The Colossal Statue of a Pharaoh

Katherine Mordan Art Survey Research Paper Prof. Lindt 10/23/11 The Colossal Statue of a Pharaoh The Colossal Statue of a Pharaoh is a piece of Middle Age Egyptian prowess and it was the piece that caught my kernel at the MET. The statue was make around 1919b. c-1885b. c. to represent the reign of the 12th dynasty pharaoh Amenemhat II. It is made out of stone, a stone called Granodiorite. It was mutilated in Aswan and was completed in Memphis near Cairo. The sculpture is a sculpture in the round, meaning that it is a three dimensional figure that is carved out of block. The statue has smooth cereal and large in size. Its an normous statue that raises oer a crowd of spate, which adds a figure of index towards it. I saw that its Amenemhat II sitting on his potful you can see some damage to the sculpture due to term and moving around of the sculpture. Its missing a nose and its beard. The Pharaoh is wearing a kilt and wearing a belt that has a bulls tail attached to it. To Egyp tians a bulls tail is a symbol of their military unit agree to researchers at the Met. He is wearing a royal head stuff with a royal cobra symbolizing the rulers power. At the foot of the cubes throne is a bunch of scriptures symbolizing its meaning to the kingdom.The statue was made for the Pharaoh Amenemhat II who ruled in the 12th dynasty. This was the most important period in the middle kingdom, he ruled from 1919- 1885 b. c. He first started his reign with his father and then took over a area that his father kept stable and economically stable. wiz of the things that pharaoh Amenemhat II did was conduct a military campaign in Syria getting prisoners to build pyramids for him. He would also conducts trades with other countries for goods, copper, wood , and stones. During this time art was gaining popularity in Egypt. Some of the Fine jewelry made came from this time.Stone sculptures deal the large Sphinx came from Amenemhats time. Several years after his reign the sculptu re of the Pharaoh was travel from place to place and other kings would alter the statues features to look like theirs they would carve their names on the statue as well. During the time of the Pharaohs in Egypt, the kings made certainly that the ordinary knew how powerful they were. They made sure that all their artwork symbolized who they were and what strength they had to control an empire. Figures such as a sphinx, lion, snake, bulls tail and falcons, were figures of strength, power and longevity.These were symbols that were use in these pieces to represent the kings. Since the kings seemed all mighty and powerful the people of the country would continue to praise and follow the kings bringing the kings power and prosperity. The colossal statue of a Pharaoh represents power and strength of an almighty king of kings. Amenemhat II wanted his public to know that he was worthy to be king and that he had the power of control. He wanted his people to believe in him and believe he wou ld bring prosperity. Most important of all is that he wanted people to know that no ne could knock him off of his throne he was the ruler and could do what ever he pleased. In this type of society, in Egypt kings needed to show their public how powerful they were so that people could not overstep their boundaries and knew they were under strict control. Every social class needed to know were they stood the rich with rich and the poor working for the rich. This piece rattling caught my eye due to its large size and wonderful detailed structure. It mesmerised me to think about how this enormous statue was created back in ancient Egypt and I wanted to share this piece with everyone else.