Granite statue of Amenhotep III
(Neb-Maat-Ra) from Thebes and dating to the 18th Dynasty
Amenhotep
III is represented in the classic pose and attire. He is sitting a throne with
his hands resting in his lap and is wearing a Nemes head cloth, the false beard and a short kilt (which is fitted with a ceremonial bull's tail) is shown between the legs. The King's names are inscribed on the back and front of the throne and on the kilt's belt. The throne's sides are decorated with the motif representing the the Union of the Two lands (upper and lower Egypt).
Amun's name defaced
Amenhotep III (1390-1352 BC) commissioned
hundreds of sculptures for his mortuary temple on the west bank of the Nile
at Thebes, though the precise original location of most of them is not
known. Statues representing the seated ruler were probably intended to
function as the recipients of offerings and prayers.
On the sides of the throne of this sculpture are the intertwined symbols
of the plants of Upper and Lower Egypt (the blue lotus and the papyrus), representing the union of the two
lands of Egypt, and illustrating the fact that it is the king who keeps them
together.
There is also an inscription on the back pillar, which was defaced
during the campaign against the names and representations of Amun. This took
place during the religious changes brought about by King Akhenaten
[Amenhotep IV],
successor to Amenhotep III. These erasures were subsequently restored on the
return to orthodox beliefs. Parts of several large statues from Amenhotep
III's mortuary temple are now in The British Museum.
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