being in majority of cases pre-
served in temples'. To put up a private statuę in a tempie a special permission was to be obtained
from the King8. Such a statuette took part in the offerings to the dead in the tempie. For the
1. Wb, V, 562.1.
2. Wb, 1, 470.10.
3. R. Lepsius, APAW (1856) pi. I; S. Mercer, Horus - Royal Cod of Egypt, Grafton, 1942.
4. E. Chassinat, Le Tempie d'Edfou, I —XIV. (Mćmoires de la Mission Arebeologicjue Franęaise au Caire), Le Caire,
1934. The existence of a monumental tempie at the peiiod of the Ancient Kingdom is confirmed by contempora-
neous inscriptions found in Edfu
5. R.J. Forbes, Studies in Ancient Technology, VII, Leiden, 1963, p. 162 sq.; A. Herman, „Steine und Steinbriicke der
Alten Aegypter," Die Umsehau, XLIX, 1949, pp. 271 - 274.
6. W. Wolf, Die Kunst Aegyptens, Stuttgart, 1957, p. 336. The only exception is the well-known statuę of Sebek-em-Saf
of Thebes, of black syenite. about 1,50 m high (Wien, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Inv. b: 5801) dated to the XIIIth
Dynasty — Cf. E.v. Bergman. ..Die Statuę Sebkiemsauf", Jahrbuch des Allerhóchsten Kniserhauses, XII, Wien. 1891,
p.l sq. plate 1 — 2. According to the inscription of a stele in the Louvre (C 13), the parents of Sebek-em-Saf were also
the paretns of Queen Nub-chas: thus, the large dimensions of the statuę are explained by the appartenance of the
model to the royal family.
7. H. Kayser, Die Tempelstatuen aegyptischer Priratleute im Miitleren und Neuen Reich, Diss. Heidelberg, 1936.
8. Probably the statuę was exposed in a tempie still during the lifetime of the interested person, so that he could enjoy
it. Cf. H. Junker, Giza, XI, p. 226 sq. In the earlier period the King himself offered the statuę and ordered that it should
be exposed in the tempie.
85
TWO EGYPTIAN STATUETTES OF THE PERIOD OF THE MIDDLE
KINGDOM IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM IN WARSAW
In the Egyptian collection of the National Museum in Warsaw there are two interesting
statuettes of the Middle Kingdom period coming from Edfu.
Edfu, sińce the period of the Middle Kingdom called by the Egyptians dr? J^jl © \
was the capital of the second nome in Upper Egypt. Situation near the frontier enhanced the
political and economic importance of this provincial centrę. Ali trade and military expedi-
tions passed through it and fairs took place here as well as religious ceremonies in honour of
the local God Hr bhd. tj ^ 2 Horus-Behdet, called also Re-Behedti3. The tempie
of the deity had been erected firstly already at the period of the Ancient Kingdom4.
Not far from Edfu there were rich deposits of soft and hard Stones: sandstone, limestone,
basalt, dolerite, syenite, schist and porphyry — the fact which favoured the development of
architecture and sculpture. Some of the ąuarries were active already sińce the period of the
Ancient Kingdom on. The most important deposits and stonepits were in the area of Wadi el-
Hammamat, in the mountains Gebel el-Silsila near Kom Ombo, at Assuan and in Nubia in the
area of Wadi el-'Allaqi5. The greatest output took place at the time of the XIIth Dynasty
(2000 — 1785b.Chr.) as the result of an increasing building activity.
The renovation of the colonial politic in Nubia during the reign of Montu-hotpe III, crowned
with a complete colonization of the country at the time of Se'n-Wsret III, still raised up the
importance of Edfu, providing a solid base also for the artistic development.
Both our statuettes are smali as most of contemporaneous sculptures showing private people6.
This minutę sculpture was found only occasionally in tombs, being in majority of cases pre-
served in temples'. To put up a private statuę in a tempie a special permission was to be obtained
from the King8. Such a statuette took part in the offerings to the dead in the tempie. For the
1. Wb, V, 562.1.
2. Wb, 1, 470.10.
3. R. Lepsius, APAW (1856) pi. I; S. Mercer, Horus - Royal Cod of Egypt, Grafton, 1942.
4. E. Chassinat, Le Tempie d'Edfou, I —XIV. (Mćmoires de la Mission Arebeologicjue Franęaise au Caire), Le Caire,
1934. The existence of a monumental tempie at the peiiod of the Ancient Kingdom is confirmed by contempora-
neous inscriptions found in Edfu
5. R.J. Forbes, Studies in Ancient Technology, VII, Leiden, 1963, p. 162 sq.; A. Herman, „Steine und Steinbriicke der
Alten Aegypter," Die Umsehau, XLIX, 1949, pp. 271 - 274.
6. W. Wolf, Die Kunst Aegyptens, Stuttgart, 1957, p. 336. The only exception is the well-known statuę of Sebek-em-Saf
of Thebes, of black syenite. about 1,50 m high (Wien, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Inv. b: 5801) dated to the XIIIth
Dynasty — Cf. E.v. Bergman. ..Die Statuę Sebkiemsauf", Jahrbuch des Allerhóchsten Kniserhauses, XII, Wien. 1891,
p.l sq. plate 1 — 2. According to the inscription of a stele in the Louvre (C 13), the parents of Sebek-em-Saf were also
the paretns of Queen Nub-chas: thus, the large dimensions of the statuę are explained by the appartenance of the
model to the royal family.
7. H. Kayser, Die Tempelstatuen aegyptischer Priratleute im Miitleren und Neuen Reich, Diss. Heidelberg, 1936.
8. Probably the statuę was exposed in a tempie still during the lifetime of the interested person, so that he could enjoy
it. Cf. H. Junker, Giza, XI, p. 226 sq. In the earlier period the King himself offered the statuę and ordered that it should
be exposed in the tempie.
85