Skip to main content

Head of alabaster statue of Khafre

Object(s) photograph: Site: Giza; view: G 5330, G 5230

Head (face) of about three-fifths life-sized alabaster royal statue [attributed to Khafre], fits neck 14-11-206 [and 33-2-204, fragment of top of head]; nose chipped, beard gone, head of uraeus knocked off (not found). Illustration: No

Details

  • ID
    HUMFA_14-12-1
  • Department
    Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition
  • Classification
    Sculpture
  • Findspot
    Mound of mud debris at NE corner of mastaba G 5330
  • Material
    Alabaster
  • Dimensions
    Height: 16.5 cm; total: 20.5 cm Width: 11.2 cm
  • Credit Line
    Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition
  • Object Ownership Information
    MFA accession number: 21.351
  • Period
    Old Kingdom, Dynasty 4, reign of Khafre
  • Date of Register Entry
    12/01/1914
  • Owner
    Khafre
  • Remarks
    14-12-1 (face) + 14-11-206 (throat) + unidentified fragment (part of back of head/nemes headdress with tip of uraeus tail) = MFA 21.351 + 33-2-204 (part of top of head with uraeus) = MFA 33.1113
  • Problems/Questions
    MFA accession number verified

Tombs and Monuments 1

  • G 5330

    • Site Name Western Cemetery

Published Documents 5

Unpublished Documents 3

Full Bibliography

  • Arnold, Dorothea. When the Pyramids were Built. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999, p. 58, fig. 46.

    Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999, p. 255, cat. 58.

    Flentye, Laurel. "The Development of Art in the Eastern and GIS Cemeteries at Giza during the Fourth Dynasty: Iconography and Style." In Jean-Claude Goyon and Christine Cardin, eds. Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Egyptologists, Grenoble, 6-12 septembre 2004, vol. I. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 150. Leuven: Uitgeveru Peeters en Departement Oosterse Studies, 2007, p. 732, note 56.

    Flentye, Laurel. "The Mastabas of Ankh-haf (G 7510) and Akhethetep and Meretites (G 7650) in the Eastern Cemetery at Giza: A Reassessment." In Zahi Hawass and Janet Richards, eds. The Archaeology and Art of Ancient Egypt. Essays in Honor of David B. O'Connor, Vol. I. Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte, Cahier no. 36. Cairo: Supreme Council of Antiquities, 2007, pp. 302, 303.

    Freed, Rita E., Lawrence M. Berman, and Denise M. Doxey. Arts of Ancient Egypt. MFA Highlights. Boston: MFA Publications, 2003, p. 66, fig. 19.

    Hawass, Zahi. "The Great Sphinx at Giza: Date and Function." In Gian Maria Zaccone and Tomaso Ricardi di Netro (eds.) Sesto Congresso Internazionale di Egittologia. Atti, Volume II. Turin, 1993, p. 183.

    Markowitz, Yvonne J., Joyce L. Haynes, and Rita E. Freed. Egypt in the Age of the Pyramids: Highlights from the Harvard University–Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Expedition. Boston: MFA Publications, 2002, p. 55, cat. 4.

    Sanborn, Ashton. "New Installation of Egyptian Sculpture." Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 23, No. 140 (December 1925), p. 72.

    Smith, William Stevenson. Ancient Egypt as Represented in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1960 (6th ed.), pp. 42, 45, fig. 21.

People 1

Ancient People

  • Khafre

    • Type Owner
    • Remarks Fourth king of Dynasty 4. Son of Khufu. Builder of the Second Pyramid at Giza and probably of the Great Sphinx as well. Known two thousand years later by the Greeks as King Khephren. A number of diorite and greywacke statues and statue fragments depicting the king have been discovered in Khafre's valley temple, including Cairo CG 9-17. The fragmentary head of an alabaster royal statue (MFA 21.351 + MFA 33.1113) is attributed to Khafre.