Raised Relief of Akhethotep

This is a raised relief in limestone 𓇋𓈖𓈙𓌉 of an Old Kingdom official 𓋴𓂋𓀀 named Akhethotep 𓏏𓅞𓊵𓏏𓊪𓀀.

This piece is from Saqqara and is dated to the Fourth Dynasty. This relief is a beautiful example of Old Kingdom relief style (eyes 𓁹𓏏𓏦 are carved facing the front but the nose 𓆑𓈖𓂧𓂉 and mouth 𓂋𓏺 are in profile) and it shows how a lot of the Egyptian art style persisted throughout the entire length of the civilization. These same features can be seen throughout Egyptian art for thousands of years.

Akhethotep’s 𓏏𓅞𓊵𓏏𓊪𓀀 name 𓂋𓈖 is located in front of his head 𓁶𓏺. If you notice, the determinative symbol (𓀀) is “missing” from his name in the relief, and is instead written like this: 𓏏𓅞𓊵𓏏𓊪. The symbol isn’t actually missing – since the hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 in this particular relief are read from right to left, the larger image 𓏏𓅱𓏏 of him is used to represent the determinative symbol! The ancient Egyptians 𓆎𓏏𓀀𓁐𓏪 loved to maximize the aesthetics and would often do things like this in order to maximize space on the reliefs! A partial version of Akhethotep’s 𓏏𓅞𓊵𓏏𓊪𓀀 name 𓂋𓈖 can also be seen above his head 𓁶𓏺.