Granite head and upper body of woman: this woman, garbed in the finery of the Ramesside Period, holds a sistrum. The sistrum identifies the woman as a musician of a deity, a priestly status. The womans garment covers her proper left shoulder and arm and was fastened by a knot under the right breast. The rest of her costume follows the Ramesside fashion principle: more is better. Her collar necklace is very large. She has a diadem, but instead of a pair of face-framing tresses, she has two on each side. The rest of the wavy locks, too long to encircle the shoulders, have been divided into front and back sections. As on most Egyptian statues, the womans face was based on representations of her king, in this case Ramses II or Merenptah. Royal likenesses provided the models for her round-cheeked, expressionless visage, the rather small mouth, and the indication of her arched eyebrows partly in relief and partly by incision. There is hieroglyphic text on the back-pillar. THE BRITISH MUSEUM
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 20:37:00 +0000