Antiquity · Art Institute of Chicago · 121767
Head of an Official
Egyptian, Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 13 (about 1773–1650 BCE)
Art Institute of Chicago · Museum Purchase Fund · Public domain
- Artist
- Egyptian
- Date
- Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 13 (about 1773–1650 BCE)
- Medium
- Granite
- Dimensions
- 33.8 × 46.3 × 26 cm (13 3/4 × 18 1/4 × 10 1/4 in.)
- Era
- Antiquity
Why it matters
This head of an official, with his striped wig tucked behind his ears, comes from a larger statue that was likely once displayed in a tomb chapel. Such sculptures served as receptacles for the ka (soul). To animate statues, priests performed a ceremony called the Opening of the Mouth so that the individual represented could benefit from offerings left by the living and breathe, eat, hear, and see in the afterlife. Although this man’s name, which would have been written on the statue, is now lost, the sculpture’s large scale and the choice to carve it from costly granite suggest that he was a high-ranking official.