Head of a king as Khepri, possibly Ptolemy VI Philometor

Head of a king as Khepri, possibly Ptolemy VI Philometor

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ptolemy VI Philometor ascended the throne as a child and his mother, Cleopatra I, acted as regent. He married his sister, Cleopatra II, and ruled jointly with her. A scarab beetle designating the god Khepri is carved in relief on top of this royal head, which belongs stylistically to the Ptolemaic Period. The representation of the pharaoh as Khepri, a creative god, has a long history, although it has been suggested the representation here is tied more specificially to the Ptolemy VI, one of whose names refers to Ptah-Khepri.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Head of a king as Khepri, possibly Ptolemy VI PhilometorHead of a king as Khepri, possibly Ptolemy VI PhilometorHead of a king as Khepri, possibly Ptolemy VI PhilometorHead of a king as Khepri, possibly Ptolemy VI PhilometorHead of a king as Khepri, possibly Ptolemy VI Philometor

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.