A STATUETTE OF PSAMTIK I WITH A SPEAR

Mamdouh Eldamaty Ain Shams University, Cairo

One of the unique statues from the Late Period is portraits.2 By comparing the statuette’s features a royal statuette of the 26th Dynasty showing the with the features of the well-known royal portraits king holding a spear.1 The legs of the standing of the Saite Period, we find that the face of this statuette are missing. It is made of graywacke, statue is very close to the sphinx of Psamtik I h. 22cm., h. of the back pillar 19.5cm., l. of the (figs. 2–3)intheCairoMuseum(JE36915),3 spear 14.3cm. which might have been made only a few years The king stands with his left leg, which is now after the end of the Kushite Period. These sculp- missing, forward (fig. 1, a-b). He grasps a spear tures clearly show influences of the art of the 25th firmly with both hands. His body is powerfully Dynasty, such as the signs of fleshiness along the built and particularly well defined, with broad sides of the nose near its midpoint, and the folds shoulders. The king’s torso is finely modeled and seen on slightly earlier Kushite sculpture. These slightly muscular. The distinct median line below flesh folds specifically point to an origin early in his pectorals is unclear behind the spear. His the reign of Psamtik I, when the influence of the abdomen swells slightly below the waist, and he Nubian kings’ workshops was still strong.4 There- has a circular navel. He wears a khat-headdress fore this statuette can be identified as Psamtik I, and a short bipartite pleated kilt. The uraeus one of the few sculptural representations of this upon the forehead has a single symmetrical loop; king who reigned for 54 years.5 the cobra’s tail emerges on top of the head. The attitude of the statuette represents the The king’s face is nearly intact, with only a king spearing his enemy, a pose previously un- small part of the nose missing. It is idealized, known in stone sculpture. The spear is hurled expressionless, and displays little modeling. His into the flesh of a missing enemy. It is an ex- mouth is small, straight, fleshy lipped and flanked ceptional occurrence in the history of royal statu- with drill holes on each side. The intact nose is ary. The hunt in the marshes is a theme known undistinguished. The eyes alone are noteworthy. from reliefs or paintings in private tombs and They are almond shaped, with their plastically royal temples. The theme of spearing an enemy rounded upper rims continuing past the outer is related to the triumph over evil, which is usu- canthi to form downwardly sloped cosmetic lines. ally personified by one of the different represen- The eyebrows also are in raised relief. Between tations of Seth, for example, as a crocodile or hip- the eyes is a slightly raised triangular space. The popotamus. The victorious king defeats the forces back pillar is uninscribed. of chaos, and preserves the universal order that The features of the statuette are those of Saite it is his duty to insure. The development of this

1 Formerly in the private collection of Jack Josephson, 3 For more details see Josephson, “A Portrait Head New York, until 2003 (bought from Daedalus Gallery Octo- of Psamtik I?”, 430f.; Jack Josephson and Mamdouh El- ber 1, 1991); now in the private collection of Sheikh Saud el damaty, Statues of the XXVth and XXVIth Dynasties,Cata- Thani in Doha. logue général of Egyptian Antiquities in the Cairo Museum 2 Bernard V. Bothmer et al., Egyptian Sculpture of the Late (Cairo: Supreme Council of Antiquities, 1999): CG 48630. Period, 700B.C. to A.D. 100 (New York: Brooklyn Museum, Cf. another bust of Psmatik I in the Metropolitan Museum 1960), 29ff.; Karol My´sliwiec, Royal Portraiture of the Dynas- of Art (New York X 358), Josephson, “A Portrait Head of ties XXI–XXX (Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 1988), 51ff.; An- Psamtik I?”, 432,figs.3–5. thony Leahy, “Saite Royal Sculpture: A Review,” GM 80 4 Josephson, “A Portrait Head of Psamtik I?”, 435. (1984): 59–76. For a possible explanation, see Jack Joseph- 5 See Leahy, “Saite Royal Sculpture,” 62. For a possible son, “A Portrait Head of Psamtik I?”, in Studies in Honor of explanation, see Josephson, “A Portrait Head of Psamtik I?”, William Kelly Simpson 2, ed. Peter Der Manuelian (Boston, 430. 1996), 429–438. 84 mamdouh eldamaty theme in the Late Period leads Horus to grapple being liable to break, by joining the arms and the with his enemy Seth in a series of episodes. In spear to the body of the statuette. the end, Seth is finally vanquished.6 One of these It is likely that the statuette is the represen- episodes is the spearing of Seth by Horus, which tation of the incarnation of triumphant Horus, is often represented in reliefs, especially on the originally standing on or before a representation walls of Egyptian temples. These representations of Seth, similar to a relief of Horus standing on reveal several attitudes, a striding pose with left a crocodile on the wall of the Sokar-Osiris chapel leg forward or a standing pose with left leg for- in the temple of Dendera15 (figs. 4–5). The pre- ward. The arms are separated from the body and sentation of the king in this attitude is intended to grasp the spear strongly with both hands,7 or grip guarantee the power and victory of the king over the long spear in one hand while holding a rope his enemies. This ideology of the triumphant di- with which to capture the defeated animal in the vine king was needed by the new king, Psamtik I, other hand.8 This emphasizes the dynamism of the founder of the 26th Dynasty, who eliminated the triumph of Horus or of his representative local rulers in Lower Egypt (23rd Dynasty) and upon the earth, the pharaoh. The mighty god ended the authority of the Napatan kings at could be represented standing on board his boat,9 Thebes (25th Dynasty), thereby reunifying Egypt. or upon the representation of his enemy,10 or in At the start of his reign, he was a vassal of the front of his enemy.11 Assyrians, but later, as their power collapsed in However, this attitude is very rare in three- Asia, he became the independent ruler of Egypt dimensional figures. We have only the twin stat- and played an important role in the reunification ues, in gilded wood, of Tutankhamun12 standing of Egypt.16 This is the most logical explanation upright on a papyrus raft and engaged in the for the king’s pose in this statuette, through which mythical hunt for the hippopotamus that symbol- he might be shown to have established his rule izes evil. The pharaoh is represented as the in- as one who has become powerful and victorious carnation of the god Horus, who, according to over all his enemies. the legend, fought in the swamps against the evil As the incarnation of triumphant Horus, the god Seth, who was transformed into a hippopota- king wears the divine bipartite kilt of Horus, mus and was finally defeated. Figures with arms which is sometimes pleated like the kilts of the holding the spear show one arm raised and the figures of Horus in the temple of Hibis in Kharga second extended downwards,13 or the two arms Oasis. The latter is very similar to the kilt of raised separately in front of the body.14 It is easy Psamtik I in our statuette17 (figs. 6–8). Addition- to represent these figures in reliefs, but difficult ally, the ka of the king has special characteristics, in three-dimensional stone figures because of the particularly appearing as one of the manifesta- nature of the stone, which is liable to break. Per- tions of the god Horus. The Hibis temple rep- haps for this reason we do not find stone statues resentation shows the ka of the king wearing the in this attitude, with the exception of this statuette same short kilt of Horus.18 Ibelievethatourfig- of Psamtik I. The artist tried, in this piece, to deal ure represents either the divine ka of Psamtik I, with the problem of the arms and the spear being or the king as the incarnation of the triumphant raised separately in front of the body, and thus Horus.

6 Cf. Dieter Kurth, Treffpunkt der Götter: Inschriften aus dem Tutankhamen, Life and Death of a Pharaoh (London: Penguin Tempel des Horus von Edfu (Zürich: Artemis, 1998), 196ff. Books Ltd, 1965), pl. 45. 7 Émile Chassinat, Le temple d’Edfou 13 (Cairo: IFAO, 13 Edfou 13,pls.494, 508, 510, 513. 1934), pls. 441–442; Edfou 14 (Cairo: IFAO, 1934), pls. 634, 14 Dendara 2,pl.127, see also pl. 129. 659. About the origin of the spear and its role in ancient 15 Ibid.; Mamdouh Eldamaty, Sokar-Osiris-Kapelle im Tem- Egypt see A.E. Reymond, “The origin of the spear I,” JEA pel von Dendera (Hamburg: Dr. Kovac, 1995), 86. 49 (1963): 140–146; II, JEA 50 (1964): 133–138;Reymond, 16 See Anthony Spalinger, “The Concept of the Monar- “The Cult of the Spear in the Temple at Edfu,” JEA 51 chy during the Saite Epoch: an Essay of Synthesis,” Ori- (1965): 144–148; Jan Zandee, “Seth als Sturmgott,” ZÄS 90 entalia 47 (1978): 16–17; Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient (1963): 144–156. Egypt, trans. Ian Shaw (Oxford: Blackwell, 1992), 57;Günter 8 Edfou 9 (Cairo: IFAO, 1929), pls. 76; 105. Vittmann, “Die Familie der saitischen Könige,” Orientalia 44 9 Edfou 13,pls.495, 497–506. (1975): 375–387; Spalinger, “Psammetichus, King of Egypt: 10 Ibid., pl. 512; Émile Chassinat, Le temple de Dendara 2 I,” JARCE 13 (1976): 133–147; II, JARCE 15 (1978): 49–57. (Cairo: IFAO, 1934), pl. 127, see also pl. 129. 17 Cf. Norman de Garis Davies, The Temple of Hibis in El 11 Edfou 9,pl.46a. Kh¯argeh Oasis vol. 3, The Decoration (New York: Metropolitan 12 Howard Carter, The tomb of Tut-ankh-Amen 3 (London: Museum of Art, 1953), pl. 50. Cassell, 1933), pls. 13, 60; Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, 18 Cf. ibid., pl. 48.