Block statue

As cube stool is called an Egyptian statue type in which a person sitting on a pedestal person is presented with knees bent, touching each other. The arms are looped and crossed, while the feet are flat on the floor around her knees. Often the person depicted wearing a long robe, so that only the head and feet are visible and the body forms a cube. The base is inscribed with hieroglyphs and provides information about the sitter.

Other characteristics

With this statue type never a pharaoh, but only individuals are represented, also pictures of women are very rare. Often it is Egyptian officials. Since many cube stools show little detail, their production was less complex and therefore less expensive. This was certainly one reason for their popularity. The smooth surfaces of the cube-shaped body were like covered with hieroglyphic inscriptions, such as the block statue of Senmut.

The oldest figures dated to the time of the 12th Dynasty ( Middle Kingdom ) and were found at Saqqara. These are also referred to as litter Hock figures, because the people are represented sitting in a seat of a chair, where they occupy the same seating position. An example of this is the litter squatting figure of Hetep. This results in the cube stool that was popular until the Roman period developed.

Block statue of the vizier Chay, before Thoth as a baboon in a temple; New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty; limestone; Louvre, Paris