Khafre Enthroned

Item

Title

Khafre Enthroned

Type

anorthosite gneiss (related to diorite), a valuable, extremely hard, and dark stone brought 400 miles down the Nile River from royal quarries.

Date

c. 2570 BCE

Description

The statue known as Khafre shows excellent craftsmanship. Khafre’s face is characterized by a serene expression and idealized features. The sculptor aimed to capture the king’s eternal and divine qualities rather than a realistic likeness. The statue represents Khafre’s role as a divine ruler and his connection to the gods. It was believed that the kings were intermediaries between the mortal world and the divine realm.

Format

168 cm (66 in)

Place

Egyptian Museum in Cairo

Publisher

Wikipedia

Rights Holder

Egyptian Museum in Cairo

Subject

Egyptian art