Attendants in a Procession
New Kingdom, Amarna Period
This block comes from a scene of the king and the royal family processing to the temple, a popular subject in the reliefs at Amarna. The family is often accompanied by attendants carrying fans and sunshades, like the four men whose heads are preserved on the block at the upper left. The men appear to stand beside the king’s chariot, which the king himself drove; the reins extending between the chariot box and the horse’s necks may be seen across the bottom of the block. One man is depicted with a short haircut characteristic of Nubian mercenaries; his rounded chin without facial hair contrasts with the squared chins of the at least some of the other attendants, which are probably meant to indicate the short chin beards of individuals from Asia Minor.