Head of a king/queen

The statue head made of red sandstone was found in the same room from which the statue fragment of EM 21223, the head of a princess, originates. In the excavation diary it is stated that “parts of a life-size statue of the king made of reddish sandstone are preserved; the upper facial part, half the nose, eyes and forehead in 3 parts, neck and part of the neck in/part, lip and chin are missing. Unfortunately, this work is not completed and has preliminary drawings.” The fragments ÄM 21312 were identified as the “leg pieces” mentioned here. However, it is not clear whether they are fragments. Very little of the former drawings can be seen today, only red traces on the eyes indicate. The coarse ears, designed without internal details, and the eyes without elaborated lids testify that the figure was not finished. Despite the fragmentary and unfinished appearance of the head, it gives the observer the impression of inconceivability and grandeur. The gender of the person portrayed is controversial. The remnants of a cone on the head indicate a composite figure with a separately made crown, so that the group of people can be limited to the royal couple. A comparison with the heads EM 21220 and 21358 suggests that it is probably the representation of a queen, probably Nefertiti, - probably from the final phase of the Amarna period, since the head has great similarities to ÄM 21358, which is called “older Nefertite.” Dorothea Arnold presumes in this last piece that it was created by the youngest sculptor of the Thutmosis workshop, who worked at the temples in Thebes during the post-Amarna period. Despite these comparisons, there are also the differences that are noticeable in the relatively broad nose, the squat head and the thus somewhat too wide cheek area. The absence of the mouth and part of the nose is striking. It is possible that not all fragments were discovered during the excavation; however, it is conceivable that the figure was deliberately knocked out, which would be equivalent to a “damnatio memoriae,” the extinction of a person’s memory. At the fracture edges of the fragments it is not possible to see if a chisel was applied here. If an intended estimate had been made here, then the assumption of an image of the Akhenaton ÄM 21222 would be safest, which would correspond to the assumption of the excavators of 1912. From: Schmidt, S., in: F. Seyfried (eds), Im Licht von Amarna. 100 years of the Nofretene find, Berlin 2012, p. 346 (Cat. No. 128). Origin information: German Orient Society (DOG), client Borchardt, Ludwig (5.10.1863 - 12.8.1938), head of the excavation Amenophis (Amenhotep) IV/Akhenaten Dating: Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten P 47.02-03 (Egypt/Central Egypt/Amarna/P 47/P 47.01-03 (estate)) Room 19, north of P 47.01 donation James Simon, 1920 (Egyptian museum and collection of papyrus)