Relief of King Offering to Deities

Possible OriginEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodPtolemaic Period

Date305-30 BCE

MediumSandstone

Credit LineGift of the Georges Ricard Foundation

Dimensions7 1/2 x 30 11/16 x 3 1/8 in. (19 x 78 x 8 cm)

Object number2018.010.425

Label TextTwo symmetrical vignettes show the king making offerings to the ram-headed Khnum on the left and the god Mandulis on the right. Both deities have solar associations. Khnum is the ba or spiritual essence of the sun god Re, and Mandulis is the sun god of Lower Nubia. The brown sandstone is typical of Aswan and Lower Nubia, both major cult centers for the gods. Khnum, whose major cult center was the island of Elephantine, is adorned with an Atef-crown composed of two corkscrew ram horns with feathers and two rearing solar uraei. He wears a tripartite wig, a broad collar, wristlets, and a beaded corselet with straps and holds the was-scepter signifying dominion. The king is similarly attired but wears a simple corselet and the Red Crown of Lower Egypt with a long sash at the back. The king offers a small figure of the goddess Ma’at to the god, the goddess of truth and order. The column above shows the hieroglyphs for “city.”

To the right, Mandulis wears similar dress as the god Khnum. On his head is a short, plaited wig with a fillet and uraeus. The type of crown he wore is no longer visible. The king, wearing the Blue Crown, offers Mandulis two ritual nw-pots. He is otherwise similarly attired as the adjacent king. The hieroglyphic signs above are too few to allow a secure translation.
Exhibition HistoryLife and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 4 - August 6, 2023
Published ReferencesMelinda K. Hartwig, ed. Life and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2023), catalogue entry 21.

ProvenancePurchased by S.A.M. Sanousrit from Mouseion Galerie Archéologique, Paris, France, August 12, 1975. Ex coll. Musée de l'Égypte et le Monde Antique, Collection Sanousrit, Monaco, 1975-1982. Ex coll. Georges Ricard Foundation, Santa Barbara, California.

Status

Not on view

Collections