© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University

ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Column Capital

AAT Object Form/Functioncapitals (column components)

AAT Object Techniquepainting (image-making)

AAT Object Techniquecarving (processes)

Place CreatedEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodNew Kingdom, Dynasty 19, Reign of Ramesses II

Date1279-1213 BCE

MediumLimestone, pigment

Credit LineGift of Katie and Ian Walker

Dimensions22 1/2 x 8 x 8 in. (57.2 x 20.3 x 20.3 cm)

Object number2005.005.002

Label TextThe ancient Egyptian temple was devised as a microcosm of the natural world, so that many of the motifs used in is decoration were in the form of plants and animals. Columns were often carved in the form of date palms or papyrus plants reaching for the ceiling, which was painted with images of the sky.

Stone architectural elements also derived their shape from perishable materials used in humbler domestic structures. The top of the capital is carved in the shape of the rounded buds of papyrus plants, which could be lashed together to form roof supports. The square abacus at the top would have supported a lintel.

Ramesses II was the greatest builder that Egypt would ever see, but many of his monuments were created in haste, as can be seen in the cursory, almost impressionistic, carving of the stone. The capital is inscribed with the names of the great Ramesses: "User-Maat-Re-setepen-Re, Ramesses mery-Amun" in horizontal cartouches around the top and vertical cartouches flanked by uraeii and crowned by sun disks. Sheltered from the elements, sometimes such fragments still retain their original pigments, such as the red and yellow ochre seen here.

The capital is carved of limestone, which cannot support great weight. Its small size indicates that it probably once came from a small shrine, many of which were built by Ramesses throughout his vast empire.
Exhibition HistoryFrom Pharaohs to Emperors: New Egyptian and Classical Antiquities at Emory, Michael C. Carlos Museum, January 14 - April 2, 2006
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, 2006 - March 23, 2016
Published ReferencesSotheby's New York, The Charles Pankow Collection of Egyptian Art (December 8, 2004), 88, lot 80.
Peter Lacovara and Jasper Gaunt, "From Pharaohs to Emperors: Egyptian, Near Eastern & Classical Antiquities at Emory," Minerva (January/February 2006): 9-16.
MCCM Newsletter, March - May 2005.

ProvenanceWith Roger Khawam (1922-2016) [Khepri Gallery], Paris, France. With Marianne Maspero [Galerie G. Maspero], Paris, France, 1983. Ex coll. Charles Pankow (1923-2004), San Francisco, California. Purchased by MCCM from Sotheby's New York, December 8, 2004, lot 80.

Status

Not on view

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