Head of a Priest or Vizier

Sculptures carved from colorful hard stones quarried in Upper Egypt—quartzite, granodiorite, granite, and basalt—are among the most distinctive monuments of Egyptian art. They show the pharaoh and wealthy officials in a standing, seated, or kneeling pose with frontal orientation. Placed in a temple or tomb, they allowed their owners to participate in the cult and to receive offerings for all eternity. The head of this clean-shaven priest or vizier may have some individual features, but portraits of this time were not physical likenesses so much as images appropriate for the role and standing of the persons depicted. Nonroyal statuary often resembled the pharaoh’s portrait, and individual identities were given in the inscription. The polish and hatched eyebrows of this head suggest that it was only partly painted. It made use of the symbolism of its intrinsic color: black was associated with the fertile Nile mud and, hence, rebirth.