Relief with the head of a female personification of an estate
Old Kingdom
This upper part of a female figure is the personification of one of Khufu's agricultural estates. The placement of the pharaoh's name on a crossbar with feathery protrusions in front and streamers at the back indicates that the figure has been assimilated to a standard, an emblem on a pole used to designate administrative entities. With the hieroglyphs behind the head, the name of the estate can be read "Perfect is Khufu."
Estates were either extant or newly established settlements dedicated to providing for the funerary cult of the founder or for a temple. Rows of estate personifications lining the walls of Old Kingdom pyramid temples represented the provisioning of the king's eternity.
The relief owes its dense, cohesive quality to the low rounded carving employed equally for the contour edges and for minute details.
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