Amenhotep III, the ninth king of the eighteenth dynasty, inherited a vast empire. Its borders stretched from northern Syria in western Asia, to the Fifth Cataract of the Nile, in modern Sudan. During his thirty eight years of largely peaceful reign, Egypt was wealthier than ever before, and the arts flourished.

This head has rightly been called the most beautiful image of Amenhotep III. It is made from brown quartzite, a hard stone that Egyptian sculptors excelled in carving. Look at the subtle rendering of the flesh around the mouth, chin and cheeks. The full, sharply defined lips seem ready to open. The narrow slanted eyes are carved in a more stylized manner, and the furrows on the upper lids have an almost ornamental quality. This intensifies the sensuality of the face.

The king is strikingly youthful. His childlike face sits somewhat oddly on a short, thick neck that would be more fitting to an older man. Studies have shown that images like this one were made when the king was middle-aged or older. The childlike face is not a straightforward portrait, but carries a message. Statues of this type were probably created at the occasion of the king’s Heb Sed, a festival that every king ideally celebrated after a rule of thirty years. The celebration was intended to bring about a total physical and mental renewal—a second youth.