Sitting figure of the Nebetpedju

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Seated figure of the lady Nebetpedju
LSR Pharaoh - seated figure 1.jpg
Sitting figure of the Nebetpedju
material limestone
Dimensions H. 33.4 cm; W. 12.3 cm; T. 20 cm;
origin Giza , necropolis
time Old Kingdom , late 6th Dynasty , around 2200 BC Chr.
place Hildesheim , Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum , PM 3112

In the Egyptian collection of the Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim , the is seated figure of the lady Nebetpedju , a well-preserved and meticulously crafted seat statue from the Old Kingdom , late 6th Dynasty around 2200 v. It is a good example of the changes or the increasing dissolution of the proportional standards, which can be seen especially in the grave statues of members of the simple and middle civil service in the late Old Kingdom.

Site and state of preservation

The seated figure was found during the excavation work by Hermann Junker in 1927 in the Westfriedhof in Gizeh . It was located in the serdab (statue chamber ) of the modest brick mastaba of the Nebetpedju behind the southern false door . By dividing the find to Wilhelm Pelizaeus , it came to Hildesheim. It is 33.4 cm high, 12.3 cm wide and 20 cm deep and in very good condition; even the painting has largely been preserved. This small seated statue made of limestone impresses with its unusual appearance.

description

The figure represents the lady Nebetpedju in a formal posture, on a cube-shaped seat with a high backrest that reaches up to her shoulder. Your feet with the finely articulated toes rest on a slightly sloping base. On her head she wears the long wig , which is typical for ladies of the Old Kingdom and which is parted in the middle. Her natural hair is still indicated over her forehead under the wig. Nebetpedju's gaze is directed slightly upwards.

The woman is dressed in a tight-fitting white so-called sheath dress , which is pulled up to half the calf due to the sitting posture. Two broad straps cover the breasts and a multi-row, painted neck collar covers her cleavage . The wrists of the lady are each adorned with a bracelet and above the ankles she wears further ribbons .

The hands, stretched flat, lie on the thighs. Between the arms and the body, as well as between the legs and the stool, connecting bars have been left and painted black, which characterizes their nature as “empty space”. The neck and body are painted yellow, as usual at this time. The proportions and the execution of the details of the figure no longer quite correspond to the artistic standards of the high Old Kingdom. The large head and broad shoulders in relation to the short neck and the short upper body with the very narrow waist in relation to the long, narrow legs do not seem completely lifelike. The ratio of the strong upper arms to the small hands is also unusual. The broad face is defined by the large eyes with vividly emphasized lids and the eyebrows lying very close above them. The dominant nose looks a bit too bulky, but the mouth is delicate.

The overall impression clearly shows that the statue was created by a sculptor who did not observe the standards of proportions of the Old Kingdom in the same way as a sculptor who worked for the highest circles of ancient Egyptian society. Still, he could with the help of carefully designed with this seated statue details and painted an effective, for eternity created imaginary replacement body for the deceased lady Nebetpedju.

literature

  • Hermann Junker: Gîza IX, Das Mittelfeld des Westfriedhofs (Austrian Academy of Sciences: Philosophical-Historical Class, Memorandum 73.2), Vienna 1950, pp. 241–244, Fig. 111, Pl. 8 a.
  • Hans Kayser : The Egyptian antiquities in the Roemer-Pelizaeus-Museum in Hildesheim . Verlag Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 1973, ISBN 3-8067-8002-1 , p. 48, Fig. 28.
  • Bettina Schmitz : AR 43 seated figure of the Nebet-pedju. In: Arne Eggebrecht , (Ed.): Das Alte Reich, Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum , Verlag von Zabern Mainz, catalog 1986, ISBN 3-8053-0936-8 .
  • Bettina Schmitz: 38A-D Four portraits of the late Old Kingdom. In: Katja Lembke (Ed.): The old Egypt in Hildesheim. Volume 1: The Old Reich. Egypt from the beginnings to high culture , Verlag von Zabern, Mainz 2009, ISBN 978-3-8053-4073-1 .
  • Wilfried Seipel : Pictures for Eternity: 3,000 Years of Egyptian Art. Exhibition catalog Konstanz Council 1983, Verlag Stadler Konstanz, ISBN 3-7977-0100-4 , cat.-no. 42, pp. 68-69.
  • Eva Martin-Pardey: Sculpture of the Old Kingdom I (Corpus Antiquitatum Aegyptiacarum. Loose-leaf catalog of Egyptian antiquities, part 2, Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim. Delivery 4) . Verlag von Zabern, Mainz 1978, ISBN 3-8053-0291-6 , pp. 89-94.
  • Bertha Porter & Rosalind LBMoss, Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings, vol. III².1 , Memphis, Oxford 1974, p. 104.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim: Inventory number: PM 3112