Torso of an official of Nectanebo I

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The name of the man represented is not preserved, but he proudly asserts his attachment to Nectanebo I by placing the king's cartouches at the head of the texts on the back pillar. The slightly greenish flocked stone is associated with the site of Saft el-Hina, and, indeed, the left side of the back pillar figures an address by the deceased to the priesthood of the temple of Sopdu, confirming that the statue stood in the ancient city of Per Sopdu, modern Saft el-Hina. Per Sopdu was located at the eastern edge of the Egyptian Delta and at the western end of the Wadi Tumilat that connects the Nile valley to Sinai near the Red Sea. This was an important route during the century of the Persian Occupation and the protracted struggle that ensued during the fourth century. The temple of the city was rebuilt and greatly enriched by Nectanebo I and further embellished by Nectanebo II.

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