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Statuette of Queen Nefrusobek, Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, reign of Nefrusobek, ca. 1805–1802 B.C.
Egyptian
Schist; H. 6 3/8 in. (16.3 cm)
Rogers Fund, 1965 (65.59.1)

Queen Nefrusobek was the last ruler of Dynasty 12. The daughter of Amenemhat III, she may have succeeded or displaced her brother Amenemhat IV. She was recognized by the ancient Egyptians in their kinglists as a legitimate ruler and she assumed the full royal titulary, but was always represented as a woman. She built monuments throughout Egypt and her rule was recognized as far south as Lower Nubia.

This unique statuette portrays a seated queen wearing a rounded, horizontally striated wig, with two vultures with outspread wings on the top and a uraeus on the brow. She wears a tightly wrapped cloak with stiff edges projecting above her shoulders. Her arms are crossed over her breast and one hand rests inside the cloak. The queens of Dynasty 12 are usually portrayed wearing close-fitting dresses with broad shoulder straps and long-haired wigs that extend over their shoulders both in front and in back. This particular costume, wig, and pose, however, had not been used for the depiction of a queen since Dynasty 4 and therefore seems to be deliberately archaic. The face of the queen, however, shows the same heavy-lidded eyes and large ears characteristic of royal portraits from Senwosret III onward (26.7.1394).


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    Statuette of Queen Nefrusobek, Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, reign of Nefrusobek, ca. 1805–1802 B.C.
    Egyptian
    Schist; H. 6 3/8 in. (16.3 cm)
    Rogers Fund, 1965 (65.59.1)