Like Much of Egyptian Art the Statue of King Khafre Shows
Khafre Enthroned is a funerary statue of the Pharaoh Khafre, who reigned during the Fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (c. 2570 BCE). It is at present located in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The construction is made of anorthosite gneiss (related to diorite), a valuable, extremely difficult, and dark stone brought 400 miles downward the Nile River from royal quarries. This highlights Khafre'southward importance and power as a ruler.[1] The statue was carved for the Pharaoh's valley temple nearly the Great Sphinx, a part of the necropolis (funerary city) used in funeral rituals. This Old Kingdom statue has an of import function in Egyptian tombs equally substitute abodes for the Pharaoh'southward ka—the life strength that accompanied a person with a kind of other self. After decease, the ka leaves the body into the afterlife, only still needs a place to rest: the statue.[ commendation needed ]
This sculpture, depicted in-the-circular (versus relief sculpture), shows Khafre seated, one of the basic formulaic types used during the Old Kingdom to prove the human being figure.[ii] Mummification played a huge part in the Egyptian culture, a 70-day procedure to ensure immortality for the pharaoh. Starting in the 3rd millennium BCE, if the pharaoh's mummy was damaged, a ka statue was created to "ensure immortality and permanence of the deceased's identity by providing a substitute dwelling place for the ka".[iii]
Khafre rigidly sits in his purple throne, gazing off into the altitude. The pharaoh wears a linen nemes headdress, which embrace most of his forehead and folds over his broad shoulders. This royal headdress depicts the uraeus, or cobra emblem, on the forepart forth with the royal simulated beard attached at the stop of his chiseled chin.[3] Khafre wears a kilt covering his waist, revealing his idealized upper body and musculus definition.[ citation needed ] The Egyptian idealized portraiture is not meant to record individualized features, merely instead proclaim the divine nature of Egyptian kingship. Two stylized lions' bodies class the throne Khafre sits on, creating a sturdy base. Lotus plants (symbolic of Upper Egypt) and papyrus plants (symbolic of Lower Egypt) abound between the legs of the throne, referring to the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt which ended the Egyptian Pre-Dynastic menstruum. The god Horus, depicted every bit a falcon, protects the backside of Khafre'south head with his wings, another reference to the united Arab republic of egypt.[one] Besides the hitting view of the falcon (unseen from the front) resting behind Khafre's caput, Khafre's feet are emplaced upon a apartment platform, engraved with nine archery bows, representing the king's and kingdom's dominance over foreign/domestic enemy tribes, the 9 bows.
The symmetrical pharaoh shows no movement or change, suppressing all motion and fourth dimension to create an eternal stillness; his potent build and permanent opinion demonstrate no notion of time—Khafre is timeless, and his power will be even in the afterlife.[iii] The statue is based upon compactness and solidity with few projecting parts; Khafre'due south block-like torso is attached to the throne to concluding for eternity, creating ane single structure. His arms balance on his thighs, directly facing the viewer in a rigid, frontal pose.[2] The bilaterally symmetric statue, symbolizing order and control in the pharaoh, is the aforementioned on either side of the vertical axis of the statue, only differing in Khafre's clenched right fist.[ citation needed ] The tight profile and block-like attribute stand for Khafre as a permanent existence and part of the stone to keep his ka safety. Khafre will always exist, on earth and in the afterlife. The pharaoh'southward sculpture can be described as absolutely frontal, utterly immobile, and perfectly calm: the characteristics of Egyptian block statue.[ citation needed ]
Creating Khafre Enthroned [edit]
In lodge to create this sculpture in-the-circular, the sculptor used the subtractive method. He began with a cube-shaped stone block of diorite. Start, the sculptor drew the front, back, and ii contour views of Khafre on the four vertical faces of the rock.[3] After the sketched plans were fabricated, the sculptor chiseled away the excess stone on all four sides until the plans came together, meeting at right angles. The final step was sculpting specific details of Khafre's trunk and face, carving the falcon god Horus, and other designs on the throne. The subtractive method allows the sculptor to create a cake-similar wait for Khafre'due south ka statue, a standard for Egyptian sculpture during this time period. In add-on to the subtractive method, chafe, rubbing or grinding the surface was used to finish the production off. The diorite statue stands at a terminal height of v human foot half-dozen.[3]
Khafre Enthroned in context with the funeral procession [edit]
Khafre's ka statue, which would accept been located in the Valley temple of Khafre, was merely one part of an extremely intricate organisation used in Egyptian funerary rituals. Located at the Pyramids of Gizeh, the necropolis included the Valley Temple of Khafre, a mortuary temple, the Bang-up Sphinx, and a causeway leading to the pyramid of Khafre.
The Great Pyramids of Gizeh (Pyramids of Giza), located on the outskirts of nowadays-day Cairo, are iii enormous pyramids for three Egyptian pharaohs with multiple smaller ones, housing the mummies of the royal family and nobles. From largest to smallest, the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure are the most famous and dedicated to each god, respectively. Khafre'due south pyramid and tomb were designed every bit an eternal domicile for his mummy, where the serdab (chamber room) in the Valley Temple was meant to keep his ka statue. Unlike previous pyramids, such as the Stepped Pyramid of Djoser designed by the first known builder Imhotep, the Great Pyramids of Gizeh were not based upon the mastaba structure, a rectangular structure. The new, smoothly inclined surface of the tomb derives from a rectangular base, which is aligned past the iv cardinal directions of the compass. The four sides finish at a pointed tip, referring to the emblem of the sun Re (Ra), called the ben-ben. These symbolic pyramids allowed the pharaoh's spirit to arise to the heavens using the rays of the lord's day.[three]
The funeral procession conveying the pharaoh's mummy began e of the Nile River, where the dominicus is reborn every morning time and where the Egyptian citizens alive. Khafre's mummy would accept crossed the Nile River, which was the ribbon of life separating the east from the west.[ commendation needed ] The Nile was extremely important in Egyptian culture, for it provided fertility of the country and represented life for the people who used it. Because of its importance and symbol of life, it was used as part of the procession to bury the pharaoh. Khafre's torso would then encounter at the west side of the Nile, or the land of the dead. Every night, the sun sets and dies, which is why the western section of the city was defended to burying the dead.[ citation needed ] The horizontal axis of east to west was symbolic to the Egyptians, representing the bicycle of life and eternalness of their leaders; every day the sun is born in the east and dies at dark in the w, yet is again reborn in the east the adjacent morning. The rhythm of the horizontal axis used in the funeral procession parallels with eternalness of the pharaoh.[ commendation needed ]
In one case on the due west bank of the Nile, Khafre's mummy would travel along the causeway, or pathway, passing by the Valley Temple of Khafre where the Khafre Enthroned statue would be located. Adjacent forth the causeway is the Great Sphinx, a brute with a Pharaoh caput and true cat body carved out of the living/natural rock of the surface area. Many believe that the face of the sphinx is really Khafre, further honoring the Pharaoh in the funeral procession. Standing along the causeway, the mummy and procession enter the Mortuary Temple of Khafre adjoining the pharaoh's pyramid. This is where offerings were made to the deceased pharaoh and further ceremonies performed. Sealing the mummy in the tomb of Khafre'southward pyramid, where his body and ka would peacefully rest for eternity, completed the funeral ritual.[ citation needed ]
References [edit]
- ^ a b Davies, Penelope J. E. (2007). Janson's history of fine art: western tradition, 7th ed. Pearson.
- ^ a b Van Keuren, Frances (14 November 2010). "ARHI 3000: Ancient Art". Archived from the original on 2011-07-xx. Retrieved 2010-eleven-29 .
- ^ a b c d e f Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner's Art Through the Ages, Western Edition. Thirteenth. 1. Cengage Learning, 2008. 62–63. Impress.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khafre_Enthroned
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