Nakhti, ruler of Asiut

 Nakhti, ruler of Asiut

The statuette of the chancellor Nakhti was found at the beginning of the 20th century in the course of excavations in the necropolis of the rulers of Asiut. It is a very original piece: the use of alabaster, which gives a soapy and unfinished appearance, is exceptional. Nakhti is seated on a cube-shaped seat, and rests his left hand on his left knee, while his right fist is clenched on his right knee. The hands and feet are very large in relation to the rest of his body, and the use of black paint for the eyes and eyebrows gives the face a very expressive appearance. Even if the statuette does give the impression of imperfection of form, it does express the imperturbable strength of a provincial noble living at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom.

Present location KMKG - MRAH [07/003] BRUSSELS
Inventory number E.5596
Dating MIDDLE KINGDOM
Archaeological Site ASIUT
Category FIGURINE/STATUETTE
Material CALCITE/ALABASTER
Technique HEWN; POLISHED; PAINTED; SCULPTURED
Height 29 cm
Width 12 cm
Depth 21 cm

Bibliography•R. Tefnin, Sculptuur van het Oude Egypte - Statues et statuettes de l'Ancienne Égypte, Bruxelles 1988, 24-27
•J.-Ch. Balty, e.a., Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis, Brussel, Oudheid - Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Bruxelles, Antiquité - The Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels, Antiquity, Bruxelles 1988, 18
•F. Lefebvre et B. Van Rinsveld, L'Égypte. Des Pharaons aux Coptes, Bruxelles 1990, 49-50
•E. Teeter, How Many Statues of Nakhti ?, GM 114 (1990) 101-106
•Th. De Putter et Chr. Karlshausen, Les pierres, Bruxelles 1992, 45
•W. Seipel, Gott, Mensch, Pharao. Viertausend Jahre Menschenbild in der Skulptur des Alten Ägypten (Exposition), Vienne 1992, 178
•D. Wildung (Éd.), Ägypten, 2000 v. Chr. Die Geburt des Individuums, Munich 2000, 68 et 179 nº 13

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