Granite statue of Tutankhamun as a priest of Hapy

Probably from Thebes, Karnak Temple, Egypt
18th Dynasty, about 1320 BC

This figure, wearing the royal nemes head-dress and false beard, is inscribed with the name of King Horemheb (1323-1295 BC) though the facial features strongly resemble the child-king Tutankhamun (1336-1327 BC). Horemheb was one of Tutankhamun's chief advisers and became king after the death of his succcessor Ay. It appears that Horemheb often appropriated statues of his two predecessors.

Tutankhamun undertook a considerable amount of work restoring the old cults after the Amarna Period. Here he is shown holding an offering table overflowing with produce, symbolizing the abundance which the Nile brings to Egypt. The statue resembles three other sculptures of earlier pharaohs, sometimes thought to show the king in the guise of the Nile, or as the god Hapy who embodied the Nile in flood. However, as they do not resemble traditional personifications of the Nile it is more probable that they depict the king as a priest bringing offerings to the god.

T.G.H. James, Ancient Egypt: the land and it (London, 1988)

S. Quirke, Ancient Egyptian religion (London, The British Museum Press, 1992)

E.R. Russmann, Eternal Egypt: masterworks of (University of California Press, 2001)

T.G.H. James (ed.), Hieroglyphic texts from Egyp-2, Part 9 (London, The British Museum Press, 1970)

N. Reeves, The Complete Tutankhamun: the (London, Thames and Hudson, 1990)