Posted on 09/11/2017 12:08:04 PM PDT by ETL
A sculpture of an unknown Egyptian pharaoh's head, found at the ancient city of Hazor in Israel, dates back around 4,300 years, to a time when Egyptians were building pyramids. The sculpture was smashed apart around 3,300 years ago, possibly after an Israeli force led by Joshua destroyed the city, researchers have found.
Researchers said the sculpture, excavated and reconstructed in 1995 and discussed in the recently published book "Hazor VII: The 1990-2012 Excavations, the Bronze Age" (Israel Exploration Society, 2017), leaves them with a number of questions: Which pharaoh does it show? Why was it transported to Hazor? And why did it survive for a millennium before being smashed apart when Hazor was destroyed? ..."
"The person depicted wears a short, close-fitting, curled cap wig, topped by a uraeus, the solar cobra that rises above the forehead of [a] pharaoh in ancient Egyptian iconography, thus identifying our character as a king of Egypt beyond any doubt," wrote Laboury, a senior research associate at the Belgian National Foundation for Scientific Research (F.R.S.-FNRS) at the University of Liège, and Connor, a curator at the Museo Egizio in Turin, Italy. More From LiveScience
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"The rendering of these facial features on the piece from Hazor are characteristic of the 5th Dynasty [circa 2465-2323 B.C.], although it does not seem possible to determine with any certainty which king it depicts," wrote Laboury and Connor, who also noted that the head was once part of a larger statue.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
This sculpture of an Egyptian pharaoh was found in the ancient city of Hazor in Israel. It was constructed around 4,300 years ago, at a time when pyramids were being built in Egypt, and was smashed apart when Hazor was destroyed around 3,300 years ago.
Welcome back ping! :)
He probably had slaves, so we MUST DESTROY IT!..................
Looks African
It looks more Chinese than Egyptian.
Maybe he was a Chinese-African immigrant? :)
Old Kingdom artwork usually depicted the eyes like that. Egyptian power, influence and commerce was extended into what is now Israel for centuries. The city could have been a client state of Egypt off and on for a millenium. Having a statue of the Pharaoh’s head was probably a common way of showing vassalage.
Aerial view of the ancient city of Hazor (Tel Hatzor), Israel.
Lets explore the possible identity of the pharaoh first.
In their report (PDF), Dimitri Laboury, a senior research associate at the Belgian National Foundation for Scientific Research (F.R.S.-FNRS) at the University of Liège, and Simon Connor, a curator at the Museo Egizio in Turin, Italy, described the artifact as such:
The person depicted wears a short, close-fitting curled capwig, topped by a uraeus, the solar cobra that rises above the forehead of Pharaoh in ancient Egyptian iconography, thus identifying our character as a king of Egypt beyond any doubt. The thin, high and somewhat irregular stone projection behind the head suggests that the statuette, almost half life-size, was not free-standing, but was leaning against a dorsal panel or a back slab, possibly within a group sculpture, along with a divinity or a female consort (or even a doubled royal representation).
The pharaohs head artifact found at Hazor. Image from Hazor VII: The 1990-2012 Excavations, the Bronze Age (p. 576) ( Israel Exploration Society )
The researchers write in their report that the head was crafted out of a piece of graywacke, a metamorphic rock only quarried in the ancient Near East in Wadi Hammamat. This supports the idea that the artifact came from Egypt. The style of the facial features depicted on the artifact pinpoint its creation to the 5th Dynasty (ca. 2465-2323 BC).
Only nine known pharaohs reigned during that period, so it should be relatively easy to identify the pharaoh portrayed on the artifact, right? Unfortunately, no because the physiognomy is derived from the official portrait of King Menkaure (also known as Mycerinus), from the late 4th Dynasty this was the image practically all pharaoh portraits had until the 6th Dynasty. The typology of the headgear on the artifact doesnt help to narrow down the pharaoh shown either, as it is apparently common in the royal iconography of the 5th Dynasty as well.
Statue of Neferefre. Abusir. JE 98171, 34 cm. Cairo Egyptian Museum. ( Jon Bodsworth ) Neferefres reign only lasted for a couple of years in the 5th Dynasty period.
In their report Laboury and Connor write, The history of the statue was surely quite complex, and the kingdom of Hazor must have been eager to use and display a prestige object connected to Egyptian royal imagery.
Live Science reports that another team of scholars wrote in the recently published book: Given Hazor's location in northern Israel, the number of Egyptian statues and statuary fragments uncovered at the site is surprising.
However, it is worthwhile to note that a previous article on Ancient Origins by Sam Bostrom shows the sculpture wasnt the only of its kind to be found at the site. Another damaged depiction of an Egyptian official was found at Hazor in 2016. It was:
A large fragment of an Egyptian statue measuring 45 X 40 centimeters made of limestone was unearthed. Only the lower part of the statue survived, depicting the crouching feet of a male figure, seated on a square base on which a few lines in the Egyptian hieroglyphic script are inscribed. The archaeologists estimate that the complete statue would equal the size of a fully-grown man. At present only a preliminary reading of the inscriptions has been attempted, and the title and name of the Egyptian official who originally owned the statue, are not yet entirely clear.
The remains of a monumental Egyptian statute of a high official from the Middle Kingdom in Egypt, found in the administrative palace at Hazor, north of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. (Photo credit: Shlomit Bechar )
Good point. I still say it looks Chinese. There were/are many similarities from all over the world. Pyramids, for instance, are found in all parts of the world.
He probably had slaves, so we MUST DESTROY IT!..................
>><<
That’s right. And tear down the Pyramids.
The Muslim Brotherhood has suggest exactly that.
It might take a while, but it wold keep them occupied..............
Thanks ETL!
Sidebar: a mystery pharaoh of the Old Kingdom isn’t exactly a four leaf clover. :^) This one is dated on stylistic grounds to the 5th Dynasty. The 4th dynasty is well known (uh, to many of us) as the generations who built the most famous pyramids — and yet Khufu was succeeded by his son Djedjefre, whose pyramid at Abu Roash was left unfinished at his death and pulled apart for building stone over the next forty or so centuries, vanishing for good in the 18th or 19th c AD. Djedjefre wasn’t succeeded by Khafre, but by the young son of Djedjefre (he had a few years of rule, according to S. Quirke’s book on the monuments), who, uh, apparently died (ahem) and was succeeded by Khafre. By the time Menkaure his son succeeded him, there was a clear problem with the Egyptian ability to sustain useless public projects, and his rather large pyramid looks tiny next to the other two large ones at Giza.
Menkaure’s son (?) and successor founded the 5th dynasty (in the sense that he’s assigned to that dynasty) but apparently had lost control of lower Egypt, or just didn’t have the cash, and his burial was in a mastaba, a reversion to an earlier type from centuries past, I think near Saqqara.
That was my first choice....but then I found a site with better pictures and posted the link.
You beat me by 5 minutes. Good pictures at this site.
Yes, much better. Thank you.
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