Harbes was an official of the pharaoh Psamtik II. This statue depicts him protecting a figure of the god Osiris. Harbes wears the king's two cartouches on either shoulder. The statue was anciently set up in Karnak Temple at Thebes, where it constitutes a rare example inscribed for this king. By this time a typical Saite style originating in the north has spread throughout the country: Harbes has slightly tipped eyes and curving, although rather thick, lips that follow the style.
On the sides of the statue itself are lengthy invocation offerings to Osiris Wennefer, left, and Amun lord of Karnak, where Harbes' title, read as "Chief Scribe of the Great Prison", is given along with the name of his father Ptahhotep and mother Dinyhetiret. A long oddly laid out inscription is found on the back pillar. Harbes also follows a fashion of the era in receiving or adopting the ''good name'' Psamtiknefer or "King Psamtik is good''. Already in the Old Kingdom, "good names" appeared; however, in the Saite Period, and particularly the reign of Psamtik II, "good names" associating an individual with the pharaoh were very popular.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Statue of Harbes, called Psamtiknefer, son of Ptahhotep
Period:Late Period, Saite
Dynasty:Dynasty 26
Reign:reign of Psamtik II
Date:595–589 B.C.
Geography:From Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Karnak, Temple of Amun, Cachette
Medium:Meta-greywacke
Dimensions:H. 61 × W. 12.5 × D. 20.5 cm, 21.1 kg (24 × 4 15/16 × 8 1/16 in., 46.6 lb.)
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1919
Object Number:19.2.2
Excavated by Georges Legrain in the Karnak Cachette, 1904. Sold by Gaston Maspero, director of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, to Lady William Cecil, 1905. Sold by Lord Cecil to the museum, 1919. Included in the online database of the Karnak Cachette.
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