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Lower part of alabaster seated statue of Menkaure

Object(s) photograph: Site: Giza; view: Menkaure valley temple

Lower part of alabaster statue of Menkaure, throne with lower part of seated figure; two falcons on upper portion and two kneeling figures grasping "sema" on lower portion on both right and left side surfaces of throne, large "sema" on rear surface, front surface inscribed; missing from waist up, base broken. [1908 no. 3 = published statue no. 19 = 08-7-17]

Details

  • ID
    MFAB_09.202
  • Department
    Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
  • Classification
    Sculpture
  • Findspot
    Menkaure Valley Temple (MVT / room 1 = portico [base], and room 2 = offering room [feet])
  • Material
    Alabaster
  • Dimensions
    Height x width: 98 x 53.3 cm (38 9/16 x 21 in.)
  • Credit Line
    Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition
  • Object Ownership Information
    MFA
  • Period
    Old Kingdom, Dynasty 4, reign of Menkaure
  • Owner
    Menkaure
  • Notes
    This object was excavated by the Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, but was not recorded in any object register book. 1908: Excavated by the Harvard University–Museum of Fine Arts Expedition; 1909: assigned to the MFA in the division of finds by the government of Egypt. (Accession Date: May 17, 1909)
  • Remarks
    Registration number obtained from publication; no registration records available for 1908.

Tombs and Monuments 1

Published Documents 6

Full Bibliography

  • Dunham, Dows. The Egyptian Department and its Excavations. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1958, pp. 36-37, figs. 20a-20b

    Friedman, Florence Dunn. "The Cultic Relationship of the Menkaure Triads to the Small Step Pyramids." In Filip Coppens, Jiři Janák, and Hana Vymazlová, eds. Royal versus Divine Authority: Acquisition, Legitimization and Renewal of Power. 7th Symposium on Egyptian Royal Ideology, Prague, June 26-28, 2013. Wiesbade: Harrassowitz, 2015, pp. 96, 104-105; figure 2.

    Friedman, Florence Dunn. "Economic Implications of the Menkaure Triads." In Manuelian, Peter Der, and Thomas Schneider, eds. Towards a New History for the Egyptian Old Kingdom. Harvard Egyptological Studies 1. Leiden: Brill, 2015, p. 23.

    Friedman, Florence Dunn. "The Names of Menkaure." In Kamil O. Kuraszkiewicz, Edyta Kopp, and Daniel Takács, eds. 'The Perfection that Endures... ': Studies on Old Kingdom Art and Archaeology. Warsaw: Department of Egyptology - Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Warsaw, 2018, pp. 113-123, 128; plate XIX.1.

    Manuelian, Peter Der. "Excavating the Old Kingdom. The Giza Necropolis and Other Mastaba Fields." In Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999, p. 145.

    Pijoán, José, and Manuel B. Cossío. El Arte Egipcio: Hasta La Conquista Romana. Summa Artis, Historia General Del Arte 3. 3. ed. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1950, p. 15, fig. 17.

    Reisner, George A. "The Harvard-University-Museum of Fine Arts Egyptian Expedition." Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 9, No. 50 (1911)p. 17.

    Reisner, George A. Mycerinus: The Temples of the Third Pyramid at Giza. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1931, p. 111, pls. 47b, 47e.

    Sanborn, Ashton. "Recent Acquisitions from Egypt. New Installation of the Primitive and Old Empire Rooms." Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 20, No. 11 (April 1922), p. 26, unnumbered fig.

    Smith, William Stevenson. Country Life in Ancient Egypt. Museum of Fine Arts Picture Book 2. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1954, p. 3, fig. 1.

People 1

Ancient People

  • Menkaure

    • Type Owner
    • Remarks Fifth king of Dynasty 4. Son of Khafre. Husband of Khamerernebti II. Builder of the Third Pyramid at Giza. Known two thousand years later by the Greeks as King Mycerinus.