Head from the figure of an official

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This diminutive head comes from the figure of an official who might have been represented either seated or standing. The shaven skull associates him with sculptures of mature dignitaries, and suggests a date in the later Middle Kingdom. The features are particular, with deep-set eyes and a flat, asymmetrical nose that give this piece a sense of individuality. The back pillar preserves the beginning of an offering prayer. The figure might originally have come from a tomb, or might have been a private temple statue, a new type of statuary introduced during the Middle Kingdom that would have allowed the owner to participate eternally in the rituals performed for the god.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art