Virtual Egyptian - Wood statue of King Smenkhkare, Dyn. 18

Wood statue of King Smenkhkare, Dyn. 18

Period:		Egypt, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, Semenkhkare/Ankhkheperure
Dating:		1364 BC–1361 BC
Origin:		Egypt, Middle Egypt, El-Amarna [Akhetaten]
Material:		Wood (undetermined)
Physical:		48.7cm. (19 in.) - 1400 g. (49.4 oz.)
Catalog:		WOD.XL.00141

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This large wooden statuette presumably depicts King Smenkhkare (Saa-Ka-Ra Dser-Kheperw Ankh-Kheperw-Ra) as a reigning king. He originally held the ankh (symbol of life) in his right hand and the royal seal of power in his left hand. He wears the royal pectoral, and bracelets on both wrists. His loincloth features a wide belt band with a center section—now missing—that may have displayed the king’s cartouche. Although much of the gesso (plaster) used to smooth the surface has detached, remaining areas show red, gold and black pigments.

The specific Amarnian style of this wooden statuette indicates that it can only represent one of three kings: Akhen-Aten, Saa-Ka-Ra, or Tut-Ankh-Aten (who eventually became Tut-Ankh-Amon at the end of the Amarnian Heresy). Since it depicts a grown man, it cannot be Tut-Ankh-Aten, who was only twelve years old at the end of the Amarnian period. Akhen-Aten has extremely distinctive features: sunken check bones, a extraordinarily wide mouth, and very wide hips. Clearly, this statuette does not resemble known portraits of Akhen-Aten. So, by this process of elimination, the only remaining likely candidate is Saa-Ka-Ra. Unfortunately, we have little iconography available to verify this theory. Indeed, as far as we know, the only remaining clearly authenticated depiction of Saa-Ka-Ra is a painted limestone bas-relief (24 cm. high) showing King Saa-Ka-Ra and Queen Meryt-Aton (Aldred 1973:76.9). The remarkable resemblance between the kings portrayed in this bas-relief and the statuette further suggests that it is a rare portrait of Saa-Ka-Ra.

Bibliography (for this item)

Aldred, Cyril
1973 Akhenaton, le pharaon mystique (translation of the 1969 edition). Tallandier, Paris, France.

Aldred, Cyril
1997 Akhenaton, Roi d’ Egypte (translation of the 1988 edition by Thames and Hudson). Seuil, Paris.

Arnold, Dorothea
1996 The Royal Women of Amarna. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY.

Khalil, Hassan M.
1976 Preliminary Studies on the Sanusret Collection. Manuscript, Musée l’Egypte et le Monde Antique, Monaco-Ville, Monaco. ([1]297-299,207)

Wood statue of King Smenkhkare, Dyn. 18

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