Head of a man

Head of a man

Ancient Egypt, Late Period, 664 - 332 BC
Granite

Our Object of the Month for May is this small granite head of a man. The statue has suffered damage at some point in its long life – there is a chip to the back of the head, part of his nose is missing, and it is no longer attached to its body. There also appears to be a hairline crack running around the top of the head and above the eyes, suggesting that this part may have broken off and was reattached at some point. The finely carved features of the man, however, are still visible. The head would have originally been part of a full statue of a man, carved from mottled granite. His shaved head suggests that he may have been a priest.

Statues of people in the Late Period would usually have included a back pillar, on which an inscription could be written, which would help us to identify the man, his titles, and his roles in society. As we only have this fragment of the statue remaining, his identity is a mystery. Denys Eyre Bower, the last private owner of the castle, bought objects for his collections from auctions or art dealers in the United Kingdom. Bower unfortunately did not keep an inventory or record of what he bought and where, so we have not yet been able to discover the history of this statue fragment before it entered his collection.

Statue of Ankhpakhered, Prophet of Amun in Karnak, 380 – 300 BC, The Metropolitan Museum, object number 08.2021

Our Object of the Month was made during the Late Period of Ancient Egypt, around 664 – 332 BC. During this period, statues of people, mostly men, were made for donation and display at temples so that they would be seen by other temple visitors. The inscription on the back pillar of the statue of Ankhpakhered from the Metropolitan Museum includes a passage addressed to people passing by, asking that they pray for him.

Sculptors began to focus more on depicting the likeness of a person, rather than an ideal image of them as had been the trend in previous periods. Although they are very small, the features of our object of the month are lifelike and it is possible to imagine that it was made to resemble a real person. The eyelids are very finely carved, and the full cheeks and smooth skin give the impression of a young man.

Side views of our May Object of the Month

Statue of an older man with shaved head, Late Period or Ptolemaic period, The Metropolitan Museum, object number 2021.41.154

By commissioning a statue of himself to be kept in a temple, a priest could hope to gain the eternal favour of the gods as well as temple visitors. Priests were responsible for daily tasks in a temple to maintain the order of the world and to serve the gods and goddesses. These tasks would include giving offerings of food and clothing to statues, as well as reading ritual texts. They were also responsible for the general day-to-day running of a temple. The role was passed down from father to son, but priests didn’t necessarily have to dedicate all their time to the role. Some priests would only work at a temple for a few months a year. Women had an important role to play in temples, as they were assigned the roles of musicians, singers, and dancers.

Section of limestone stela of Ipu worshipping the lioness goddess Sekhmet, New Kingdom, 18th - 19th dynasty, ca. 1550 - 1185 BC, Chiddingstone Castle collection, object number 01.0578

Only high-ranking priests were permitted to carry out the most important rituals, and ordinary people would not have had the chance to participate. Often the only time when a common person would be able to see a statue of a god or goddess was during a festival, when the statues would be taken out of the temple and paraded around. People would have the chance to ask questions or address requests to these statues. The reply could be discovered through interpreting the movement of the shrine in which the statue was being carried. 

This object is just one of the many objects that form part of Denys Eyre Bower’s five impressive collections which include Ancient Egyptian, Japanese, Buddhist, Stuart and Jacobite, and Books. For more information on these objects, review our Object of the Month series, visit the Historic House and Collections or contact our Curator, Naomi Collick by email or by calling 01892 870347.