Khafre Enthroned
The statue of King Khafre in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo with the inventory number JE 10062 (also CG 14 ) represents the ancient Egyptian King (Pharaoh) Chephren the 4th dynasty (Old Kingdom) represent, who reigned about 2570-2530 BC. It is a typical ruler portrait this time and is in the context of the monumental architecture of the pyramids - time. Originally it stood in the valley temple of Khafre's Pyramid at Giza, together with 23 similar statues. The dark gray diorite was processed with very high workmanship. The Horus falcon covers the head of the king protective. This expresses that the king is both under the protection of Horus, that is also a manifestation of this god on earth.
Find circumstances
The statue is one of 23 or 24 statues which originally stood in a great hall of the valley temple of Khafre's pyramid. None of the statues was found in situ, but depressions in the ground indicate the position at which they were originally. Auguste Mariette found during excavations in 1860, nine of which ( Inv. No. 9 to CG CG 17) as well as fragments of a tenth (CG 378) in a shaft inside the valley temple. For some unknown reason they were buried there. These statues are now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. JE 10062 is the best known of these. It is 168 centimeters high and almost completely intact.
None of the statues found in the valley temple resembles completely the other. This shows by Gay Robins, an important feature of Egyptian art, namely the aversion to the unconditional repetition. Assuming that the statues were not painted, the dark stone a particularly impressive effect must have had over the interconnect with red granite and white calcite temple. The straight lines of statues harmonized with the square pillars and the linear form of the temple. The statues can be divided into two groups: those with a throne with a high back ( which also belongs JE 10062 ) and those with a simple block without rest.
Material and Technique
The statue is made of dark gray diorite with white and yellowish veins, which comes from the Nubian Toshka near the second cataract of the Nile. This shows the far-reaching power that had the Egyptian king at this time. It has an extremely high quality. The hard stone was hewn with great craftsmanship and finished with a smooth finish that promotes the structure of the stone particularly evident.
The arms are connected to the body. The beard is followed by a thin web of the body. The space between the legs is not worked out very deep. Between the feet, there are traces of a well produced with tube drills with the rest of the core stone found there, also nails with cuticle. The ears are processed in particular detail.
Description
The statue represents the fully developed type of the ruler portrait of the 4th dynasty dar. The king sits in majestic posture, looking straight ahead on the throne. The right fist, which encloses a folded cloth, stands on the right thigh. The left hand rests flat on the left thigh. The lower legs are almost touching the calves and are parallel.
The king wears on his head the royal nemes head scarf. As another king symbol is found on the forehead completely flat against the uraeus and beard on the chin the king in the form of a braided, artificial chin beard. He is dressed in a loincloth, with a barely perceptible indication of the belt and without lion's tail. The combined cloth in his right fist comes up and out hemispherical and hangs down with two ends down on his right knee.
On the top of the footboard on both sides of the feet, the statue is inscribed with a name and title of Chephren in well trimmed, recessed hieroglyphs.
Although this is a highly idealized portrait of the ruler, W. and B. Forman very much see individual traits, such as the strong, broad nose, which, although not so noble in shape with alabaster statuette of the King ( also in the collections of the Museum in Cairo ) repeatedly.
Conservation
The left forearm and lower leg are badly damaged, as well as the right fist and the right forearm, which were reattached part. On the throne of the first lion's head and a piece of the front legs of the right lion missing. Also the upper right corner of the back pillar is badly damaged.
Interpretations
Seem to melt into the mind of the king and the chest of the Horus falcon, expresses by Gay Robins, that the king is both under the protection of Horus, that is also a manifestation of this god on earth. Although the statue appears at first sight than that of a person who interprets Zahi Hawass as a triad: The king represents the deceased Osiris, Horus the falcon and the throne on which the king sits, is the hieroglyphic symbol for Isis.
The ruler portrait is in the context of the monumental architecture of the pyramids - time. These tombs represent the divine form and unearthly continued existence of the king. The statues symbolize the sculpted stone kingship, which is why the kings were always portrayed as athletic men. They make up the earthly king a superhuman being, of being represented in the immediate community with the gods. The statue of Khafre is in its iconography with the beard of the gods and him to her style, which she caught in an unapproachable distance, a valid picture of the divine kingship of the early Old Kingdom.