Fragment of a Relief: Amenhotep III Offering to the Gods
Date: New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, about 1390 BCE
Dimensions:
H: 32 in. (81.3 cm.); W: 24 3/4 in. (62.9 cm).
Medium: Limestone.
Place of Origin: Egypt, from the Tura quarry near Memphis.
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1925.522
Label Text:An early representation of one of the most powerful of all Egyptian kings, this relief carving was part of a larger composition known from 19th-century drawings. It represents Amenhotep honoring the gods by offering them incense and pure water. It also reflects the king’s extraordinary achievements as a patron of architecture. The relief stood at the Tura quarries, near the ancient capital of Memphis—a site famous as the source of the finest white limestone in all of Egypt. More than 1,000 years before Amenhotep III, it had provided the outer casing stones for the great pyramid at Giza. Amenhotep reopened and expanded the quarries at the beginning of his reign, which was marked by the construction or expansion of many great temples.
Not on view
In Collection(s)