Standing figure of Amenhotep III

Standing figure of Amenhotep III

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The portly profile of the king identifies this as a work from late in the reign of Amenhotep III. The back pillar is in the form of a djed-pillar, a hieroglyph symbolizing stability. The inscriptions associate the king with the Theban god Amun-Re and it has been suggested that this statuette was dedicated as part of Amenhotep's third Heb-Sed, a rejuvenation ceremony celebrated in year 37 of his reign. The king wears a shawl draped over his left arm and a fringed tunic beneath. Innovatively, the sleevelike piece of the tunic that hangs over the right arm has been pleated. This detail represents the beginning of a trend that would become universally accepted during the reign of Akhenaten (ca. 1349–1332 B.C.) and continue long after.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Standing figure of Amenhotep IIIStanding figure of Amenhotep IIIStanding figure of Amenhotep IIIStanding figure of Amenhotep IIIStanding figure of Amenhotep III

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.