Egyptian sculpture

LATE PERIOD 159

with a fine smooth grain; these two qualities may be, in part, the cause of the beauty of the statue. But the material can only account for technique; the underlying reason for this remarkable work was the artistic ability of the sculptor, whose genius raised not only himself but the whole art of his time above the level of the generations which had preceded him,

The head of Taharga (Pl. XLIV. I) is an interesting example of the rise of art under the Ethiopians. Professor Petrie calls it ““a massive individual portrait.”” The eyes are unusually well represented, and the muscles of the cheeks are also intelligently shown. The whole style is entirely different from that of the period which immediately precedes it, as well as from that of the period immediately following —the style of the XXVIth dynasty. The face is certainly negroid, and as the work is in black granite, the coloration of the statue enhances the negro effect. The head-dress is unique; unfortunately it has been so badly damaged that it is impossible to see what the exact form of the upper part could have been.

As a rule the figures of the XX Vth dynasty represent men of considerably greater age than in the earlier periods. Though the kings of the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms lived often beyond middle life, they are, with few exceptions, represented as under forty, usually as between twenty-five and thirty; this is also customary among the statues of lesser folk. In the XXVth dynasty and later, middle age is often represented; the celebrated head of Mentu-em-hat, for instance, shows a man over fifty. In the example given here (Pl. XLIV. 2) the face is quite mature, though not yet of middle age; the features are large and rather coarse, totally unlike the kindly gracious beauty of the New Kingdom or the harsh stern faces of the Middle Kingdom. The anatomy of the