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Head of an Official

A work made of granite.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of granite.

Date:

Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 13 (about 1773–1650 BCE)

Artist:

Egyptian

About this artwork

This head of an official, with his striped wig tucked behind his ears, comes from a larger statue that was likely once displayed in a tomb chapel. Such sculptures served as receptacles for the ka (soul). To animate statues, priests performed a ceremony called the Opening of the Mouth so that the individual represented could benefit from offerings left by the living and breathe, eat, hear, and see in the afterlife. Although this man’s name, which would have been written on the statue, is now lost, the sculpture’s large scale and the choice to carve it from costly granite suggest that he was a high-ranking official.

Status

On View, Gallery 50

Department

Arts of Africa

Culture

Ancient Egyptian

Title

Head of an Official

Place

Egypt (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

c. 1773 BCE–1650 BCE

Medium

Granite

Dimensions

33.8 × 46.3 × 26 cm (13 3/4 × 18 1/4 × 10 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Museum Purchase Fund

Reference Number

1920.261

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/121767/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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