Inscribed Egyptian statuette of seated man
Λ95
Stone (Diorite)
The lower half is preserved. Surface worn in places.
Preserved height: 15.8 cm. Length of base: 73 cm.Width of base: 14.4 cm.
Knossos
Palace
(Egypt: Middle Kingdom):
2055-1650 BC:
Gallery:
VCase:
50Exhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Neopalatial period (1700-1450 BC). The New Palaces. The zenith of Minoan civilisationTrade and foreign contacts. Minoan Thalassocracy. International commerce and cultural influences
Description
Part of an Egyptian stone statuette of a male figure named User, seated on a throne. The statuette bears three funerary inscriptions on the back and sides of the throne. It was found in the Central Court of the palace of Phaistos, in a layer of uncertain date, perhaps of the Late Minoan period. Due to the fact that the statuette was originally intended for funerary use, as the inscriptions indicate, various hypotheses have been proposed regarding its discovery in Crete, in a non-mortuary context. Some scholars believe that it was brought to Crete by its Egyptian owner, to be used as a votive offering to a sanctuary or even as a funerary offering in the event of his death far from home. Others argue that the object was simply looted from its original burial context due to its value and brought to Crete. According to yet another hypothesis, which casts doubt on the funerary character of the inscriptions, this is a prestige item or a valuable object brought to the Minoan palace from Egypt in the context of a diplomatic or trading mission.Bibliography:
Evans, A.J. The Palace of Minos: A Comparative Account of the Successive Stages of the Early Cretan Civilization as Illustrated by the Discoveries at Knossos. Vol. I, London, 1921, 286-87. Karetsou, A., M. Andreadaki-Vlazaki, and N. Papadakis (eds). Κρήτη - Αίγυπτος. Πολιτισμικοί δεσμοί τριών χιλιετιών. Κατάλογος Έκθεσης. Heraklion, 2000, 61. Phillips, J. Aegyptiaca on the Island of Crete in their Chronological Context: A Critical Review. I-II. Vienna, 2008, Vol. II, 92-94. Spier, J., T. Potts, and S.E. Cole (eds). Beyond the Nile: Egypt and the Classical World. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2018, 43-44.Author:
D. M.Photographs' metadata