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Block Statue of Ankhwennefer

Late Period
ca. 690–650 BCE
Not on view
Restituted
This artwork was restituted in April 2026. It is no longer in the museum’s collection.
Ankhwennefer is shown squatting on the ground. Only the head, hands and feet emerge from a cloak that he has drawn tightly around his body. Since the Middle Kingdom this statuary type, called a "block statue," served to represent non-royal persons in a general context of solar beliefs. The artist of the Ankhwennefer statue has achieved a sensitive blend of the abstract block form with organic details that are especially noticeable in the face, in the profile view of the body and in the beautifully expressive feet. The slight lift of the face is thought to be directed towards the sun.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Block Statue of Ankhwennefer
  • Period: Late Period
  • Dynasty: Dynasty 25–26
  • Date: ca. 690–650 BCE
  • Geography: From Egypt
  • Medium: Limestone
  • Dimensions: H. 46 × W. 19.8 × D. 35 cm, 38.8 kg (18 1/8 × 7 13/16 × 13 3/4 in., 85.6 lb.)
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift and Rogers, Fletcher, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1993
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

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