king Amenemhat III in priestly costume

The Bust of King Amenemhat III in priestly costume

as the "Sm" priest

F  Material:

        

It is made out of Gray granite

F  Discoverer and place of discovery:

This colossal bust was discovered in 1862 in the site of the ancient capital of el Fayum. This site was known in Egyptian Language as Sdt (Shedet) and in Greek language as Crocodilopolis or the City of the Crocodile, because the main god of the city was god Sobek who takes the shape of a crocodile or a man with the head of a crocodile. Nowadays it is called Mit-Fares or Keman-Fares in Fayum governorate.

F   Dating:

It dates back to the Middle Kingdom, 12^th dynasty, reign of king Amenemhat III.

F   Historical background about king Amenemhat III:

King Amenemhat III is the 6^th King during the reign of the 12^th Dynasty; his name is pronounced in the Egyptian language as "Imn-m-HAt" which means "god Amun is in the front".

His father is king Senusert III or Sesostris III. As for his building achievements he built two funerary complex, the 1^st complex is located at Dahshur, this complex contains his famous mud-brick pyramid known as "the Black pyramid", while his 2^nd one is located at Hawara (9 km to the south-east of Fayum), it contains his 2^nd mud-brick pyramid, to the south side of this pyramid lies the famous funerary temple of king Amenemhat III, Which was called by the Greeks as Labyrinth, it was called after the name of the Labyrinth palace.

F   Description:

This unique colossal bust was once the upper part of a standing statue for king Amenemhat III who is recognizable by his characteristic facial features.

Amenemhat III is shown in this bust wearing a huge and strange archaic-type wig, whose long heavy plaits rest on his shoulders and the back of his neck. The body of the uraeus "nsrt" (royal cobra) is stretched out across the top of the wig, while the head of the uraeus which was supposed to be fixed in the hole upon his forehead is now missing.

His facial features are executed according to the standards of the realistic art which was common during the 2^nd half of the 12^th dynasty, as the realistic features are represented in the protruding eyes, the eyebrows are carved in high relief, high cheekbones with wrinkled cheeks and marked muscles around his rigid mouth, in addition to the deep gap between the lower lip of the mouth and the chin.

The strange false beard, now broken off, is attached to the chin by a natural band of wavy locks.

The king is dressed in a panther's skin whose head is shown over his left shoulder, while one of its legs with the paws is shown on his right shoulder, and the two extremities of the panther's skin are supported and tied by a double band across his chest passing under the menat (mnat) collar which decorates his neck.

The extremities of two scepters, terminating in falcon heads which Amenemhat III, was holding against his body, are visible on each side of the wig.

Its important here to mention that the representation of this bust with two scepters whose extremities are terminating in falcon heads of god Horus appeared for the 1st time during the 2^nd half of the 12^th dynasty in this bust of king Amenemhat III, then the type of this bust with the previously mentioned two scepters became very common during the 19* dynasty in particular, and this is clearly shown in the royal statues which date back to this dynasty, moreover there are few examples of private statues executed according to this type, and they date back to the 19^th dynasty.

This bust is unique in its representation, as Amenemhat III presents himself as a king in his divine function which he alone is authorized to fulfill, as he is shown here in the form of a Sem (sm) priest, for the 1^st time throughout the history of royal sculpture in ancient Egypt.

N.B.:

The sem priest was charged with the performing of the funerary rituals of the "Opening of the Mouth ceremony".

F    The conflict of opinions concerning the dating of this bust:

By mistake some scholars dated back this bust to the Archaic Period, depending on the archaic type of the huge strange wig.

On the other hand some other scholars wrongly dated back this bust to the Hyksos period, according to the strange facial features of king Amenemhat III and his strange false beard which was common during the Hyksos period, however this bust dates back to the Middle kingdom, the 2^nd half of the 12^th dynasty, reign of king Amenemhat III and that is confirmed through the recognizable facial features of king Amenemhat III, that are executed according to the standards of realistic art, which was common during the 2^nd half of the 12^th dynasty.