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Egyptian Artifacts

Statue of Rameses IV

This is a stunning π“„€ statue π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ of the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 Rameses IV 𓇳𓋾𓁦 who ruled during Egypt’s π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š– 20th Dynasty. He is depicted in a kneeling position with offering pots 𓏍 (for wine or water) in each of his hands. I always find this depiction of a pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 fascinating because pharaohs 𓉐𓉻𓏦 are considered gods π“ŠΉπ“ŠΉπ“ŠΉ so they shouldn’t kneel for anyone – except another god π“ŠΉ!

The god π“ŠΉ that Rameses IV 𓇳𓋾𓁦 is making an offering π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ𓏏𓏔 to is most likely Amun-Ra π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“Ίπ“‡³, since Amun-Ra π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“Ίπ“‡³ is mentioned in hieroglyphic texts π“Ÿπ“›π“₯ on the back panel of the statue π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ.

The cartouches for Rameses IV’s nomen (birth name) π“‡³π“„Ÿπ“Šƒπ“Šƒ and prenomen (throne name) 𓇳𓋾𓁦 are on each shoulder. There are many different variants of the nomen and prenomen, so these are not they only way his name π“‚‹π“ˆ– appears on monuments! I just used the ones that were also used on the statue π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ itself! The different ways to write the names π“‚‹π“ˆ–π“¦ of pharaohs 𓉐𓉻𓏦 are called β€œvariants.”

While the original provenance isn’t known, it is most likely that they statue π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ is originally from Amun-Ra’s π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“Ίπ“‡³ temple π“‰Ÿπ“π“‰ at Karnak. Rameses IV 𓇳𓋾𓁦 was one of the pharaohs 𓉐𓉻𓏦 who contributed to the decoration of Hypostyle Hall!