Sphinx Statue Head of Ahmose II (Amasis)

Place of OriginEgypt, possibly from Thebes

Date568-525 BCE

DimensionsH: 13 in. (33 cm)

MediumGranodiorite.

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1925.140

Not on View

DescriptionThis fragmentary head shows a royal figure wearing a nemes headdress with a uraeus, though the side flaps, front of the uraeus, nose, and parts of the mouth are missing. The headdress lacks a frontal headband, an unusual feature in Late Period portraits, suggesting atypical craftsmanship. The surface is rough and unpolished, with visible chisel marks indicating the work was unfinished. A small bridge of stone connects the ear to the headdress, likely unintentionally left during carving.

Label TextThis royal portrait was once part of a complete statue of a recumbent sphinx. The nose was probably broken off in antiquity. This careful reworking of this area and the stippling of its surface indicates that a replacement nose was joined to this surfacePublished ReferencesMyśliwiec, Karol, “Zwei Sphinxköpfe der Spätzeit,” Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo, vol. 40, 1984, pp. 222–224, Pls. 20, 22a,c,d.

Málek, Jaromír, Diana Magee, and Elizabeth Miles, Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Statues, Reliefs and Paintings. VIII. Objects of Provenance Not Known. Part 1. Royal Statues. Private Statues (Predynastic to Dynasty XVII), Oxford, Griffith Institute, 1999, no. 800-871-750.

Russmann, Edna R., “Late Period Sculpture,” in A Companion to Ancient Egypt, edited by Alan B. Lloyd, Chichester, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, pp. 951 (as Amasis).

Peck, William H., Sandra E. Knudsen and Paula Reich, Egypt in Toledo: The Ancient Egyptian Collection at the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art, 2011, p. 76, repr. (col.).

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, The Mummies: From Egypt to Toledo, February 3- May 6, 2018.