Statuette of a Royal (?) Woman with the Cartouches of Necho II on her Arms
King’s cartouches are normally a sign affiliation for male courtiers; it is strange to see them on a nude female figure, and that she apparently also wore the uraeus. While nude female figurines have been for some time understood as requests for birth and rebirth based on texts on a few, new evidence has expanded our understanding: examples found in temples appear to relate to the efficacy of rituals and magical cures and point to the identification of the figures with numerous goddesses. This magnificent figure might best be understood in relation to the important role of the God’s Wife of Amun at Thebes. In the Saite period she was a king's daughter who was established as the god’s consort and responsible for stimulating his generative powers for the good of all.
Purchased in Thebes, it is possible the figure derives from Karnak or from the burial of one of the God’s Wives on the West Bank.
Artwork Details
- Title: Statuette of a Royal (?) Woman with the Cartouches of Necho II on her Arms
- Period: Late Period, Saite
- Dynasty: Dynasty 26
- Reign: reign of Necho II
- Date: 610–595 BCE
- Geography: From Egypt
- Medium: Silver
- Dimensions: H. 23.8 × W. 5.5 × D. 5.4 cm (9 3/8 × 2 3/16 × 2 1/8 in.)
- Credit Line: Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915
- Object Number: 30.8.93
- Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art
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3530. Statuette of a Royal Woman with the Cartouches of Necho II on her Arms
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