Head of a King, Probably Khafre, Wearing the White Crown

Head of a King, Probably Khafre, Wearing the White Crown

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This exquisitely carved king has intricately inlaid eyes, a partially preserved beard, and a long white crown, broken near the top. The inlaid eyes give it a sense of immediacy, liveliness, and even monumentality despite its small size. The head has been identified as a representation of the Fourth Dynasty Pharaoh Khafre, who built the second pyramid at Giza, based on comparison to a royal head wearing a red crown now in the Ägyptisches Museum, Universität, Leipzig (1947). The latter head was excavated just outside the valley temple of Khafre’s pyramid complex at Giza, along with other pieces of small statues made of the same stone.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Head of a King, Probably Khafre, Wearing the White CrownHead of a King, Probably Khafre, Wearing the White CrownHead of a King, Probably Khafre, Wearing the White CrownHead of a King, Probably Khafre, Wearing the White CrownHead of a King, Probably Khafre, Wearing the White Crown

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.