Head of a Man of Nubian Descent

Head of a Man of Nubian Descent

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This head comes from a small figure that can be identified as a man of Nubian descent based on the distinctive ring shapes incised onto the hair. It is uncertain if the statue was intended to depict an actual person, represent a general ethnic type, or belonged to a magical/execration figurine. Throughout the Middle Kingdom, members of Nubian ethnic groups were depicted on relief, paintings, and stelae as members of Egyptian society, as well as captives and supplicants, but they did not often appear on sculpture with identifying physical characteristics. If this head belonged to a representation of a living person, he must have been a mid-level member of Egyptian society who was able to commission a modest but lively statue that reflected his desire to proudly commemorate his ethnic origins.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Head of a Man of Nubian DescentHead of a Man of Nubian DescentHead of a Man of Nubian DescentHead of a Man of Nubian DescentHead of a Man of Nubian Descent

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.