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Egyptian Artifacts

Statue of an “Amarna King”

The Amarna Period and Akhenaten’s π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³π“…œπ“π“ˆ– reign as pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 has always fascinated me. All of the radical changes that were made – such as changing the religion from polytheistic to the monotheistic worship of Aten π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³, to moving the capital, to the changes in the art – it must have been quite crazy during those years!

This is actually one of my favorite pieces in the Brooklyn Museum – the Museum has the statue π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ labeled as β€œAmarna King” but to me it’s clear that this piece represents Akhenaten π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³π“…œπ“π“ˆ–. He is represented in typical Amarna art style here: distended belly/large hips, very long arms, narrow neck and angular face. It is not known whether these are exaggerated features, or if the art was meant to be a more realistic representation of what the royal family looked like. Usually Egyptian art depicted people at their finest, with idealized features rather than realistic ones.

In this statue π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ, Akhenaten π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³π“…œπ“π“ˆ– is wearing the khepresh π“†£π“‚‹π“ˆ™π“‹™ crown with the gold π“‹žπ“ƒ‰π“ƒ‰π“ƒ‰ Uraeus 𓇋𓂝𓂋𓏏𓆗 preserved at the front, a broad collar π“…±π“‹΄π“π“ŽΊπ“‹ necklace and a skirt. While this limestone π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“ˆ™π“Œ‰ statue’s π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ paint is preserved beautifully the gold π“‹žπ“ƒ‰π“ƒ‰π“ƒ‰ that is seen is actually gold leaf and not paint!