The Statuette of Neferefre is a

Ka statue A ka statue is a type of ancient Egyptian statue intended to provide a resting place for the '' ka'' (life-force or spirit) of the person after death. The ancient Egyptians believed the ''ka'', along with the physical body, the name, the '' ba'' ( ...

of king

Neferefre Neferefre Isi (also known as Raneferef, Ranefer and in Greek as , ; 2480 BC - 2458 BC) was an ancient Egyptian king of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He was the eldest son of king Neferirkare Kakai and queen Khentkaus II. ...

that was found in several fragments by

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) ** Fourth Czechoslovak Repu ...

excavations in 1984 or 1985 in the remains of his pyramid temple at

Abusir Abusir ( ; Egyptian ''pr wsjr'' ' "the resting place of Osiris"; ) is the name given to an ancient Egyptian archaeological pyramid complex comprising the ruins of 4 kings' pyramids dating to the Old Kingdom period, and is part of the ...

. It was once about 34 cm high. The statuette is now on display in the

Egyptian Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, commonly known as the Egyptian Museum (, Egyptian Arabic: ) (also called the Cairo Museum), located in Cairo, Egypt, houses the largest collection of Ancient Egypt, Egyptian antiquities in the world. It hou ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

(JE 98171). Due to the good preservation of the face and the well-preserved colours, it is one of the most famous examples of Egyptian royal sculpture dating to the

Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning –2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth Dynast ...

Details

The statue is made of pink

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and was found in several fragments but the remains are not complete. It shows the king sitting on a throne. The latter is mostly missing. The king wears a short wig. On his forehead, there is now a hole for holding an

Uraeus drawing of a Uraeus The Uraeus () or Ouraeus (Ancient Greek: , ; Egyptian: ', "rearing cobra", plural: ''Uraei'') is the stylized, upright form of an Egyptian cobra, used as a symbol of sovereignty, royalty, deity and divine authority in anci ...

, that is lost today. The hair is painted black, above the lips is painted a black mustache. The nose is partially broken. The king had a ceremonial beard that is lost today. On his neck is sitting a falcon spreading its wings over the back of the king's head. In both crawls it is holding a

Shen ring In ancient Egypt, a shen ring was a circle with a line tangent to it, represented in hieroglyphs as a stylised loop of a rope, bound to a stick. The tool used by builders and architects. Shen rings can most often be seen in the clutches of Horu ...

. The king is shown bare-chested. In his right hand he is holding a mace. The left arm is mostly missing. The lower part of the body is mostly missing too. The well carved knees are preserved showing that he was wearing a shendyt kilt. There is a fragment from the base with the remains of the right foot. On the base is carved the short inscription: ''the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Neferefre, for eternity''. There is finally a fragment from the back of the throne and one other, undecorated fragment of the base.

Discovery

The fragments were found at three places within the pyramid temple of Neferefre. Four of them were found in columned hall in the southwest part of the temple. Three further fragments come from a long storage room, just south of this hall, two other fragments from a small room east of the hall.Verner: ''Abusir XXVIII, The Statues of Raneferef'', 116-117

Bibliography

Miroslav Verner Miroslav Verner (born 31 October 1941) is a Czech egyptologist, who specializes in the history and archaeology of Ancient Egypt of the Old Kingdom and especially of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt. Verner is a specialist on the archaeology of the O ...

: ''Abusir XXVIII, The Statues of Raneferef and the Royal Sculpture of the Fifth Dynasty'',

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

, Prague 2017,

References

Sculptures of ancient Egypt Fifth Dynasty of Egypt Egyptian Museum {{Egyptology-stub 1980s archaeological discoveries Archaeological discoveries in Egypt 25th-century BC works 3rd-millennium BC sculptures