The Art of Ancient Egypt | Publications for Educators | Explore & Learn

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West wall from a chapel built by Sety I for his father, Ramesses I
(detail)

This close-up of the relief in the west wall from a chapel built by Sety I for his father, Ramesses I shows Sety offering Osiris a small statue of himself that is in turn offering a large jar of myrrh. The small figure is in a kneeling pose and wears one of the exclusively royal headdresses, the blue crown. Faint traces of paint can be seen around the pupil of Sety's eye.

This detail also shows the repairs Museum conservators made, using materials of a slightly different color and smoother texture so that what is original and what is modern can be clearly distinguished. Prolonged exposure to dampness during Nile floods damaged the limestone. The action of salts in the stone, brought on by the continual atmospheric changes, caused the surface to peel and crumble. The Museum conservation department has stabilized this deterioration by applying moist poultices to the relief to extract as much salt as possible from the stone as well as by establishing a constant atmosphere in the display case.

Notice: headdress, poses, costume

Discuss: how the sculptor suggested three-dimensional forms, why repairs are made in colors different from the original material

Compare with: Akhenaten sacrificing a duck

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