Kushite kings wore distinctive regalia, including a cap crown, double uraei, and ram's-head amulets. On this kneeling king, the double uraei have been "corrected" to one, while the ram's-head amulets on the necklace and the king's name on his belt have been hammered out by a later Saite king. The cap crown with a falcon engraved in the back, the bandeau with streamers, and the diadem with many tiny uraei were left untouched.
The small bronze kneeling figure represents two aspects of Kushite Period art that are intensifications of tendencies already extant in the Third Intermediate Period. Provision of small bronze royal attendant statuary demonstrated an specially pious regard for the gods and their temples. And, stylistically, there was an inclination toward models from the past, particularly the Old Kingdom, a taste clearly visible in the broad shoulders and narrow waist of the small bronze.
The large gold ram's-head amulet 1989.281.98 is an actual example of the type that was worn on this king's neck cord.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
3/4 right
front
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Kushite Pharaoh
Period:Third Intermediate Period
Dynasty:Dynasty 25 (Kushite)
Date:ca. 713–664 B.C.
Geography:From Egypt and Sudan, Nubia
Medium:Bronze; gold leaf
Dimensions:h. 7.6 cm (3 in.); w. 3.2 cm (1 1/4 in); d. 3.6 cm (1 3/8 in)
Credit Line:Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift and Anne and John V. Hansen Egyptian Purchase Fund, 2002
Object Number:2002.8
Christos Bastis Collection, New York, from 1975; exhibited as a loan to the Brooklyn Museum, 1975-1999, in the major traveling exhibition Africa in Antiquity (Brooklyn, Seattle, New Orleans, The Hague, Netherlands) 1978-1979, and in the exhibition Antiquities from the Christos G. Bastis Collection, Metropolitan Museum, 1987; sold at Sothebys, New York, December 1999; acquired by the Museum 2002 from Peter Sharrer, New York. Frequently published.
Brooklyn Museum and Steffen Wenig 1978. Africa in antiquity : the arts of ancient Nubia and the Sudan, 2 vols.. I. p. 33,: II. pp. 49, 53, 171, no. 82 ill..
Bianchi, Robert 1978. The Art Gallery, 22.2, p. 103.
Bianchi, Robert 1978. Apollo, 108, p. 153 fig. 1.
Bothmer, Bernard V. 1982. "The Significance of Nubian Art." In Apollo, 115.
von Bothmer, Dietrich, Pat Getz-Preziosi, Diana Buitron-Oliver, Andrew Oliver, and Bernard V. Bothmer 1987. Antiquities from the Collection of Christos G. Bastis: Catalogue of the Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, November 20, 1987 to January 10, 1988. Mainz am Rhein: P. von Zabern, pp. 39-41.
Hill, Marsha 2004. Royal Bronze Statuary from Ancient Egypt with Special Attention to the Kneeling Pose. Leiden: Brill, cat. 243 and K-6, pl. 35; pp. 51-74 passim, 226.
Bothmer, Bernard V. 2004. "The Significance of Nubian Art (reprint of 1982 Apollo 115 article)." In Egyptian Art: Selected Writings of Bernard V. Bothmer, pp. 359-360, fig. 24.7.
Hill, Marsha and Deborah Schorsch 2005. "The Gulbenkian Torso of King Pedubaste: Investigations into Egyptian Large Bronze Statuary." In Metropolitan Museum Journal, 40, c.f. p. 191, n.88.
Hill, Marsha and Deborah Schorsch 2007. Gifts for the Gods: Images from Egyptian Temples. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, cat. 24, fig. 66; pp. 51, 91, 156, 197, 205.
Hill, Marsha 2007. "Heights of Artistry: The Third Intermediate Period (ca. 1070–664 B.C.)." In Gifts for the Gods: Images from Egyptian Temples, edited by Marsha Hill and Deborah Schorsch. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 51, no. 24.
Hill, Marsha 2007. "Lives of the Statuary." In Gifts for the Gods: Images from Egyptian Temples, edited by Marsha Hill and Deborah Schorsch. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 156–57, fig. 66, no. 24.
Schorsch, Deborah 2007. "The Manufacture of Metal Statuary: "Seeing the Workshops of the Temple." In Gifts for the Gods: Images from Egyptian Temples, edited by Marsha Hill and Deborah Schorsch. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 197, no. 24.
Hill, Marsha and Deborah Schorsch 2008. Offrandes aux Dieux d'Egypte. Martigny, Switzerland: Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Martigny, cat. 24, fig. 66; pp. 51, 91, 156, 197, 246.
Schorsch, Deborah 2019. "Ritual Metal Statuary in Ancient Egypt: "A Long Life and a Great Good Age." In Statues in Context: Production, meaning and (re)uses, edited by Aurelia Masson-Berghoff. Leuven: Peeters, pp. 252-53, figs. 1–2a, b; p. 264.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 26,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from the Paleolithic to the Roman period.
