Statuette of Amenhotep II (Aakheperura, ruled 1427 to 1400 BC), Red Quartzite from Kumma Temple, New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty

Figure of the king, represented kneeling on a pedestal offering two pots (probably to be understood as containing wine), held symmetrically one in each hand. The piece. which was finely carved and finished, is remarkably well preserved with hardly a blemish on its carefully polished surface. The king is shown wearing the shendyt-kilt with a broad, banded belt and the nerves-headdress with Uraeus. its tail winding hack in several loops to the crown of the king's head. The pedestal is roughly rectangular with a slightly rounded front. At the rear a narrow rectangular pillar extends to a point about halfway up the king's back, where it meets the queue of the Nemes.

The king's face is broadly triangular in shape, with high cheekbones and a small delicate chin, turned up at the tip. The nose is large and long (in profile, very slightly aquiline), the mouth small and straight, the lips quite thick. The eyes, rather blandly rendered are set a little asymmetrically. They are relatively long and wide with rounded eyeballs, the upper lids reproduced as a raised hand, as are the eyebrows (which curve slightly) and the cosmetic lines that extend from the outer canthi. The ears also asymmetrical, are splayed against the wings of the nerves, the right car more than the left. The overall expression is serene if a little serious. Although it lacks an inscription, the figure can he identified on stylistic grounds as a representation of King Amenhotep II (which is consistent with its provenance).

Consolidating their rule, the Egyptian pharaohs of the mid-18th Dynasty embarked on a substantial programme of building throughout Nubia. which included the renovation of existing structures. The largely mud-brick temple of Kumma, a foundation of Queen Hatshepsut and Thutmose III. dedicated to the ram-headed Khnum chief god of the cataract region, was rebuilt and enlarged by Thutmose III's successor Amenhotep II, using sandstone blocks. The Khartoum figure appears to have been one of a group of such statues of the king set up in the temple.